Arto Tunçboyaciyan, percussionist and singer, was born in Turkey in 1957 of Armenian descent of the Anatolian root.



Arto sings, accompanying himself on the traditional six-stringed sazebo, solos on the traditional double-reed duduk, and plays percussion. He has arranged 11 original compositions for a dynamic world music experience with this ensemble of 10 players.



Known most widely for his percussion work with jazz artists, such as Joe Zawinul, Al Di Meola, Chet Baker and Oregon, as well as with Greek artists such as Eleftheria Arvanitaki, Arto puts forth here for the first time the complete spectrum of his multi-faceted abilities.



Arto Tuncboyaciyan is a percussionist and singer who has assembled a dozen of Armenia’s finest musicians to form the Armenian Navy Band – the irony, in case you missed it, is Armenia is a landlocked country, but the acceptance of his audience and fans have become his ocean (his words, not mine). His sleeve notes are riddled with equally nonsensical new-age nuggets (‘I never fight against nature because I have never seen an “old fashioned orange”’!).



The music, however, more eloquently reflects his talent and freedom of spirit, with a style that is a varied mix of modern jazz and traditional sounds, or, as Arto prefers to call it, ‘Avant Garde Folk’. Probably best that he lets the music speak for itself.



Arto can be heard on variuos recordings including those of Chet Baker The Best Thing For You, Arthur Blythe Hipmotism and Night Song, Jim Pepper The Path, Marc Johnson Right Brain Patrol and Magic Labyrinth, Dino Saluzzi Mojotoro, Al Di Meola World Sinfonia, Heart of the Immigrants and Kiss Me Axe, Bob Berg Virtual Reality and Riddles, Hank Roberts Little Motor People, Mike Mainieri An American Diary, Joe Zawinul Stories of the Danube and My People, Oregon Oregon 97 and many other great recordings and featurings.