Asım Can Gündüz (August 15, 1955 – June 24, 2016) was a Turkish
rock and
blues guitarist. He was also known as ''Awesome John'', especially outside
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...
, partly because his name is pronounced very much like Awesome (''Asım'') John (''Can'').
Career
Gündüz lived in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...
until the early 1980s as ''John Gundez'', where he formed "Zacharia", a three-piece rock band playing his original material consisted of guitarist Harry Zaverdas who played bass, various drummers during its existence. ''John Gundez'' auditioned and was selected along with Harry Zaverdas to portray/perform as Jimi Hendrix, on drums was Robert Gottfried
http://robthedrummer.com/ they sold out four nights in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...
at
The Bottom Line night club "Jimi and Janis Together Again" show which toured as far as Chicago's largest indoor amusement park. His career in the United States was cut short after family obligations forced him to return to Turkey at the height of his United States career. In Turkey, he formed rock bands including Ambulans, Delikanlı, Affetmez, Çapkınlar, Hard Rakı. He finished the sessions for his first album ''
Anasının Gözü Cin Gibi'' in 1989, released three years later in 1992. Gündüz released his second album ''
Bir Sevgi Eseri / "A Work Of Love"'' which consisted of
Turkish language
Turkish ( , ), also referred to as Turkish of Turkey (''Türkiye Türkçesi''), is the most widely spoken of the Turkic languages, with around 80 to 90 million speakers. It is the national language of Turkey and Northern Cyprus. Significant sma ...
versions of blues singles in 1998.
After the year 2000 Gündüz resumed touring and performing outside of Turkey.
Death
Gündüz died of a heart attack on June 24, 2016, at his home in
İçmeler, Marmaris.
See also
*
List of Turkish musicians
*
Anatolian blues
Anatolian blues or Turkish blues music is a List of music styles, type of music that is a combination of Turkish folk music and blues. Yavuz Çetin, Asım Can Gündüz and Can Gox are the most known singers and musicians in Anatolian blues music.
...
References
External links
Sample video and audio files
*
*
Sample Video "AJ in Ortaca Full Length"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gunduz, Asim Can
1955 births
2016 deaths
Turkish rock guitarists
Turkish expatriates in the United States
Anatolian blues