Suavi

Suavi — Biography

Mehmet Suavi Saygan, better known as Suavi (born 26 August 1950, Kırıkkale), is a Turkish folk singer and songwriter. He graduated from the Middle East Technical University's Faculty of Architecture in 1972; as a student he performed at night in Ankara clubs as a guitarist and drummer, and after graduation he played in various orchestras.

He recorded his first album, Deli Gönlüm, in 1992. In 1994 he won the Turkish national selection for the Voice of Asia festival in Kazakhstan and went on to win the international final at Medeu; in 1997 he won Turkey's Altın Güvercin pop song contest. By 2015 he had released six more albums. His songs blend the Turkish folk tradition with world music, often setting to music the verse of twentieth-century poets such as Nâzım Hikmet and Ahmed Arif.