Kani Karaca

Who was Kani Karaca?

Kâni Karaca, born in Adana, Turkey, was a Turkish singer. He lost his eyesight at the age of 2 and memorized the Quran in elementary school. He came to Istanbul in 1950 and worked with Sadettin Kaynak, a major composer and performer of Turkish music at the time. He also worked with Sadettin Heper, and learned religious and nonreligious music from him.

During the late 50s and the 60s Karaca sang many famous classical Turkish fasıl tunes on Istanbul Radio. He sang at numerous concerts and religious services in Turkey and internationally. He also has many recordings on LP, cassette, and CD.

His incredible talent was in the form of a memory that could retain a song with as little as a couple of repetitions. He also had an absolute pitch, so much so that, according to a colleague 'people could tune their instruments using his voice'. He died at the age of 74 from cancer in Istanbul.