Tuna Ötenel was born in 1947. His father Ahmetoglu Cevdet Bey was a Bulgarian immigrant who was a notable multi-instrumentalist. Tuna started playing piano at early ages. By the age of five, he was already accompanying his father’s orchestra, playing dinner and dance music. Tuna , despite his young age, was trying to play not only the piano, but also the percussion and drums. These were the crucial years in Tuna’s musical evolution. While still in the elementary school, he got accepted to the Ankara State Conservatory. His classmates were so impressed by his musical memory, they nicknamed him “Devil Ear.” He studied with Ferhunde and Ulvi Cemal Erkin. He got exposed to jazz at these early ages, but paid the price for his passion severely by getting dissmissed from the Conservatory, althought he made perfect grades. ( Back then, it was unacceptable to have a tendancy towards any musical style other than the ones that were considered suitable for education. Jazz was certainly one of those forbidden fruits .)

In the forthcoming years, Ötenel played in his father’s orchestra and Children Choir of Ankara. In 1964, he joined Metin Gürel’s jazz orchestra. “ I learned jazz from Metin” says Ötenel. Metin Gürel opened new doors for Tuna by introducing him to alto saxophone and eventually to tenor and soprano saxophones. Having a strong background on piano and harmony, Ötenel soon became a natural master of saxophone, even one of the best of his generation.

After leaving Metin Gürel’s Orchestra, he joined Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow Orchestra alongside with Sanar Yurdatapan, Atilla Özdemiroglu, Cezmi Basegmez, all recognizable musicians of their time. Then, he joined drummer Erol Pekcan’s band. Together with Erol Pekcan and bassist Kudret Öztoprak , they recorded Turkey’s first jazz album “Caz Semai” in 1978. Except one traditional song, all compositions in this album were Tuna Ötenel originals.

In the years after, Ötenel crossed the boundaries of Turkey. He toured Europe with percussion guru Okay Temiz and ney-ist Aka Gündüz Kutbay. He joined trumpet player ‘Maffy’ Muvaffak Falay for a series of concerts in Sweden. He played on Okay Temiz’s highly acclaimed album ‘Zikir’.

In Turkey, Tuna joined forces with Emin Findikoglu Orchestra and TRT Jazz Band, giving countless performances. He occasionally jammed with such greats as Herbie Hancock, Benny Carter, Harry ‘Sweets’ Edison, Karyn Korg, Hilton Ruiz, Buster Williams.

“Vian Köpügü-L’Ecume De Vian ” was Tuna Ötenel’s first studio recording in four years and it was denominated as ‘The Jazz Album Of The Year’.

Tuna Ötenel played many concerts in France with Pierre Michelot and Philippe Combelle. In the year 2000, he recorded another album with the same musicians only with the addition of Brasilian trombone player Raoul De Souza, the album got released only in France. Again, he played many other concerts in France and Europe.

‘How Much Do You Love Me?’ is Ötenel’s fourth solo album and he got accompanied by very respected musicians of the Turkish jazz scene such as Imer Demirer on trumpet, Neset Ruacan on electric guitar, Kürsat And on bass and Ates Tezer on drums. He plays piano and saxophones on this album.


Discography
Caz Semai ( with Erol Pekcan, Kudret Öztoprak), 1978
Sometimes, 1994
Vian Köpügü-L’Ecume De Vian, 1998, Aura Records
Voyageur, 2000 (released only in France)
How Much Do You Love Me?, 2005, Aura Records