Erkan Oğur

Infobox musical artist
Name = Erkan Oğur

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Img_capt = Erkan Oğur holding a "kopuz" lute in April 2007, giving a workshop in Rotterdam.
Landscape = yes
Background = non_vocal_instrumentalist
Born = 1954
Ankara, Turkey
Died =
Instrument = guitar, lute
Genre = Turkish folk
Occupation = composer, score composer, musician
Years_active = 1982–present
Label = Feuer und Eis, Kalan
Associated_acts = Telvin
URL =
Notable_instruments = Fretless classical guitar, fretless electric guitar, "kopuz" lute

Erkan Oğur (approximately "air-kahn ow-oor", IPA2|eɾkɑ̟n o:uɾ) or Erkan Ogur in the West (born 1954) is a Turkish musician. A pioneer of fretless guitars, he invented the first fretless classical guitar in 1976.Martinelli, op. cit.Unfretted, op. cit. A composer, he has influenced many musicians with his compositions combining the sounds of Turkish folk music, classical music with the ancient traditional music. He has played many concerts all over the world. He is regarded as a master of the "kopuz" and "bağlama" lutes.

Biography

Erkan Oğur was born in 1954, in Ankara, Turkey. He spent his childhood in Elazığ, eastern Turkey, where he got interested in violin and the Turkish "bağlama" lute, and started to practise them frequently. He graduated from high school in Elazığ, then moved to study physics at the Ankara University Faculty of Science from 1970 to 1973. As a result of encouragement to be a scientist by his father, he started to study chemical engineering and in 1974 continued his education in Munich, Germany, for three years. He was introduced to guitar education in 1973. Instead of being a scientist, he chose to be a musician. Since he needed detailed sounds from a guitar in order to obtain Turkish melodies, he modified his guitar and invented the fretless classical guitar in 1976.

In 1980, he returned to Turkey, and started to study at the State Conservatory of Istanbul Technical University. After his military service, he worked as an "oud" lute teacher. He had live performances with Fikret Kızılok and Bülent Ortaçgil where he contributed to scene with fretless guitar. He released his first album in Germany called "Arayışlar" "("Searches")". In 1989, he went to the U.S. to work with numerous local blues artists. He introduced fretless guitar into blues. A year later, he released his first album in Turkey, "Bir Ömürlük Misafir" ("Guest for a Lifetime"), which was ranked 4th in European lists. He still performs concerts through the world and in Turkey. He works with Kemal Eroglu on technical improvements on "bağlama" lute; and continues his performances with Fahir Atakoglu and Bülent Ortaçgil. In 2004, he played on Yansımalar's album "Pervane" "("Moth")". He is a member of the Telvin trio, which mainly performs Turkish folk music in improvised jazz style, with İlkin Deniz and Turgut Alp Bekoglu, and has released an album called "Telvin" in 2006.

His soundtrack for the 2004 movie "Yazı Tura" by Uğur Yücel won two awards: the 2004 Golden Orange for Best Music at the Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival, and the 2005 award for Best Music at the Ankara International Film Festival.

Discography

Chronologically, subsections by the date of their first item:

; Early works and collaborations

* 1982 - "Istanbul'da Bir Amerikalı"
* 1983 - "Perdesiz Gitarda Arayışlar" - small-distribution cassette

; Soundtrack albums and collaborations (by film date)

* 1989 - "Sis OST" - Zülfü Livaneli film soundtrack
* 1996 - "Eşkiya OST" "(The Bandit)" - with Aşkın Arsunan, Yavuz Turgul film "Eşkıya" soundtrack (Kalan, released 2000)
* 2003 - "Yazı Tura OST" - Uğur Yücel film soundtrack, (Kalan, released 2005)

; Solo and collaboration albums

* 1993 - "Fretless" (Feuer und Eis)
* 1996 - "Bir Ömürlük Misafir" - reworked reissue of "Fretless" (Kalan)
* 1998 - "Gülün Kokusu Vardı" - with İsmail Hakkı Demircioğlu (Kalan)
* 1999 - "Hiç" ("Nothing") - with Okan Murat Öztürk (Kalan)
* 2000 - "Anadolu Beşik" - with İsmail Hakkı Demircioğlu (Kalan)
* 2001 - "Fuad" - with Djivan Gasparyan
* 2006 - "Telvin" - in Telvin trio
* 2007 - "The Istanbul Connection"

; Featured on albums

* 1995 - "The Other Side of Turkey" - compilation, includes Oğur (Feuer und Eis)
* 2004 - "Pervane" "("Moth")" by Yansımalar - studio album, Oğur on four tracks (Kalan)

References

; Sources consulted

* Cite web
author = Martinelli, Francesco
month = October | year = 2001
title = "Erkan Oğur" (minibio and interview)
work = RootsWorld.com
url = http://www.rootsworld.com/interview/ogur.html
archiveurl = http://web.archive.org/web/20070106065310/http://www.rootsworld.com/interview/ogur.html
archivedate = 2007-01-06
* Cite web
author = Unfretted
date = December 2005 version
title = "History of the Fretless Guitar"
work = Unfretted.net
url = http://unfretted.net/loader.php?LINK=history
archiveurl = http://web.archive.org/web/20051231002733/http://www.unfretted.net/loader.php?LINK=history
archivedate = 2005-12-31

; Endnotes

External links

; Official sites
* [http://www.kalan.com/english/scripts/Album/dispkisi.asp?id=549 Discography of Erkan Oğur] at label Kalan.com – with MP3 samples
* [http://www.kalan.com/english/scripts/Album/dispgrup.asp?id=1165 Discography of Telvin] at label Kalan.com – with MP3 samples

; Other sites

* – some inaccuracies in dates and spellings
*