Orhan Demir

Orhan Demir (Turkish: [ˈoɾhan ˈdemiɾ]; born 1954 in Istanbul, Turkey) is a Canadian jazz guitarist. His first release, in 1986, was The Way I See You; his second release, in 1987, was North West; the third album was 1989's Windmill; in 1990 he released the solo acoustic album Sultan of Strings, followed by Hot Cargo (1993), Originals (1997), Guitar Plus (1998), Originals Vol. 2 (2018), Freedom in Jazz (2019), Freedom in Jazz Vol. 2 (2020), and the Ziggurat DVD (2021). Orhan Demir recordings received great reviews from Jazz Times, Down Beat, Guitar World, Cadence, Options, Coda, Jazz Journal and others.

Orhan Demir
Demir in the early 2000s
Background information
Genres	Jazz
Labels	Hittite Records

Brief Biography

Demir, born September 29, 1954, in Istanbul, immigrated to Canada in 1977. His albums were cited by respected magazines such as DownBeat.^[1]

Orhan Demir's style is an interesting blend of Be-Bop rhythms^[2] set against a middle-eastern scale^[3] played with a fast picking technique.^[2] He has been compared to Django Reinhardt.^[3]

Musicians

• Orhan Demir - guitar
• Neil Swainson - acoustic bass
• Barry Elmes - drums
• Rick Lazaroff - electric bass
• Jack Vorvis - drums
• Thomas Oreynicki - bass
• Francois Briere - t. saxophone
• Perry Pansieri - drums

Selected discography

• The Way I See You (1986)
• Northwest (1988)^[4]
• Windmill (1989)
• Sultan Of Strings (1990)
• Hot Cargo (1993)^[1]
• Guitar Plus (1998)^[2]
• Originals (1997)^[3]
• Originals Vol.2, (2018)
• Freedom in Jazz, (2019)
• Freedom in Jazz, Vol.2 (2020)
• Ziggurat in 2021.
• Freedom in Jazz, Vol. 3 (2023).
• Wicked Demon (2025)