Cem Tan

Cem Tan is an avant-garde drummer, multi-instrumentalist and a composer known for his unique style that goes beyond the patterns and measurements generally understood in the conventional music scene. With his omnidirectional drumming and a polytonal fashion, he introduces another dimension to what we think, we know of the drums that renders them a harmonious instrument that can sing like the piano or the windy instruments. By being free from the conventional structures of the orchestra, Tan’s drums become the lead instrument giving the music its rhythmic direction, or non-direction and also equal in the melodics of the musical symbiosis. At an early age Tan started performing with bands in various genres from punk to metal, and by the age of 15 he was drumming and touring with the one of Turkey's most famous rock stars, Erkin Koray. Since 2001 he has been playing what he terms 'Free Form', a music or sound produced when musicians enter into a trance state and the emphasis turns to the dynamic ‘live’ moment. Most recently he has played and made albums with musicians including William Parker, John McFea, Peter Brotzman, Huseyin Ertunc, and Virginia Genta.