He was born in Istanbul in 1961. He studied piano with Rana Erksan at the Istanbul Municipal Conservatory in 1967, and continued his musical education at the Istanbul State Conservatory between 1972 and 1979. During these years, he took violin and viola lessons from Gönül Gökdoğan and Özer Sezgin. He started to play jazz with Elvan Aracı.
He has performed at the various clubs in Istanbul both with Turkish and foreign musicians. Some of the musicians he has played with are: Ed Howard, Rabin Kenyata, Doris Troy, Vinnie Night, Eric Revis, LaVerne Butler, Allan Harris, Clifford Jarvis, Harvey Thompson, Russell Gunn, Steve Kirby, Alvester Garnett. During multiple jam sessions, he has played with Ralph Moore, Pat Metheny, Kenny Garret, Tomy Campbell, Joshua Redman and Wynton Marsalis. Recently, he has performed in two concerts with Elvin Jones Jazz Machine in Eskisehir Festival.
In 1995, he released his first CD, Hands and Lips, followed by his second CD, I Love May, in 1996, both comprising his own compositions. Kerem Görsev released his third album, For Murat, in November 1996. He has finished his fourth album, Relaxing. Eric Revis and Bob Demeo accompanied him in this album. Relaxing was released in September 1997. His fourth album was a piano-vocal duet album, Laid-Back, with Allan Harris. This album, which was released in October 1999, consists of love songs from 50's - 60's era and from Broadway musicals.
Kerem Görsev released his sixth album "November in St.Petersburg" in April 2000. . This album was recorded with St.Petersburg Academic Philharmonic Orchestra in St. Petesburg on 8-9 November 1999.
The album consists of Kerem Görsev's compositions and Erol Erdinç directed the orchestra. His next album was “Warm Autumn” which was recorded in New York and released in 2001 autumn. On this album, he played with Eric Revis Russell Gunn, JD Allen, Jason Jackson, Eric Revis, Alvester Garnett, and Kahlil Kewane Bell.
In June 2002, his seventh album “Existence” was released. Reyent Bolukbasi is the featuring artist with his cello in this album. All consisting of Kerem Görsev's compositions, this album's concept was a meeting point between jazz and classical music.
Kerem Görsev has finished recording “Meeting Point” in New York in November 2003. Russell Gunn, Eric Revis, Alvester Garnett and Marcus Strickland accompanied him in this album. All the pieces on the album are Kerem Görsev's own compositions. This album was released in March, 2004.
Kerem Görsev had many performances in Turkey and abroad during 2004 and 2005. He has performed at various festivals, university concerts and organizations in many cities including Trabzon, Antalya, Malatya, Isparta, Bodrum, Çeşme and İzmir as well as international performances in Baku, Copenhagen, Muenster, Coesfeld, Stuttgart and Islamabad. Kerem Görsev Trio performed the opening concert of International Vilnius Jazz Festival , Lithuania on November 11, 2005.
“Orange Juice” was recorded in MIAM studios with Volkan Hürsever at the bass and Cengiz Baysal at the drums and it was released in October, 2005. He has performed this project at various cities and countries including the "13th International Istanbul Jazz Festival". This concert was recored and released as a DVD in November,2007.
Kerem Görsev recoreded his latest album in April, 2007 . This album is a duo album with Allan Harris and it consists of jazz standarts from 1940's and 1960's. This album was released in May 2007. In 2007, he has performed at various venues domestically and also in Bologna , Italy. Recently, Kerem Görsev gave a concert at the ‘Wiener Kafeesiederball’ in Vieanna on Feb 1st, 2008 as a jazz sextet, Kerem Görsev & İstanbul Jazz Band.
Kerem Görsev Discography:
Hands & Lips (1995)
I Love May (1996)
For Murat (1997)
Relaxing (1998)
Laid Back (1999)
November in St.Petersbourg (2000)
Warm Autumn (2001)
Existence (2002)
Meeting Point (2004)
Orange Juice (2005)
Back Again (2007)
