Yuri B. Turchyn, a world-class five-string Latin jazz violinist whose international flair crisscrossed cultures and blended Gypsy Jazz, Afro-Cuban, and Latin Beat into fusion symmetry and string swing, was a singer and songwriter who composed and arranged original music, and known for his distinctive voice and smooth, melodic vocals. He evolved and expanded his career as a featured premier performing artist, and he was recognized and respected as a musician who lived and breathed his craft.
        
Yuri was a founding member of Kinderhook, a band that marked the success of the nascent New Jersey music scene out of Rutgers, New Brunswick  to Asbury Park, and became a symbol of Jersey’s Own, country-rock era in the 1970s. Their performances at the Stone Pony, Capitol Theater, Passaic, NJ, and the 1975 Schaeffer Summer Music Festival, Central Park, NY, were unparalleled, often famously highlighting his 1976 rendition of Jean Luc Ponty’s New Country and fiery OBS (Orange Blossom Special).

         He earned a bachelor’s degree in Eastern European studies and Music from Rutgers University in New Brunswick, NJ. Despite having an opportunity to pursue a graduate degree in International Studies, Edinburgh, Scotland, he chose a different path– and moved back into the Rutgers campus dorm with Andy Fediw, Jerry Kopychuk, and Stan Taylor, (Pitckleweed) where country rock band Kinderhook Creek was born and where his original songwriting skills shined. A diverse musical journey led the band to become arguably one of the most popular acts in Jersey.

       In the following decades after Kinderhook’s breakup, Yuri explored and challenged himself playing with the Irish folk group Trinity II, delving into rock with Bombay, alternative progressive music sounds with bands The World, a group led by guitarist/keyboardist Gunter Ford, drummer Ron Howden, (founding member of British alt-rock band Nektar), Irresistable Urge featured Yuri who used his electric violin like a lead guitar. In the 1990s, he formed Now Voyager, a seven-piece band, and produced original music compared by many to Steely Dan and Boz Scaggs with a World Music sound. They headlined at Philadelphia’s famous Blue Moon Jazz Club and New York’s The Bitter End while recording his critically acclaimed album Currents.

        One of his most notable music endeavor, Yuri Turchyn+GRUPO YURI (YTGY), a fusion of Latin, Jazz, and World Beat rhythms. The band’s performances at top jazz clubs and festivals – including the Red Bank Jazz and Blues Festival, Point Pleasant Jazz Festival, Trumpets in Montclair, Sweet Sounds of Downtown Jazz Series; SOPAC, Burgdorff Cultural Center, Galeria West Art Gallery, Tim McLoone’s Supper Club in Asbury Park among many others – were a testament to his versatility and adaptability.

         Many Jersey Sound formations with working musicians flourished on the Jersey Shore, including The Shades, Soul Purpose, and Rude Awakening. Yuri performed at BobFest with Pat Guadagno & Tired Horses for sixteen years in a music tribute to Bob Dylan’s birthday. As part of the New Jersey Superstars, he performed at the 2013 Sandy Hook and Garden State Arts Center benefits for victims of Hurricane Sandy. 
Nicknamed the “Professor” with the Glimmer Grass Band, his fascination with Roots Music/Americana Roots and Regional turned a synthesis of music styles – Cajun, Creole, Dixieland, Funk, Blue Grass and Jam Grass -into a dynamic flight of fancy with himself at the forefront.

        Touring Italy, Yuri was invited to the Umbria Folk Festival in Orvieto, Italy, performing with the renowned acoustic trio BARTENDER, recalling Afro-Cuban and Mediterranean sounds, as well as those produced by Stephane Grapelli and Bruce Springsteen. 
As a recording producer and audio engineer for Wheatsheaf Studio Productions, he remastered Juntamente, a Spanish/Hispanic and Latin music ensemble compilation album for Teatro Si Productions. He also arranged, performed, produced, and mastered Vida Y Amor for that project, which was released with Joanne Martinez and Paulo Pinho.

         Yuri B. Turchyn, 73, died on April 14, 2024. A lifelong working musician and a significant contributor to Jersey Sound, Yuri excelled in various roles as a singer-songwriter, arranger, session player, recording producer, and sound sculptor. His contributions to the history of American music along the Jersey Shore will leave a lasting imprint on the local music scene.