Burak Bedikyan - Circle of Life

Burak Bedikyan is a burgeoning jazz pianist/composer from Turkey, on his debut album he is joined by three superb American jazz artists, star saxophonist Chris Potter, bassist Peter Washington and drummer Bill Stewart. They perform a set of original compositions by Bedikyan, plus the classic Beatles song Here, There and Everywhere.

Classically trained Bedikyan was introduced to jazz through a workshop in modern theory conducted by Aydin Esen, a widely respected Turkish jazz pianist and composer in 1996. Since then Bedikyan has thrived in jazz and here his development culminates in this debut album.

His music sits at the gateway of East and West, opening a window into his native culture, and helping to raise the profile of yet another nation on the jazz stage. - Neil Tesser

Personnel: Burak Bedikyan (piano), Chris Potter (saxophone), Peter Washington (bass), Bill Stewart (drums)