Okay Temiz

Okay Temiz is a Turkish percussionist and drummer, born in Istanbul in 1939. He played professionally from 1955, then settled in Sweden, where he worked with Don Cherry and South African musicians. He is known for a jazz fusion built on Turkish rhythms and folk music, and for leading the group Oriental Wind. Temiz studied at the Ankara Conservatory and played on Don Cherry's Orient and Organic Music Society. In 1971 he toured Europe and America with Cherry and the bassist Johnny Dyani, and in 1972 he formed the trio Xaba with Dyani and trumpeter Mongezi Feza (Music for Xaba).