[citation needed] After a few years of touring with local bands as a rock drummer, he pursued undergraduate studies at Tel Aviv University in Israel.
In 2002, he enrolled in graduate studies, and in 2005 he received a master’s degree in Afro-Latin Music from California State University Los Angeles.
Tarmu also holds a Master of Arts in Classical Composition and a doctorate in Jazz Performance from Stony Brook University in New York.
[2] Tarmu has worked with Ron Affif, Ray Anderson, Mike Clark, Billy Higgins, Freddie Hubbard, Taj Mahal, Frank Morgan, Poncho Sanchez, Cybill Shepherd, and Ernie Watts.
[3] His first chamber music album, Songs for the Queen of Bohemia, released in 2007, while jazz-oriented, features a string quartet from the Timișoara Philharmonic, Romanian bassist Johnny Bota, and British-Israeli drummer Yoni Halevy.