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Burak Bedikyan

A native of Istanbul, Bedikyan became interested in Jazz during high school with the commitment and passion to pursue a career as a professional musician. Formal music education began in 1996 with distinguished Turkish pianist & composer Aydin Esen where studies included modern harmony and jazz improvisation. Bedikyan attended the "Marmara University Faculty of Economic and Administrative Sciences" in the same year. While studying improvisational music, Bedikyan began explanding his harmonic base playing pop and rock gigs accompanying some of the leading popular figures of Turkey.

In 2002 Burak Bedikyan received a full merit-based scholarship of music performance from the "Istanbul Bilgi University Jazz Department" where he had the opportunity to study with esteemed musicians such as Donovan Mixon, Ricky Ford, Can Kozlu, Ali Perret, Tuna Otenel, and Imer Demirer. While actively performing with his professors, heads began turning in his direction from the Turkish jazz scene thanks to his musicality and stylistic versatility. Bedikyan recorded his debut album "Circle of Life" in 2012 in NY with internationally acclaimed artists; Chris Potter, Peter Washington and Bill Stewart. Published worldwide in 2013 by the prestigious record label SteepleChase, "Circle of Life" received positive feedback on the international arena from critics, journalists, as well as fans. January 2015 gave birth to the pianist’s second album as a leader. “Leap of Faith” featuring another all American line up including jazz greats Chris Cheek, Ron McClure and Billy Drummond. As in his first album, Bedikyan presents a set of original compositions rooted with the American jazz tradition but embracing his European influences as well as his Turkish/Armenian heritage.

Bedikyan became one of the foremost piano players of his native country as a leader and a highly sought after sideman for a variety of American and European Jazz artists. A true improvisational triple threat finds Bedikyan performing, recording and teaching across the globe.

The musical resume of contemporaries that Bedikyan has shared a stage with over the last fifteen years includes:

Benny Golson, Chris Potter, Chris Cheek, Vincent Herring, Stefano DiBattista, Wynton Marsalis (houseband at the 14th Istanbul International Jazz Festival 2007/Nardis Jazz Club), Jim Rotondi, Sean Jones, Dusko Goykovich, Brian Lynch, Kevin Mahogany, Jenny Evans, Ricky Ford, Andy Middleton, Harvie S, Aydin Esen, Maffy Falay, Kestutis Vaiginis, Donovan Mixon, Ron McClure, Peter Washington, Eric Revis, Johannes Strasser, Bill Stewart, Billy Drummond, Ted Poor, Joris Dudli, Jean-Loup Lognon, Alexandre Tassel, Melba Joyce, Deborah Davis, Brigitte Beraha, Dennis Jeter, Larry Price, Leah Kline, and Mark Alban Lotz.

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Album Review

Burak Bedikyan: Introspection

Read "Introspection" reviewed by Hrayr Attarian


Pianist Burak Bedikyan's sixth release on Steeplechase, the absorbing Introspection, took shape around a short, commissioned piece. The organizers of Turkey's oldest jazz festival, the Akbank, asked for the composition for its thirtieth anniversary in 2021. As Bedikyan started work on this, he improvised extensively on his home piano and recorded these experiments. The result is moving and contemplative music which is melancholic yet hopeful, simultaneously ethereal and earthy. The angular “Call for Peace" opens with sparse chimes ...

7
Album Review

Burak Bedikyan: Istanbul Junction

Read "Istanbul Junction" reviewed by Hrayr Attarian


Istanbul-born and New York-based pianist Burak Bedikyan is an inventive composer and intelligent improviser with a subtle touch. His fifth release, the intimate and cinematic Istanbul Junction, showcases his talents fully as he leads a new band through nine of his captivating originals. The album's overall ambience is dramatic and darkly-hued, and the various tracks expand within it with vibrant poetry. The main theme of “Moods," for example, consists of expectant and simmering refrains. These progress into an ...

4
Album Review

Burak Bedikyan: New Beginning

Read "New Beginning" reviewed by Hrayr Attarian


On his fourth release as a leader, the thoughtful and captivating New Beginning, pianist Burak Bedikyan has matured both as a composer and improviser. The album is Bedikyan's first with a trio and consists mostly, although not entirely, of original material. The cadence and the melody within each piece transform in delightfully surprising ways while maintaining thematic consistency both within individual tracks and among them. For instance, “Rue Dauphin" starts off with Bedikyan's contemplative, unaccompanied refrains. Bassist Jay ...

4
Album Review

Burak Bedikyan: Awakening

Read "Awakening" reviewed by Hrayr Attarian


On his third release as a leader, Istanbul based pianist, Burak Bedikyan seamlessly blends his dual education in western classical and jazz and his national/ethnic heritage into an intriguing and cohesive album. Awakening comprises of nine Bedikyan originals that are elegantly crafted balancing intricate harmonies with deceptively effortless fluidity. The gently rolling refrains on the lilting ballad “Mother Earth," for instance, have a warm, Near Eastern lyricism. Saxophonist Loren Stillman embellishes the melancholic theme with yearning spontaneous phrases ...

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Critical acclaim includes:

"The Turkish pianist's impressive debut album is steeped in modernist references. ... the trio tracks flow with contemporary lyricism." Financial Times - Mike Hobart (**** Financial Times August 9, 2013)

"...The pianist's prismatic chords, brooding tone, swift tempo-shifts and sharp dynamic range provide a rich foundation for Chris Potter's improvisation on tenor, with Stewart providing apt, skittery support ... Whether Bedikyan manages to break out with a fully distinctive sound in the future is open to debate, but this effort leaves no doubt that he's got the chops, taste and range to do so-here's hoping he lets more of his imagination run wild." DOWNBEAT - Peter Margasak (***Downbeat February 2014)

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Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Introspection

SteepleChase Records
2022

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Istanbul Junction

Steeplechase Lookout
2020

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New Beginning

SteepleChase Records
2018

buy

Awakening

Steeplechase Lookout
2016

buy

Leap of Faith

Steeplechase Lookout
2015

buy

Circle of Life

Steeplechase Lookout
2013

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