Mazhar Fuat Özkan (or MFÖ) has been an institution in Turkey for more than 30 years, although their roots can be traced all the way back to 1966, when Mazhar Alanson and Fuat Guner met over a mutual love of the Beatles. By the 1970s, with Özkan Ugur now among their ranks, MFÖ began their award-winning reign that included fan favorites “Ele Gune Karsi,” “Bodrum Bodrum,” “Ali Desidero” and “New York Sokaklarinda.” The band represented Turkey twice in the Eurovision Song Contest (in 1985 and 1988). With sentimental as well as humorous lyrics that speak to the lives of the Turkish people-and a richly harmonic folk-rock sound that has been compared to Crosby, Stills & Nash and Simon & Garfunkel-Mazhar Fuat Özkan remains one of the most respected and beloved bands in Turkey. http://www.mfo.com.tr Painted on Water is the title of both the band and the ambitious new recording project featuring Sertab Erener, one of the most eminent voices in Turkish pop music, and Turkish rock star, Demir Demirkan, her producer, arranger and songwriting partner. The album, with lyrics in English, combines traditional Turkish folk song with American jazz, pop/rock and blues and features guest appearances by such A-list musicians as jazz guitar giants Al Di Meola and Mike Stern, bassist Kai Eckhardt, keyboardists Alan Pasqua and Tulug Tirpan, drummer Dave Weckl and percussionist Trilok Gurtu. The classically trained Erener is the first and only Turkish artist to win first prize in the esteemed Eurovision competition, with "Every Way That I Can," a song she wrote with the multi-talented Demirkan, who has released 6 albums and 2 film scores, one being a recent Critic's Award Winner. http://www.paintedonwater.com Born in Bergama, a small town in the Aegean region of Turkey, Husnu Senlendirici-who has collaborated with Di Meola, tabla legend Zakir Hussain and Bulgarian clarinetist Ivo Paposov-is a prolific conservatory-trained Turkish master whose debut album, The Joy of Clarinet, held the number 1 position on Turkey´s pop charts for three months, a record-setting first for an instrumental album. Says the prolific New York trumpeter and bandleader Frank London, “In Turkey, the clarinet is their saxophone and Husnu is Michael Brecker, Branford Marsalis and Maceo Parker all rolled into one. He is constantly pushing the envelope in any musical setting, raising the bar whether playing pop, improvisation, progressive folk or dance music.” http://www.husnusenlendirici.com Vassilis Saleas is considered the foremost clarinetist in Greece and is a highly regarded solo artist in his homeland. A former accompanist for Mikis Theodorakis, Dionisis Savopoulos, and Stamatis Spanoudakis, Saleas is best known for his work accompanying Greek new age instrumentalist Vangelis. http://www.facebook.com/pages/Vassilis-Saleas/62955557418 On their now-classic album "In The Buzbag" (released in 1998) featuring Laco Tayfa and Husnu Senlendirici, the Brooklyn Funk Essentials experimented with a new hybrid taking funk, hip-hop, dub sounds and placing them right into the melodies, rhythms and chants of the East. A world fusion collaboration of the highest order. http://www.myspace.com/brooklynfunkessentialsmusic Under the leadership of the young Macedonian / Turkish clarinet virtuoso Ismail Lumanovski, the New York Gypsy All Stars Band has amazed audiences with their jazz-inflected Gypsy and Turkish songs. Time Out New York calls Lumanovski “an adventurous, modern-minded frontman, who leads his band through a varied terrain of Balkan, Turkish and Romany selections, spiked with jazz and Western styles.” http://www.myspace.com/nygypsyallstars Emre Yilmaz studied at the Istanbul State Conservatory and toured with Sertab Erener as her back-up vocalist. He moved to the US to continue his classical guitar studies at the Interlochen Arts Academy in Michigan. Two years later, he was accepted to the classical guitar program at the Eastman School of Music where he received his Bachelor's degree. Since 2003, Emre has worked on numerous projects with songwriter/ producer Ayhan Sahin, including his latest single “Only Yesterday.” http://emreyilmaz.info A graduate of Berklee College of Music, vocalist/composer Christiane Karam is a founding member of the acclaimed ZilZALA Middle Eastern Ensemble which blends classical, traditional and folk music from Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, North Africa, Armenia, Turkey and the Balkans with contemporary jazz. Christiane has performed with the likes of Bulgarian legend Yanka Rupkina, pianist/composer Ran Blake, as well as with vocal prodigy Bobby McFerrin in Carnegie Hall's 2008 production “Instant Opera!.” She is also an award-winning songwriter (the USA Songwriting Competition, SESAC, the John Lennon Songwriting Contest) and has been featured on VH1 and PBS. http://christianekaram.com/