Timucin Sahin has been recognized as one of today’s truly unique voices of contemporary jazz music by publications such as San Francisco Bay Guardian, AllaboutJazz, Jazzwise, Downbeat and Jazz-Times as well as by many others.
His unique sound on fretless electric guitar and his emotional content in his composing made him non-comparable and his music almost impossible to categorize.
Both his compositions and his playing on his double-neck guitar – his trademark – radiate an incomparable individualism.
His music is drawn from a wide body of knowledge and experience, often developed from his considerable skills as a guitarist. He employs improvisation but in ways hard to separate from the sound of his notated music. His music is characterized by a delicacy of instrumental imagination and rhythmic structures, which have much flexibility though clearly pulse derived.
Audiophile audition described his music as follows: “There is a lot going on in Sahin’s ample assortment of tones and experimentation and his approach to composition and performance necessitates active involvement. But to apply a one-time film student’s simile, it is like delving into a David Lynch or Atom Egoyan movie: on subsequent tries understanding and insight start to occur. “ Timucin Sahin, born in Turkey, immigrated to Holland as a young man to study jazz guitar and classical composition in Hilversum and Amsterdam Conservatories. Then he continued his studies at the Manhattan School of Music.
He was awarded first prize at the prestigious Dutch Jazz Competition in 2001 and second prizes at the Jur Naessens Music Award in 2002, and Deloitte Jazz Award in 2006.
His third record as a leader “BAFA” is widely regarded as one of the most unique and uncompromising jazz recordings of contemporary jazz of today.
Raul d’Gama Rose at All About Jazz wrote: “The language of saxophone-guitar dialogues has never been the same after Coleman’s legendary Harmolodic duels with Pat Metheny. There is a chance that Timucin Sahin may have crossed that horizon after all, with Bafa” He recently released his quintet album “INHERENCE” which is reviewed by Downbeat as “very impressive, visceral yet also cerebral and feisty quintet album”.
Timucin Sahin played and/or recorded with Randy Brecker, Greg Osby, Robin Eubanks, Kai Eckhardt, Mike Mainieri, Mark Turner, Tony Moreno, Aydin Esen, Gene Jackson, Dave Kikoski, Ernst Reizeger, John O’ Gallagher, Owen Hart Jr, Donny McCaslin, Tyshawn Sorey, Thomas Morgan, Ralph Alessi, Tom Rainey, Sean Rickman, Loren Stillman, Russ Lossing, Dan Weiss, Concertgebouw Jazz orchestra, to name a few.
He has composed for and commissioned by Amsterdam Percussion Group, Occult Ensemble, Mivos String Quartet, Timetable Percussion Ensemble,Enric Monfort Ensemble, Ere Lievonen, Verso, Amsterdam Conservatory Symphonic Orchestra, Brisk Quartet, TobeSung, Loadbang and others.
Timucin shares his concepts about his sui-generis guitar playing and composing in masterclass situations. Notable engagements include: Manhattan School of Music New York (USA), NYU New York (USA), Amsterdam Conservatory (NL), Tilburg Conservatory (NL).
Timucin Sahin is also a PhD candidate in composition at NYU Arts and Science and has been conducting his PhD thesis.