Born in Germany in 1976, Orhan Osman began his journey as a musician in Greece and spent many years cultivating his unique sound in the United States and Bulgaria as well as on stages in France, Germany, and Kazakhstan. Arriving in Turkey, Osman's mastery of the buzuki led him to many recording opportunities as a studio musician; Orhan Osman also continued to work on integrating the Greek sound he loved with the multitude of sounds he had added to his repertoire on the road. Around this time Orhan Osman took on the nick-name that his followers had fondly bestowed upon him and became Orhan "Buzuki" Osman. By 2000, Osman was widely regarded as an unparalleled talent on the buzuki and was invited to teach at the Klezmer & Greco Turkish music/CrossRoad Istanbul-New York workshop in Germany which was organized by Muammer Ketençoglu. Upon his return from Germany, Osman found inspiration for a new stage project called "Balkan Express", which showcased his musical interpretations of Bulgarian, Roman, Greek, Indian, and Turkish melodies. The project was a success both acoustically and visually, leading to a crop of devoted fans and an international and domestic demand for Osman to tour extensively with the "Balkan Express" project. Culling material for his first album, "Devr-i Alem", from "Balkan Express" performances, Osman realized that the release of his debut album would be incomplete without a companion stage show. The accompanying stage show was of epic proportions, consisting of 40 member orchestra - which made the music louder and clearer than ever - and a narrative to the songs that led to an audio-visual feast. In December of 2002 Orhan Osman revamped "Balkan Express" and started performing with yellow copper saz instruments under the title "Istanbul Brass Band". A few months down the road Osman unveiled a new project he christened "Bosphorus Kumpania" interpreting traditional Rembetico songs in a modern arrangements. The sound was a fusion of world sounds and his own, a sound that was quickly coming to define Orhan Osman. In 2004, Orhan Osman released his second album "Gökkusagi" as a record of the sounds that tempt his listeners to cross borders and boundaries to see his spectacular stage shows. His latest album "Reminiscing", released on Doublemoon in October is a blend of jazz melodies and classical harmonies, displaying that Orhan Osman has a singular talent for arranging sumptuous songs with not just his beloved buzuki, but also strings, woodwinds, and percussion. Adding devoted fans to his entourage everywhere he plays, Orhan Osman and his orchestra have crowded stages in Belgium, Germany, England; tantalized audiences at festivals like Sfinks (2004), Cultures of the World (2003) in Lohmar and the "Humba Party" at the Köln Carnival. In support of "Reminiscing" Orhan Osman is taking off on a 15 city tour in Germany beginning November 2005. Source: http://exoticmusicshop.com/sf-article_info-of-Orhan_Osman-aid-62-tp-7_8.htm Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.