Turkish and American Musicians tour Turkey

ISTANBUL

Turkish-American jazz musician and teacher Emre Kartari and a group of Turkish and American jazz musicians, Sazlı Cazlı, are continuing performances for students and organizing workshops around Turkey. 

After a series of events in İzmir and Ankara, the group will visit Kırıkkale, Kırşehir and Kayseri on May 27 and 29 as part of a tour supported by the Public Affairs Section of the U.S. Embassy Ankara. 

Kartari, born in Ankara, is a Turkish jazz percussionist who currently teaches at Yaşar University. Born into a family of musicians and artists, he moved to the United States when he was 10. Soon after, he began to study drums, which led to studying jazz percussion with T. Howard Curtis at Virginia Commonwealth University. He also toured the U.S. with the spoken-word, hip-hop group, the Jazz Poets Society. 

While in New York, Kartari studied with Adam Nussbaum, John Riley, Tony Moreno, Billy Hart and Jamey Haddad. He has performed with jazz greats including Charlie Byrd, Jim McNeely, Ralph Lalama, Vic Juris, Ron McClure, Mike Richmond and David Liebman, as well as Jack Dejohnette’s “Oneness” band. 

Kartari holds an M.A. in jazz performance and composition from New York University and received the Barney Josephson Award in 2003.

Sazlı Cazlı’s Turkey concerts and workshops are being accompanied by Ayça Kartari, Kevin Simpson, Onur Puza, Taylor Barnett and Yahya Geylan.