Biography

My first instrument was saxophone, then I got an electric bass in high school to play in a rock band with friends. With no plans to become a professional musician, I started working as a glassblower after high school. As much as I loved this job, fate had other plans for me. I attended Virginia Commonwealth University and obtained a B.A. in Jazz Performance. It was there I first discovered double bass and quickly fell in love. Since then, I have been playing bass full-time all over Virginia, the U.S., and lived for several years in Turkey, primarily in Istanbul. I am now based in the wonderful city of Chicago.

I have toured with The Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, salsa band Bio Ritmo, and famed folk musician and fretless guitarist Erkan Oğur. I have performed everything from solo work to full orchestra. I performed several musical theater works including Waitress, Copacabana, Ain't Misbehavin', The Silver Belles, and others.

Musicians I Have Performed With

Some of the musicians I have performed with include:

Jimmy Cobb, Hod O'Brien, Ricky Ford, Lonnie Liston Smith, Steve Davis, Nasheet Waits, Enrico Rava, René Marie, Willie Jones III, Darrell Green, Justin Kauflin, Billy Williams Jr., Dave Allen, Howard Levy, John D'Earth, Rex Richardson, Kevin Mahogany, Charles Owens, Allan Harris, Howard Curtis, Ferenc Snétberger, Erkan Oğur, Selim Selçuk, Dena DeRose, İlham Gencer, İmer Demirer, Neşko Neşhev, Nedim Nalbantoğlu, and many, many others.

A Personal Note

When I got my first bass, my father asked, “Why bass? You always need other people to play with, why not guitar?” While definitely not true, my favorite thing about playing music is the communication and interaction with other musicians, and bass has always felt like the perfect role for me.

Selected Discography

Some albums I have played on include:

Ap Connection Juke

Ap Connection

Tamer Temel Serbest Düşüş

Sarp Maden Durgun Sular

Sarp Maden Durmaksızın

Erkan Oğur Kimse Kalmadı  

İmer Demirer You, Me and Char

Ayşe Gencer But Beautiful

Balkan Messengers Labyrinth

Çağıl Kaya Şimdilik Her Şey Yolunda

Ercüment Orkut Persona

Devils Workshop Big Band Idle Hands

Can Gox Yalnızım Ben

Poser

Şenay Lambaoğlu

Sibel Köse

Selim Selçuk Miles Kucles
Arfana

Shows, Musical Theatre & Ensemble Performances

Ella and Her Fella Frank

Copacabana

Waitress

Silver Belles

Ain’t Misbehavin’

Orchestras

Chamber Ensembles