Alper Tuzcu is a composer, music producer, and guitarist originally from Turkey. Tuzcu has released three albums: Macondo (2021), Aurora (2018), and Between 12 Waters (2016).[1] His music has been featured on NPR, BBC Radio, RTVE, and various international media channels.
Alper Tuzcu | |
|---|---|
 Alper Tuzcu in València (2014) | |
| Background information | |
| Born | 1990 (age 33–34) Istanbul, Turkey |
| Genres | |
| Occupations |
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| Instruments |
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| Years active | 2014-present |
| Website | www |
Tuzcu is a graduate of Berklee College of Music, where he is currently an Assistant Professor.[2]
Career
editIn 2012, Tuzcu performed at Umbria Jazz Festival, where he won the Berklee On The Road scholarship to study full-time at Berklee College of Music in Boston.[3]
In 2014, Tuzcu formed the Brazil-Mediterranean fusion music duo “Aigua” with Brazilian singer Bruna Lucchesi in València, Spain. Between 2014 and 2015, he also recorded twice with Grammy-winner producer Javier Limón (Paco de Lucía, Buika, Chucho Valdés, Bebo Valdés, Mariza, Aynur) in Spain.
In late 2015, he started a duo project called “Ark” with singer and composer Danielle Angeloni. The duo performed at YouBloom Festival in Los Angeles, Sidewalk in New York, and Hard Rock Cafe in Boston.[4] The duo released their first EP, Lately, in 2016. With “Ark,” Tuzcu was featured on "502 Sessions" by Emmy-nominated Dedham TV[5] and WEMF FM,[6] as well as various international media.[7][8]
Tuzcu's first album, Between 12 Waters, was published by Palma Records in 2016, featuring songs inspired from 12 different cultures around the world. This work features collaborations with vocalists Ganavya and Pia Salvia, among others.[9]
In 2017, Tuzcu released his first EP titled Lines and in 2018, he released his second solo album Aurora, featuring vocalists LASYA, Micaella Cattani, and Kat Kennedy, among other musicians.[10][11]
The following year, Tuzcu composed and recorded a bossa nova song titled "Felicidade," which features Brazilian vocalist Helena Beltrão. The song has reached more than 1 million streams on Spotify worldwide.
In 2020, he released several singles, including a lo-fi song titled "Uzaklarda," which made it to Spotify’s editorial playlist “Turkey Viral 50.”[12] That same year, Tuzcu also released two EPs, Migrante and Imagina, which were the first two parts of a larger project consisting in an EP trilogy.[13][14] On his 2020 EP, Migrante, Tuzcu composed music for a poem by Chilean poet Pablo Neruda, called "Con Ella."[15]
Tuzcu's EP Raíz, the final part of the trilogy, came out in 2021, featuring a collaboration with the percussionist of Snarky Puppy, Marcelo Woloski.[16][17] This EP was selected as one of the Top 10 EPs of 2021 by NPR-affiliate Latin Alt HD3, and one of the songs on this EP, "Afortunado," was selected for the NPR show World Cafe’s Best of 2021 LatinX playlist. A full length album compiling all three EPs, titled Macondo, was released the same year.
Between 2022 and 2023, Tuzcu released several singles, including a collaboration with Uruguayan-Canadian singer Gisun, "Tramuntana" featuring LASYA on bansuri and Tuzcu himself on bağlama,[18] a lo-fi track with South American folkloric influences titled "La Cordillera,"[19] and "Espírito," which mixes Brazilian samba and Uruguayan candombe rhythms.[20]
Discography
editAlbums and EPs
edit- Macondo (2021) (Palma Records)
- Raíz (2021) (Palma Records)
- Imagina (2020) (Palma Records)
- Migrante (2020) (Palma Records)
- Aurora (2018) (Palma Records)
- Lines (2017) (Palma Records)
- Between 12 Waters (2016) (Palma Records)
Singles
edit- "La Cordillera" (2023)
- "Espírito" (2023)
- "Tramuntana" (2022)
- "Azul" (2021)
- "Uç" (2020)
- "My Life Is Going On" (2020)
- "Uzaklarda" (2020)
- "Felicidade" (2019)
- "Morning View" (2019)
- "Guide Me Away (Instrumental)" (2019)
- "Joga" (2018)
Collaborations
edit- "Ancla" with Gisun (2022)
- "Singing In My Own Key" with Valerie Giglio (2017) (Forza Press)
- "Lately" by Ark (Alper Tuzcu and Danielle Angeloni) (2016)
References
edit- ^ Records, Palma. "Featured Releases | Palma Records". Palma Records. Retrieved 2017-12-22.
- ^ "Alper Tuzcu". Berklee.edu.
- ^ "Turkish lyricist Alper Tuzcu shares his world of music". The Sunday Times. 27 November 2016. Retrieved 20 October 2017.
- ^ Estukyan, Vartan (29 January 2016). "12 Suyun Hikayesi [The Story of 12 Waters] (in Turkish)". Agos (Armenian-Turkish Bilingual National Newspaper). Retrieved 3 March 2018.
- ^ "Dedham TV - 502 Sessions".
- ^ "WEMF FM, Band on Band: Ark". wemfradio.com.
- ^ "Ark, el nuevo proyecto de Alper Tuzcu". Muzikalia. 23 September 2016.
- ^ "Alper Tuzcu'nun duo projesi Ark'ın EP'si "Lately" yayınlandı". bantmag. 4 August 2016.
- ^ "Alper Tuzcu'dan sınırları kaldıran albüm [Album that crosses borders by Alper Tuzcu] (in Turkish)". Radikal (Turkish National Newspaper). 17 March 2016. Retrieved 2 February 2018.
- ^ "Bizi toplayın şarkılardan". 3 November 2018.
- ^ "Alper Tuzcu". Discography. Retrieved 20 March 2018.
- ^ "Latin American music and culture in Alper Tuzcu's new work". 21 February 2020.
- ^ "News: Guitarist and composer Alper Tuzcu releases his new EP, Migrante". 21 February 2020.
- ^ "News: Guitarist and composer Alper Tuzcu releases Imagina, part two of his EP series". 20 June 2020.
- ^ Parys, Bryan (2020-04-07). "Alper Tuzcu Translates Poetic Wisdom on 'Con Ella' | Berklee". Berklee.edu. Retrieved 2022-05-06.
- ^ "Alper Tuzcu: 'My new dream is to use my music to support multiculturalism'".
- ^ "News: Guitarist and composer Alper Tuzcu releases Raíz, the final part of his EP trilogy paying homage to Latin American culture". 25 February 2021.
- ^ "Alper Tuzcu'dan Yeni Tekli: "Tramuntana" [New Single by Alper Tuzcu: "Tramuntana"] (in Turkish)". Artfulliving.com.tr. October 25, 2022. Retrieved August 20, 2023.
- ^ "Alper Tuzcu'nun Yeni Teklisi "La Cordillera" Yayında [Alper Tuzcu's New Single "La Cordillera" Is On Air] (in Turkish)". Artfulliving.com.tr. August 20, 2023. Retrieved 2023-08-20.
- ^ "Alper Tuzcu Debuts "Espírito"". enchufate.com. Enchúfate. March 10, 2023.