Aka Gündüz Kutbay, born in Istanbul, Turkey, on 17 August 1934, was a Turkish ney virtuoso. Kutbay began studying the ney under Gavsî Baykara at the Eyüp Music Society and the Istanbul State Conservatory, joining the Mevlevi order in 1953. In 1960, he passed an audition to become a staff ney player at TRT Radio Istanbul, where he developed his signature deep tone (dem sesleri). He served as head ney player (Neyzenbaşı) at the Mevlana Festival in Konya and, in 1972, co-led the first North American tour of the Mevlevi Dervishes alongside Ulvi Erguner. From 1973 until his death, Kutbay taught ney at the Turkish Music State Conservatory at Istanbul Technical University. His recordings included LPs on the Aras label, Atlantic Records' album Music of the Whirling Dervishes alongside vocalist Kâni Karaca, and a posthumous 1991 Playasound/Auvidis release featuring a twenty-three-minute solo improvisation (taksim). He also appeared on screen playing the ney in Peter Brook's 1979 film Meetings with Remarkable Men. Kutbay died in Istanbul on 27 August 1979 at forty-five years of age.
