Istanbul Oriental Ensemble

Burhan Öçal is born in Turkey,where he is a media star.
Beyond the Bosphorus his reputation comes from working with artists like jazz man Joe Zawinul and leading his own gypsy group, the Istanbul Oriental Ensemble.

For this band, all the music must feel traditional; it has to be a very gypsy sound, and an Istanbul oriental sound.
The 10 year-old band is one of the few closely preserving the style of real Turkish gypsy music.

Öçal's started to love gypsy music as a child, growing up in the village of Kirkareli, 100 miles west of Istanbul.

Öçal is an multi-instrumentalist, but in the Ensemble he sticks to the vase-shaped darbuka drum, to provide a rhythmic backdrop for the fiery melodies and soaring improvisations by violin, clarinet, oud, and the zither-like kanun.

Whether working in the classical field, getting down in a funk project with renowned bassist Jamaladeen Tacuma, or exploring the limits of drum'n'bass, Öçal definitely makes "art music, not pop music for crowds."

Although he works on the fringes, Öçal hasn't became a minor celebrity at home, showing off his restored ‘48 Dodge and ‘55 Chevy Belair on national television, or appearing in his modish clothes in the pages of Elle and other magazines.