Artist Info: Tanburi Cemil Bey

Tanburi Cemil Bey (1871–1916) was a Turkish tanbur, yaylı tanbur, kemençe, and lavta virtuoso and composer, who greatly contributed to the taksim (improvisation on a makam/maqam) genre in Turkish classical music. His son, Mesut Cemil, was an equally renowned tanbur virtuoso.

Cemil Bey was born in Istanbul in 1871, though his precise birth date is uncertain. He took his first lessons in music from Kanuni Ahmet Bey and the violin player Kemani Aleksan, his first instruments thus being the violin and the kanun. [read more...]