Arto Tunçboyacıyan is a US-based avant-gardefolk and jazz multi-instrumentalist and singer of Armenian-Turkish descent. He had appeared on more than 200 records in Europe before arriving in the United States, where he went on to work with numerous notable jazz musicians including Chet Baker, Marc Johnson, Al Di Meola, and Joe Zawinul, as well as performing semi-regularly with Paul Winter and the Earth Band. Tunçboyacıyan fronts his own group called the ArmenianNavy Band, and is also a member of the instrumental quartet Night Ark. He has worked with Turkish singerSezen Aksu and the Greek singer Eleftheria Arvanitaki. Tunçboyacıyan's elder brother Onno Tunç was also a musician, and they have collaborated on several occasions.
Early life
Arto Tunçboyacıyan was born in Istanbul. His father was a shoemaker of Armenian descent. At the age of 11, he began his career playing and recording traditional Anatolian music with various musicians, including his brother Onno Tunç, thus establishing himself as a professional musician throughout Turkey and Europe. In 1981, Tunçboyacıyan moved to the United States and settled in New York.
Career
Arto started an association with Armenian-American oud player Ara Dinkjian. In 1985, the quartet Night Ark was founded and led by Ara Dinkjian. Arto recorded the duo project with Ara Dinkjian "Tears of Dignity" and "Onno" homage to his brother Onno who died in a plane crash in 1996. In 1988, his solo albums Virginland and Main Root were released. In 1997 Aile Muhabbeti was released in Turkey and used as a movie soundtrack. He composed the songs with Armenian and Turkish musicians. In 2000 he released Every Day is a New Life. In 1998, Tunçboyacıyan returned to the Armenian capital, Yerevan, and met pianist and keyboardist Vahagn Hayrapetyan. They soon organised a rehearsal in order to recruit musicians to start a band. Ten local musicians were enlisted, thus becoming the Armenian Navy Band. Some months later, in 1999, the band recorded their first album, called Bzdik Zinvor, in Yerevan. The recording was followed by their first European tour in 2000, in Italy, Germany, Austria and Spain The band then performed concerts in France, Belgium and the Netherlands. During a 2001 stop in Istanbul, the Armenian Navy Band recorded their second album, New Apricot, in 2001. Armenian Navy Band's next album was Türkçe Sözlü Hafif Anadolu Müziği, recorded in the winter of 2001. Tunçboyacıyan's 2001 album Aile Muhabbeti was used as soundtrack in two films: Hemşo and Mon père est ingénieur. Serart is a collaboration with Serj Tankian of System of a Down. They found common ground in shared Armenian backgrounds and a passion for sonic explorations in creating music that is claimed to be "completely new." In the fall of 2003, a new project was born in a Yerevan studio. It was the beginning of a large sound project called "Sound of Our Life – Part One: Natural Seeds". The project was put together by Arto and the Armenian Navy Band, who joined their talents one more time in the fall of 2006 for Part Two. They are hourlong compositions for the ANB and choir and string orchestras. In 2004 Arto Tunçboyacıyan opened the ANB Avant-garde Folk Music Club in Yerevan. In 2006, the Armenian Navy Band was nominated for Best Band of Europe and the Audience Award at the 2006 BBCWorld Music Awards. There is a hidden track on the albumToxicity by System of a Down where Arto contributed with the band to a traditional Armenian Church hymn, "Der Voghormya ". He played the instrumental part of "Science" on the same album, and his voice can be heard in the interlude of "Bubbles" from Steal This Album! In 2007 he formed the group Yash-Ar with fellow Turkish-Armenian rock artist Yaşar Kurt. Yash-Ar is made up of first part of his and Yaşar Kurt's first names. In February 2011, Arto Tunçboyacıyan, as a band-member of The Paul Winter Consort, won the Grammy for Best New Age Album for Miho: Journey to the Mountain.
Armenian Navy Band
The Armenian Navy Band lineup varies from traditional to contemporary instrumentation. The band plays a mixture of adapted and modern Armenian folk music.
