Aydin Esen

From the start of his life Aydin Esen absorbed music, shaping a piano approach that fuses his Turkish background with post-bop jazz. His trumpeter father placed him in a conservatory at age five, where he stayed for thirteen years. Although his schooling centered on classical repertoire, he also took pleasure in drumming. At ten he began leaving school without permission to perform with other musicians, and as a teenager he fronted several ensembles across a wide range of styles. Esen first reached the United States on a four-year Berklee scholarship that he completed in a single year. Further study at the New England Conservatory of Music and Juilliard led to work with Gary Burton, Eddie Gomez, Pat Metheny, and Emily Remler. He has appeared on recordings for JMS, Jazz City, Gramavision, and one Columbia project, the 1992 album Anadolu, recorded with a larger ensemble. His twenty-first-century releases include Living (2001, featuring Miroslav Vitous and Vinnie Colaiuta), Dialogo (2005), and the companion albums Light Years and Extinction (both 2006) on his own Extinction label.