With his long hair and electrified settings, Kazım Koyuncu didn't look the part of a folklorist preserving the traditions of an ethnic minority. And yet the Laz people of Turkey's Black Sea region had no greater icon than this songwriter, who insisted on singing in his native tongue. Informed by rock star muscle, Koyuncu mixed propulsive percussion and remix treatments with traditional Laz instruments like zurna, tulum and doli. His death from lung cancer at 33 cut short a career that was just getting started, but Koyuncu's place in Turkish history is secure.