Alper Yilmaz

Being based in Brooklyn, NY and Istanbul, Turkey, bassist, composer, and arranger Alper Yılmaz started playing guitar in 1980 at the age of 11 and took electric bass as his main instrument in 1993. After recording with Tuna Ötenel in his 1995 record "Sometimes" from Uzelli Records, he moved to the U.S. to complete his Ph.D. in economics at UC Davis. During his studies, he performed regularly in Northern California and held the bass chair of the UC Davis Jazz Big Band.

In December 2000, Alper moved to New York and has established himself as a promising and active player of his generation on the local scene. He released his debut recording "Clashes" from Kayique Records in the U.S. (2007) and A.K. Müzik in Turkey (2008). Nominated by the Village Voice for “Best Debut Album of 2007” and picked by Bob Weinberg of the Jazziz as “new and noteworthy,” Clashes received excellent reviews by acclaimed critics including Bill Milkowski of the JazzTimes and Jonathan Herrera of the Bass Player. Alper’s second album as a leader, "Over the Clouds," was released from Kayique Records (2010) and Lin Records in Turkey (2011) and it received rave reviews from critics.

Since 2011, Alper has recorded with artists including Kolektif Istanbul, Ulkem Ozsezen, Sarp Maden, Ercument Orkut, Serhan Erkol, Basak Yavuz and Banu Kanibelli. He released his third album as a leader, "Different City, Different Mood" from Kabak & Lin Records in 2015 with Ercument Orkut on piano and Volkan Öktem on drums.