Emre Kartari

Born into a family of musicians and artists in Ankara-Turkey, Emre Kartari moved to the United States when he was ten years old. Soon after moving, he began to study drums, which led to studying jazz percussion with T. Howard Curtis at the Virginia Commonwealth University. During this time, he toured the United States with the spoken-word, hip-hop group, Jazz Poets Society. While in New York, Emre studied with Adam Nussbaum, John Riley, Tony Moreno, Billy Hart and Jamey Haddad. He has performed with jazz greats including Charlie Byrd, Jim McNeely, Ralph Lalama, Vic Juris, Ron McClure, Mike Richmond and David Liebman. Emre holds an M.A. in jazz performance and composition from New York University and received the Barney Josephson Award in 2003. His first cd as a leader, Perpetual Anxiety, is released in Turkey under the Dogan Music label. As an educator, he worked with the New York Pops-Mentors in Music program. In 2005, he performed and recorded for the rock band Brindley Brothers, and the electric jazz group, Signals. He is currently playing and recording with his own quartet Origin, featuring David Liebman, John D'earth and Howard Curtis. Emre also recorded with the trio Big Girl, featuring Darius Jones and Trevor Dunn from John Zorn-Fantomas.