Erkan Ogur & Ismail Hakki Demircioglu

Erkan Ogur (born 1954, Ankara) is a Turkish musician.
He invented the first classical fretless guitar. He plays his own compositions and Turkish traditional music. Erkan Ogur also plays kopuz and baglama.
Biography
He spent his childhood in Elazig, east of Turkey. During his days in Elazig, he got an interest in violin and baglama (Turkish instrument), and he started to practise frequently. He graduated from high school in Ankara. As a result of encouragement to be a scientist by his father, he started to study chemical engineering and continued his education in Germany. He was introduced to guitar education in 1973. Instead of being an "average" scientist, he chose to be a "good" musician. Since he needed detailed sounds from a guitar in order to obtain Turkish melodies, he modified the guitar and invented the fretless guitar.
He returned to Turkey in 1980, and started to study in the Conservatoire of Istanbul Technical University. After his military service, he worked as an oud teacher. He had live performances with Fikret Kizilok and Bülent Ortacgil where he contributed to scene with fretless guitar. He released first album in Germany called Arayiþlar ("Search"). In 1989 he went to the USA to work with numerous local blues artists. He introduced fretless guitar into blues. A year later, he released his first album in Turkey, “Bir Ömürlük Misafir” ("Guest For A Lifetime"), which was ranked 4th in European lists. He recorded two Turkish Folk Music albums with Ismail Hakki Demircioglu which created a genuine effect on the Folk Music scene in Turkey: “Gülün Kokusu Vardi” (1998) and “Anadolu Besik” (2000) He still performs concerts through the world and in Turkey. He works with Kemal Eroglu on technical improvements on baglama; and continues his performances with Fahir Atakoglu and Bülent Ortacgil. He is a member of Telvin Trio and released an album called “Telvin” in 2006.

Ismail Hakki Demircioglu
Born in Rize in 1957, a small town on the shore of Black Sea. In 1980 he attended the State Conservatory of Istanbul Technical University where he met and began performing music with Erkan Ogur. After his graduation in 1984, he joined Ruhi Ayangil’s Turkish Music Orchestra and Chorus as a bass vocalist. In 1987 he joined Ruhi Su Dostlar Chorus. In 1998, reuniting with Erkan Ogur, recorded two duo and one solo album, performed in concerts in Turkey and all over the world.