Tuna Ötenel, born in Istanbul in 1947 to a musical family,started playing piano at five years old. He received traditional teaching by Professor Ulvi Cemal Erkin and Ferhunde Erkin. Ötenel regards jazz as the fundamental element of his life and concentrates his career on jazz music. He started playing alto saxophone, tenor and soprano, and became the best of his generation. Ötenel joined Erol Pekcan’s Band in 1978, which produced the first jazz LP in Turkey, called “Jazz Semai”. Ötenel also played in Sweden with the trumpet player Maffy Muvaffak Falay and in Europe with the percussionist Okay Temiz and the ‘ney’ player Aka Gündüz Kutbay on several occasions. They produced the album “Zikir”. In 1994, Ötenel produced and composed the album “Sometimes”. During his career, he has played with some famous musicians such as Benny Carter, Harry Sweets Edison, Karin Krog, Hilton Ruiz, Victor Sproles, Buster Williams, Herbie Hancock, Peter King, Pierre Michelot, Philippe Combelle, and Jean Loup Longnon. Ötenel released his last album in 1999, accompanied by Pierre Michelot and Philippe Combelle entitled “l’Ecume de Vian”, primarily composed of his own work.
The quartet, brought together by double bass player Ozan Musluoglu, is preparing to introduce Tuna Otenel, the mentor of many new generation Turkish jazz musicians, to the London audience with a selection of his unique compositions. Uraz Kivaner on the piano, Batu Salliel on the saxophone and Ferit Odman on the drums.
Ozan Musluoğlu (b)
Born in Germany, Ozan Musluoğlu is a Turkish bass player. He worked with jazz giants such as Marc Johnson, David Friesen, Dominique Lemerle and Robert Balzar. The musician released four albums to date with his last album “My Best Friends Are Vocalists” released in 2015 under Sony Music. In addition to a very busy gigging schedule, Ozan Musluoğlu is the full time bass player for the TRT (Turkish National Television) Jazz Orchestra.
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Uraz Kıvaner (p)
Uraz Kıvaner is a Turkish jazz pianist who studied at Istanbul Bilgi University and the prestigious Berkeley University in USA, where he worked with many prominent jazz musicians. Kıvaner performed in numerous concerts, jazz clubs and festivals from the age of 16. He is one of the most prominent pianists in the Turkish and international jazz scenes. His style is said by the critics to be a combination of Oscar Peterson, Bill Evans and Ahmad Jamal. He released his album titled “Pieces” in March 2012 under the label “Rec by Saatchi”.
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Batu Şallıel (sax)
Batu Şallıel is a successful saxophonist who started his musical life by the age of nine with the encouragement of his saxophonist father. He has played with countless jazz musicians and pop singers since the age of 15. Şallıel has since then performed in many Jazz Festivals both in Turkey and abroad. He has released several albums with various projects such as What Da Funk with Anıl Şallıel and Funkbook with Önder Focan. He released his first debut album The Way in 2021.
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Ferit Odman (d)
Istanbul based jazz drummer Ferit Odman started his music studies in Sweden got a full scholarship to get his B.A. in Music at Istanbul Bilgi University before receiving a Fulbright Scholarship to further build on his studies at William Paterson University. He lived and performed in NYC for two years and holds a Master of Music degree in Jazz Performance. He became heavily entrenched in the Turkish jazz scene at a young age and recently performs with many jazz musicians while leading his own quintet and touring around Europe.
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