Önder Focan & Jaxsix
Önder Focan
(TURKEY)
mainstream & modern jazz with Turkish overtones
Turkey’s most famous jazz guitarist has performed many times in Pori with different bands. Born 1955, Focan started playing at 15 and got into jazz five years later.
Since 1985 he has performed both in Turkey and in other countries. His first album, Jazz Guitar, came out in 1994 on mini-disc. The same year saw the release of his debut CD, Önder Focan Group’s Erken. Focan played MIDEM’s Guitar Night in 1997 with Terje Rypdal, Seppo Tyni, Ximo Tebar and Jan Ackermann. The next year he made Beneath The Stars for Blue Note with drummer Billy Stewart and organist Sam Yahel. He is the only Turkish Blue Note artist so far. As a leader Önder has made nine albums, including the duo work Reminisce (2003, Blue Note) with bassist David Friesen, and Standard A la Turc (2001, Blue Note), featuring Finnish and Turkish musicians.
Jaxsix
(FIN)
modern jazz, be-bop
The sextet of Pori Jazz Festival’s founding fathers has been around as long as the festival and they are still going strong. Concentrating on classics by the likes of Cannonball Adderley and Horace Silver, they often feature the late Charles Mingus’ trumpet player Ted Curson as a special guest.