Ulas hazar paganini biography

courtesy of Jazz Promo Services

Ulas Hazar (who is referred to consistently on his Web site as HAZAR, caps included) began his career as a virtuoso jazz player on the three-stringed Persian saz, having received a master’s degree at the Maastricht Academy of Music.

His debut album was entitled Virtuoso, earning him a reputation as “The Paganini of Saz.” (The album included a transcription of one of the Opus 1 solo violin caprices by Niccolò Paganini, along with arrangements of music by Johann Sebastian Bach, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and Chick Corea.)

After hearing him perform in Cologne, John McLaughlin suggested that he should shift over to guitar.

The result was a new album, Reincarnated, which was released this past August. Sadly, I have not been able to listen to Virtuoso for comparison; but HAZAR’s virtuosity on the guitar is definitely eyebrow-raising.

The new album is impressively eclectic, with international styles that range from the Brazili