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ONDER FOCAN - BIOGRAPHY
Started music in 1970, and got interested in jazz music in 1975. Starting from the year 1985 performed in various local and international venues. On December 1994 released his first album JAZZ GUITAR in MD format. On December 1994, recorded his first CD entitled “Onder Focan Group – ERKENâ€
In 1997 Focan performed in the Guitar Night which was organised by MIDEM with 11 international guitarists representing Istanbul Culture and Arts Fund (IKSV).
The Artist’s 1998 CD, BENEATH THE STARS honoured him as the one and only Turkish jazz artist who has released an album on Blue Note label. This album featured the great drummer Bill Stewart and Hammond B3 player Sam Yahel.
In 1999, he recorded VOCALISTS with Sibel Kose, Ajlan Buyukburc, Aydin Kahya, Slide Hampton, Brian Lynch, Doug Weiss and Hugh Sicotte which includes Onder Focan tunes with lyrics.
Onder Focan attended IAJE seminars in 1999, 2000 and 2004.
Onder Focan performed at the 80. anniversary concert of Thomastik Infeld Strings on November 1999 in Vienna. He also performed for Thomastik Infeld Strings in 2001 and Hofner Guitars in 2002 at the winter NAMM shows in L.A. On November 2001. Focan a CD entitled STANDARD A LA TURC recorded in Helsinki, Finland which features the jazz versions of Turkish popular tunes.
In 2002 Onder Focan was involved in SIJF (Spontaneous International Jazz Friends) project which was lead by the excellent German bass player Stefan Weeke and recorded a CD entitled No.One with great drummer Ernst Bier, which has released in Germany in the same year.
On December 2001 recorded the duo album with international jazz great bassist David Friesen entitled REMinisce in Vienna, Austria which is released on July 2003 in Turkey.
Focan released a CD entitled “Kirmiziya Caliyor†LIKE RED with Ercument Vural, Alp Ersonmez, Cengiz Baysal and Tunc Cakir in 2004 which became very popular in Turkey.
In 2007, he released a CD entitled "Swing a la Turc" with A. Senol Filiz (ney), Senova Ulker (tpt), Erdal Akyol (b), Ferit Odman (d), Cem Aksel(d), which is a straight jazz approach to Turkish tunes with the use of traditional instrument "ney".
Elected as the best artist in Western Music by MSM Art Center (Mujdat Gezen Sanat Merkezi) Istanbul in 2000.
Onder Focan uses and endorses Thomastik Infeld Strings, Hofner and Godin Guitars. He recently plays a hand made 15" carved hollowbody guitar made by luthier SERIF KOSE.
ONDER FOCAN - BIYOGRAFI
Muzige 1970 yilinda baslayan Focan 1975’de caza ilgi duydu ve cesitli gruplar ile calismaya basladi. 1985 yilindan baslayarak cesitli yerli ve yabanci caz etkinliklerinde sahne aldi. 1994’de 'Onder Focan JAZZ GUITAR' isimli kaseti ve yine ayni yil 'Onder Focan Group- ERKEN-' adli CD'yi yapti.
1996-99 yillari arasinda SEKIZ, ON THE BOSPHORUS adli CD’leri yapti. 1997’de MIDEM tarafindan Fransa’nin Cannes sehrinde duzenlenen ve 11 uluslararasi gitarcinin katildigi festivalde, IKSV adina Turkiye’yi “Guitar Night†gecesinde temsil etti.
Sanatcinin 1998’in ilk gunlerinde piyasaya cikan “BENEATH THE STARS†adli calismasi ise, BLUE NOTE firmasindan albumu cikan ilk Turk sanatcisi unvanini da tasimaktadir. Bu albumde davulda Down Beat jazz dergisince yilin gozde davulcusu secilen Bill Stewart’la ve Hammond B3 Org’da ise yine New Yorklu Sam Yahel yer almislardir.
1999 yilinda Sibel Kose, Ajlan Buyukburc ve Aydin Kahya’nin vokalleriyle sanatcinin sozlu bestelerinden olusan repertuari Slide Hampton, Brian Lynch, Doug Weiss ve Hugh Sicotte ile VOCALISTS adiyla New York’ta kaydetti.
Ocak 1999, 2000 ve 2004’de IAJE egitim seminerlerine katildi.
Kasim 1999’da Viyana’da 80.kurulus yildonumu konserlerinde caldi. 2001 Ocak ayinda Los Angeles NAMM Show’da Thomastik Infeld standinde konuk olarak caldi. 2002’de ayni fuarda tanitimi icin yer aldi. 2001 Kasim’inda Finlandiya’da populer Turk parcalarinin yorumlandigi STANDARD A LA TURC albumunu kaydetti.
2002’de Berlin’de Almanya’nin onde gelen muzisyenlerinden basci Stefan Weeke’nin “Spontaneous International Jazz Friends†adli projesi ile ayni yil Almanya’da piyasaya cikan No.One adli albumunde davulcu Ernst Bier ile birlikte yer aldi.
2001 yilinda Viyana’da basci David Friesen ile, 2003’de piyasaya cikan REMinisce adli albumun kaydini yapti.
2004 yilinda Ercument Vural, Alp Ersonmez, Cengiz Baysal ve Tunc Cakir ile birlikte buyuk ilgi goren KIRMIZIYA CALIYOR (Like Red) adli albumu yapti.
2007 yilinda A. Senol Filiz (ney), Senova Ulker (tpt), Erdal Akyol (b), Ferit Odman (d), Cem Aksel(d) ile birlikte geleneksel Turk muziginin "straight ahead" jazz konseptiyle yorumlandigi "Swing a la Turc" adli CD'yi yapti.
2000 yilinda Mujdat Gezen Sanat Merkezi tarafindan yilin en iyi Bati Muzigi Sanatcisi odulune layik goruldu.
Onder Focan Thomastik telleri, Godin ve Hofner gitarlarini kullanmaktadir. Son donemde SERIF KOSE tarafindan yapilmis oyma caz kasa gitar ile calmayi tercih etmektedir.