Kaan Bıyıkoğlu & Cem Tuncer & Ozan Musluoğlu

Kaan Bıyıkoğlu got interested with jazz while studying at the Ankara Science High School, and during his bachelor’s and Kaan master’s studies at Middle East Technical University he studied piano with Prof. Semra Kartal besides sharing the stages with eminent Turkish jazz musicians such as Tuna Ötenel, Yıldız İbrahimova, Yahya Dai and Kürşat And. He finished his master’s studies at the METU Informatics Institute with his thesis entitled “A Markov Model For Chorale Harmonization in the Style of J.S. Bach”. At the samre time he did his master’s on classical piano performance at Başkent University Ankara State Conservatory where he studied with Mehmet Okonşar. Kaan moved to the Netherlands in 2006 to further his jazz education, and he studied jazz piano and harmony with Kris Goessens and Rob van Bavel, and composition and orchestration with Ilja Reijngoud at the Rotterdam Conservatorium. He attended to the master classes and workshops given by Barry Harris, Charlie Haden, Peter Erskine, Jason Moran, Miguel Zenon, Antonio Farao, Baptiste Trotignon, Luis Perdomo, Dado Morani, and Misha Alperin. He participated in numerous festivals, concerts, radio and television broadcasts, and album recordings in the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany. Kaan Bıyıkoğlu returned back to Turkey in 2013 and currently he is teaching piano and harmony at the Jazz Department of Hacettepe University Ankara State Conservatory.

Mehmet Cem Tuncer was born in 1978. He studied guitar with Sarp Maden and Gökçen Taskiran, music theory with Semih Korucu and Mehmet Nemutlu, ensemble with Bulent Ortaçgil and Önder Focan at Akademi İstanbul Jazz Department in 1997. He won a scholarship from Istanbul Bilgi University in 1998 and worked with important musicians such as Neset Ruacan, Kamil Özler, Ali Perret, L.Butch Morris, Can Kozlu, Aydin Esen, Imer Demirer, Ricky Ford, Selen Gülün, Mike Wilkens during his undergraduate study. He played in Belgium Sfinks and Amsterdam Music Festivals in 1999; in Germany Hildesheim Festival, in Zurih, Basel, Stuttgart, Berlin and Hanoover in 2000; in Gent and Brussels at the Ethnic Music Festival, in 2002. He also took place in various activities and concerts in Ricky Ford’s Istanbul Jazz Collective, the same year in Babylon, Istanbul. He worked as the Assistant Arranger of Önder Focan’s Purple in Blue project in 2000 International Istanbul Jazz Festival and played many duo guitar concerts with Önder Focan. Tuncer completed his undergraduate study in Istanbul Bilgi University Composition Department. In 2002 and worked in I.B.U as a Teaching Assistant for 1 year. He taught Jazz Guitar and Ensemble classes in Yıldız Technical University between 2002 -2008. Tuncer was elected to represent Turkey in the 2008 International Young Jazz Guitarist Competition held in Estonia, and won the 2nd place. He was awarded with the invitations of Romania Garana Jazz Festival 2008 and Pori Jazz Festival 2008 & 2010 where he played with Ted Curson, Harvie S., Enrico Granafei, Onder Focan,3 GuitarIstanbul, Vitali Imereli, Reiska Laine, Toivo Unt, Aprian Petrescu, Eric mcpherson, Abraham Burton, David Bryant, Dezron Douglas, Jyrki Kangas. He made film musics (with Nail Yurtsever & Engin Arslan), Ali’nin Sekiz Günü, 2008; Vali, 2008; Dilber’in Sekiz Günü, by which he won the 2009 Ankara Film Festival Music Award; and Acı, 2009; and TV Series Musics such as Gece Sesleri, 2008; Rüzgar, 2008; Sinekli Bakkal (with Cigdem Erken), 2008; Servet Avcısı, 2008; Öyle Bir Geçer Zaman ki, 2010; Adını Feriha Koydum, 2011; Canan, 2011; and worked as a Vocal Coach in High School Musical, Walt Disney, 2008 (Turkey) In addition to his carrier in Jazz and film musics,

Ozan Musluoğlu one of the most productive and eclectic musicians of the Turkish jazz scene, started his double bass education at Bilgi University Music Department in 2000. He worked and held workshops with names such as Volkan Hürsever, James Lewis, Kürşat And, Marc Johnson, David Friesen and Dominique Lemerle in different periods. His first album, “Coincidence” was released in 2009 under the label Rec Jazz; His second album, “40th Day”, featuring Jeremy Pelt, JD Allen, Danny Grissett and Darrell Green, was released in 2011 on the Equinox Music label. These recordings were followed by two thematic albums with many guests: “My Best Friends Are Pia-nists” (2012) and “My Best Friends Are Vocalists” (2015). Musluoğlu, who prepared and presented the program titled Jazz Hour on TRT Radio 3 for many years, also continues his work as a producer. Ozan Musluoğlu, who is also a part of the TRT Radio Jazz Orchestra conducted by Cem Tuncer.