Amsterdam based clarinetist/composer Oğuz Büyükberber’s style merges contemporary composition, jazz and influences from his Turkish background.

His body of work includes over 60 albums including releases on ECM and Blue Note, a detailed method book explaining his own improvisational systems, exhibitions of his visual art, university lectures and dozens of commissions he received to compose ensemble music as well as electro-acoustic and audio-visual pieces.  

He studied bass clarinet with Harry Sparnaay at Amsterdam Conservatory and took composition lessons from Theo Loevendie. Also holding another degree in fine arts, he incorporates his own visual art in his music work. His activities as a modular synthesizer artist is often presented under his alter ego artist name OX Barber.

Composing and Improvising in a cutting edge avant-garde setting is where he feels most at home. Be it all acoustic, all electronic or anything in between.

current projects

PROCESSING

SOLO PERFORMANCE

Oğuz Büyükberber Clarinet, Live Drawing, Modular Sythesizer

PROCESSING explores our complex and multi layered emotional responses that are often in dissonance with one or more messages we have ingrained in our minds. Because these messages are often conflicting with each other, the inevitable paradoxical nature of our reaction tends to leave us with unrest, and what needs to be processed becomes more than just what triggers us when we react to our response.  While this is true for everyone, people with disabilities experience it at a peculiar intensity as their perception is often greatly different from people without disabilities.

In PROCESSING, as a multi disciplinary artist and a 95% blind individual, Oğuz Büyükberber aims to create safe space to explore personal trauma in an expressive way while raising awareness to the wide spectrum of disabilities and their affect in people’s perception of reality and therefor how much it influences communication.  

Reflecting on his own distorted and very limited sight, Büyükberber layers gesture over gesture, texture over texture and idea over idea in this ever-evolving piece, full of juxtaposed references. Works by Max Ernst, Cy Twobly, Pierre Boulez, Kraftwerk, Bootsy Collins, Wendy Carlos, Alfred Hitchcock, Mauricio Kagel and, of course, John Cage, as well as Oğuz’s own personal history, dreams and nightmares form the basis of this work. Between the lines, or sometimes in your face, are elements linked to pop culture, comic books, science fiction, psychoanalysis, architecture and family drama.

VERGE

Oğuz Büyükberber Bass Clarinet, Sophie Hassfurther, Tenor Saxophone

Quotes:

"Sophie Hassfurther and Oğuz Büyükberber leave the familiar paths to engage in a dialogue which blends various styles. Expanding on Contemporary Music through Jazz, they create picturesque sound sculptures, that resonate both skillfully and powerfully."

Michael Ternai mica - music austria magazine

“It is clear in all of the pieces that fluidity as well as unpredictability of water underlies the playing of both musicians. There is always an element which challenges both performers yet ultimately lifts the music to a higher level where the musicians "collide". Nowhere do Sophie Hassfurther and Oguz Büyükberber get into trouble with each other, the elusive nature of water does indeed characterize their unity.”

Rinus van der Heijden jazznu.com

“Their interplay is strong, intimate and unerring”

Henk Jansen, De Klarinet

"An intense and different experience"

London Jazz News

"Music on the limits between notated material and improvised Jazz."

Rainer Bratfisch, Jazz Podium

discography

as leader, co-leader

2023 PROCESSING Oğuz Büyükberber Pantopia Music

2023 ode Oğuz Büyükberber as “Ox Barber” Bilgi Music

2023 IF Tüzün Büyükberber Kozlu Bilgi Music

2023 İki Abajur Oğuz Büyükberber Tolga Tüzün Bilgi Music

2022 Live at Roze Tanker Oğuz Büyükberber Tobias Klein Trytone

2021 37Fern Claron McFadden, Kristina Fuchs, Oğuz Büyükberber, Tobias Klein Trytone

2021 Live at ÖRF Oğuz Büyükberber Sophie Hassfurther Bandcamp

2020 Akbank Jazz festival 30th Special Edition Album

2020 Osmosis Oğuz Büyükberber as “Ox Barber” Bilgi Music

2021 Oğuz Büyükberber Simon Nabatov Broken Arreys Bandcamp

2020 The Power of Movement in Plants Oğuz Büyükberber Trio Trytone

2019 Mind Like Water Oğuz Büyükberber Sophie Hassfurther duo Sowiso

2018 White Oğuz Büyükberber Marc Sinan duo ECM

2018 Swamped NOT Trio - Büyükberber, McGowan, Tüzün LinRecords

2017 Off Monk Oğuz Büyükberber Quintet LinRecords

2017 Thought it was a party! Oğuz Büyükberber as “Ox Barber” Bilgi Music

2016 Reverse camouflage Oğuz Büyükberber Tobias Klein duo Trytone

2015 Wobbly strata Oğuz Büyükberber Simon Nabatov duo Trytone

2014 Live at the Bimhuis Oğuz Büyükberber, Simon Nabatov, Gerry Hemingway Trytone

2013 Injured / NOT trio - Büyükberber, McGowan, Tüzün Muzik Hayvanı / Bilgi Müzik

2012 Gibi - Oğuz Büyükberber Trio Trytone

2011 4 - Oğuz Büyükberber Lin Records

2010 OB3 - Oğuz Büyükberber, Tolga Tüzün, Demirhan Baylan

2010 Orient Express - Hassfurther, Büyükberber, Enzlberger, Reisinger

2009 Rooms - DBO +3DB Records

2009 Ara - Oğuz Büyükberber AK Müzik

2008 Recording the Grain Office R +3DB Records

2006 KOAN Karnatic Lab Records

2006 Mundane occurrences and Presentations Office R Lampse

2003 Bass Clarinet and other music related stuff Oguz Buyukberber

2002 Canlı - Oguz Buyukberber Quintet Ada Muzik

2000 Velvele - Oguz Buyukberber Ada Muzik

1998 A Z - Oguz Buyukberber & Caglayan Yildiz Ada Muzik

1997 Lodos - Buyukberber, Maden, Tezer, Yalay Ada Muzik

as sideman

2023 Bridging Bamako Berlin Pantopia Music

2023 EAT #17

2021 Survival Marc Sinan Company Pantopia Music

2021 Connecting Colors Vol. 2 Oene Van Geel ZenneZ Records

2020 Connecting Colors Vol. 1 Oene Van Geel ZenneZ Records

2017 The Chelys Songs Vassiliki Papageorgiou & Aliki Markantonatou Ada Müzik

2017 Follow me home - Anat Spiegel

2016 Sudoku - Oene Van Geel ZenneZ Records

2015 Chelys Songs Vassiliki Papageorgiou & Ailiki Markantonatou Ada Müzik

2014 Hasretim - Marc Sinan ECM Records

2014 Many Languages - One Soul Balkan Clarinet Summit Piranha

2013 Baby Steps - Cengiz Baysal Babajim Records

2012 Büyükberber Moods - Emaunele DeRaymondi Zerokilled Music

2011 Live At Nardis Jazz Club Vol 1 Focan Jazz

2010 Melting Pot Free Improvised Music from Istanbul WIRE Magazine Subscriber Special

2010 Soluk Ceylan Ertem

2009 Periphery Tolga Tüzün / AK Müzik

2009 Medcezir Karnatic Lab Records

2008 Yedi Yer, Yedi Gök - Ayse Tutuncu Piano Percussion Band Blue Note Records

2005 Panayır Ayse Tutuncu Trio Blue Note EMI

2005 Deli Fatma'nin Bilmeceleri - Demirhan Baylan DB

2005 N Live at Steim A-Version records

2004 N Sampler X-OR

2004 Kraakgeluiden Document 1 UnSoounds

2004 Anlamlı Hatalar - Demirhan Baylan DB

2001 Nix Tolga Tuzun Kalan Muzik

1999 Cesitlemeler - Ayse Tutuncu Piano and Percussion Band Ada Muzik

1998 Durga - Bosphorus EMI

1997 Istanbul - Craig Harris & The Nation of Imagination Doublemoon

1997 Last Boat to Halki Bosphorus EMI

1996 Balkan Dreams - Bosphorus

1995 Önder Foçan Group- Sekiz

commissioned Works

2023 OROCESSING Commissioned by Pantopia Music and Spreehalle

2021 Where are you from? Commissioned by Orkest de Ereprijs Funded by Fonds voor Podium Kunst (Dutch Performing Arts Funds)

2021 Distal Commissioned by Marc Sinan Company and Spreehalle

2019 Under the hood for two basset horns Commissioned by Basklarinetfestijn!, Funded by FPK

2016 Ormanda for Clarinet Choir Commissioned by Istanbul Clarinet Choir

2015 Don’t Do it yourself! For Clarinet Quartet. Funded by Fonds voor Podium Kunst (Dutch Performing Arts Funds)

2015 Barefoot Gen for chamber ensemble with improvising soloist and video. Commissioned by Dresdner Sinfoniker

2015 Don’t Faint! For String Quartet with video. Commissioned by Kairos Quartet, Funded by AusKlang Germany

2014 Crak for Flute and Live Electronics. Commissioned by Shackle 2014

2013 Spoor for 25 Piece Jazz Big Band. Commissioned by David Kweksilber Big Band, Funded By Fons voor Podium Kunst (Dutch Performing Arts Funds) 2013

2012 XY for Clarinet, Saxophone, video and live electronics. Commissioned by Duo X 2013

2012 3D in the Dark for Jazz Tentet. Funded by Fonds voor Podium Kunst (Dutch Performing Arts Funds)

2008 Up and Down for 11 Piece Chamber Ensemble. Commissioned by AXYZ Ensemble, Funded by Schepende Toon Kunst (Dutch Funds for the Creation of Music) 2008

2007 No What if for Jazz Nonet. Commissioned by Spinifex Orchestra, Funded by Schepende Toon Kunst (Dutch Funds for the Creation of Music) 2007

2006 Too Many Audio-visual fix media Composition. Commissioned and funded by Karnatic Lab

2006 1000 Audio-visual fix media Composition. Commissioned and funded by Karnatic Lab 2006

2006 Bug Audio-visual fix media Composition. Commissioned and funded by Karnatic Lab 2006

2005 ğurth3 Audio-visual fix media Composition. Commissioned and funded by STEIM