Omar Faruk Tekbilek & Steve Shehan

Ömer Faruk Tekbilek (born 1951, Adana, Turkey), also known as Omar Faruk Tekbilek, is a Turkish virtuoso flautist. He is known for his performances with the ney in a Sufi style. Honored as a peacemaker and virtuoso, Omar Faruk Tekbilek is now one of the most sought-after musicians, whose work transcends political boundaries while maintaining traditional sensibilities in a way few artists can manage. Omar Faruk Tekbilek has since established himself as one of the world's foremost exponents of Middle Eastern music. A multi-instrumentalist par excellence, he has collaborated with a number of leading musicians of international repute such as jazz trumpeter Don Cherry, keyboard player Karl Berger, ex-Cream rock drummer Ginger Baker, Ofra Haza, Simon Shaheen, Hossam Ramzy, Glen Velez, Bill Laswell, Mike Mainieri, Peter Erskine, Trilok Gurtu, Jai Uttal and Steve Shehan among others. He has contributed to numerous film and TV scores and to many recordings including world sacred music albums, and has been touring extensively throughout the Middle East, Europe, Australia, North and South America. Omar Faruk’s music is rooted in tradition, but has been influenced by contemporary sounds. He views his approach as “cosmic” and his commitment to music runs deep. The four corners of his creativity emanates mysticism, folklore, romance, and imagination. Like Omar Faruk himself, his music symbolizes diversity-in-unity. Omar Faruk is the recipient of the "Best Artist of the Turkish Music Award 2003" from the "Turkish Writers Association". He is a nominee for the BBC World Music Award 2003 in the category of the Middle East. He is also the recipient of the US Golden Belly Musician-Of-The-Year-Award, for 1998 and again, for 1999. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.