Emre Kartari (born in Ankara, Turkey) is a Turkish jazz percussionist.
Born into a family of musicians and artists, he moved to the United States when he was ten years old. Soon after, he began to study drums, which led to studying jazz percussion with T. Howard Curtis at Virginia Commonwealth University. He holds an M.A. in jazz performance and composition from New York University and received the Barney Josephson Award in 2003.
He toured the United States with the spoken-word, hip-hop group, Jazz Poets Society. While in New York, Kartari studied with Adam Nussbaum, John Riley, Tony Moreno, Billy Hart and Jamey Haddad. He has performed with jazz greats including Charlie Byrd, Jim McNeely, Ralph Lalama, Vic Juris, Ron McClure, Mike Richmond and David Liebman.
His first CD as a leader, Perpetual Anxiety, is released in Turkey under the Dogan Music label. In 2005, he performed and recorded for the rock band Brindley Brothers, and the electric jazz group, Signals.
Kartari has played and recorded with his own quartet Origin, featuring David Liebman, John D'earth and Howard Curtis. Emre also recorded with the trio Big Girl, featuring Darius Jones and Trevor Dunn from John Zorn-Fantomas.
As an educator, he worked with the New York Pops-Mentors in Music program. He is currently working at the Hacettepe University in Ankara, Turkey, forming their first jazz program approved by the state.
He is currently a member of Yaşar University in İzmir, Turkey.