Omar Faruk Tekbilek

Personal life

Tekbilek's father was a Turk, a religious man who called out the prayers during services in a mosque. His mother was from Egypt, and her love of the music of Reyad Elsonbaty was passed to her son, who grew up loving Arabesque music. As a young man, Faruk had studied Sufism, and had thought of devoting his life to this mystical branch of Islam. At age 15, he decided to become a professional musician, and quit school. With his brother, he moved to Istanbul, where he befriended a mystical saxophone player named Ismet Siral, who had developed an approach to music based upon intuition: "He would say things like, let's play for birds, let's play for pictures".

In 1971, Tekbilek toured the United States with a Turkish folk ensemble and met his future wife. After completing his compulsory military service in Turkey, Tekbilek returned to America and found few opportunities for a musician of his training. He worked in an apparel factory in Rochester, New York during the week and played with a band called the "Sultans" during his free time; the band was formed with his brother-in-law and a variety of musicians with roots in the eastern Mediterranean. Initially the band focused on pop, but it soon moved to music with an eastern Mediterranean sound, where Tekbilek could exercise his talents.

Over the next 12 years, Tekbilek honed his craft and had three children, continuing to work in an apparel factory. But in 1988, he was "discovered" by Brian Keane who was looking for a specific sound to include in his soundtrack for the movie Suleyman The Magnificent. Keane became Tekbilek's producer, and gradually Tekbilek became better known. Since 2010, Tekbilek has become well known in his native Turkey.

Awards and honors

Tekbilek 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.

Projects with other musicians

Tekbilek has participated in the album Umoja by the Dutch band BLØF. He played on the single Mens which stayed for 12 weeks in the Dutch charts.

In August 2011 the album "Rock the Tabla" was released featuring Omar Faruk Tekbilek, A. R. Rahman, Hossam Ramzy, Billy Cobham & Manu Katché.

Discography

1. The Sultans Middle Eastern Band Vol 1 (1981)
2. The Sultans Middle Eastern Band Vol 2 (1982)
3. Best of Sultans (1986)
4. Suleyman The Magnificent (1988)
5. Fire Dance (1990)
6. Beyond The Sky (1992)
7. Whirling (1994)
8. Fata Morgana (1995)
9. Mystical Garden (1996)
10. Crescent Moon (1998)
11. One Truth (1999, World Class/Hearts of Space Records)
12. Dance into Eternity: Selected Pieces 1987–1998 (2000)
13. Alif (2002)
14. Tree Of Patience (2005)
15. Rare Elements (Remixes) (2009)
16. Kelebek (Butterfly) (2009) [1]
17. Best of Omar Faruk Tekbilek “Longing” (2010) [2]
18. Dance for Peace "Sufi Selections of OMAR FARUK TEKBILEK" (2011) [3]
19. The Meeting of The Legends "Askin Project" (2012) [4]
20. Love Is My Religion (2016)