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A classically trained Turkish percussionist and raised in Turkish folk music, Okay Temiz developed his own innovative percussion style and a personal approach to multi-cultural music. Based in Sweden for more than 20 years, he gradually gained recognition for his unique blend of Turkish folk melodies with Western jazz improvisation and lots of African and South American rhythms. Okay worked extensively with such as Don Cherry and Johnny Dyani and can be heard on more than 50 records. He played nearly 3,000 concerts all over Europe, in the US and India, using his travels to build up a large collection of ethnic instruments such as quicca, berimbau, talking drums, and kalimba.
With his MAGNETIC BAND Okay Temiz presents a fiery brand of Turkish folk-beat with a savour of Africa and South America. The magic of this multi-cultural synthesis is heightened by an instrumental variety of trumpet, clarinet and zurna (a Turkish reed instrument) and three percussionists whose multi-dimensional artistry guarantees an emotional experience that is unique in today's so-called world music.
DOWN BEAT's Michael Bourne reviewed Okay's performance at the Instanbul Jazz Festival in 1994 as follows: "Okay Temiz, a percussionist with a battery of timbales, congas, cymbals, and what-nots, exploded. Okay's MAGNETIC BAND featured traditional instruments alongside a clarinet and a trumpet. Okay's music is a 'fusion' of Eastern tunes with salsa, samba, funk, and other foot-stomping, head-bopping, ass-wriggling grooves where '1' is never where one expects but is felt and is staggering."
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