The band takes its name from a train named Kurtalan Express, which travels between Kurtalan and Haydarpaşa.
Examples of this style include Turkish musicians such as Cem Karaca, Barış Manço, Erkin Koray, Fikret Kızılok, Cahit Oben, Selçuk Alagöz, Edip Akbayram alongside bands such as Moğollar, Silüetler, Kurtalan Ekspres, Grup Çığrışım, Grup Çağrışım, Mavi Işıklar, Apaşlar, Kaygısızlar, Haramiler, Modern Folk Üçlüsü and Kardaşlar.
He worked with several bands: Meteorlar (Meteors) (1966-1967), Silüetler (Silhouette) (1967), Moğollar (Mongols) (1967-1972), Barış Manço and Kurtalan Ekspres (Express) (1973-1974), Edip Akbayram and Dostlar (Friends) (1974) and Cem Karaca and Dervişan (Dervishes) (1975-1976).