Mark Turner

Artist ∙ Jazz

A highly inventive saxophonist, Mark Turner has found acclaim with his meticulous, harmonically rich approach to modern creative jazz. Drawing upon the innovative sound of artists like John Coltrane, Warne Marsh, and Joe Henderson, Turner emerged in the early '90s playing his cerebral, classical-influenced brand of jazz. He gained early acclaim on albums like 1998's In This World and 2001's Dharma Days, working alongside such similarly inclined contemporaries as Brad Mehldau, Kurt Rosenwinkel, and Brian Blade. Beginning with 2009's Sky and Country, he built a close association with the ECM label, splitting his time between collaborating with his Fly trio (with bassist Larry Grenadier and drummer Jeff Ballard), and helming ambitious solo dates like 2014's Lathe of Heaven, his 2018 duo session Temporary Kings with Ethan Iverson, and 2022's Return from the Stars.

March 24, 2022 at PDT
Return from the Stars
In a sense, Return From the Stars is tenor saxophonist Mark Turner’s long-awaited follow-up to 2014’s Lathe of Heaven, using the same distinctive quartet instrumentation with two horns, bass, and drums. The lineup differs, however: bassist Joe Martin remains, while trumpeter Jason Palmer and drummer Jonathan Pinson appear in place of Avishai Cohen and Marcus Gilmore. The precise yet flexible rapport of Turner and Palmer is key: Turner’s compositions are polyphonic in nature, often hinging on two parts as they interweave, and Palmer’s ability to bring out that strong second voice is crucial (his fierce chops as a soloist come in handy as well). Turner’s way of generating and dissecting harmony in sparse contexts without piano is a feast for the ears, not least on “Nigeria II,” a playful comment on Sonny Rollins’ famous “Airegin.”
8 Tracks
September 6, 2018 at PDT
Temporary Kings
Pianist Ethan Iverson and tenor saxophonist Mark Turner have a bond going back to the New York clubs of the ’90s, which incubated the current generation of jazz masters. They went on to major success, both individually and as members of the venerated Billy Hart Quartet. An Iverson-Turner duo project had long been in the works, and the lustrous sound couldn’t be more ideal for music of such depth and intimacy. The six Iverson pieces, including the solo piano meditation “Yesterday’s Bouquet,” are full of forbidding harmony, often approaching contemporary chamber music (true of Turner’s closing “Seven Points” as well). But the pulse of jazz is vividly present in Iverson’s abstracted blues on “Unclaimed Freight”; in “Dixie’s Dilemma” by the late Warne Marsh, a key Turner influence; and in Turner’s workhorse “Myron’s World,” honed here to its essence.
9 Tracks
December 31, 1999 at PST
Ballad Session
10 Tracks
February 12, 2004 at PST
Perspective
10 Tracks
July 25, 2024 at PDT
The Next Step Band (Live at Smalls, 1996) [feat. Mark Turner, Ben Street & Jeff Ballard]
6 Tracks
March 23, 1998 at PST
Mark Turner
8 Tracks
October 5, 1998 at PDT
In This World
9 Tracks
May 7, 2001 at PDT
Dharma Days
9 Tracks
January 29, 2009 at PST
New York Days
On the 2009 release, New York Days, the lyrical Italian trumpet player Enrico Rava is joined by musicians who are masterful at creating impressionistic swaths of sound. The result is a lovely marriage of melodicism and refined abstraction. Rava’s frequent collaborator, the Italian pianist Stefano Bollani, plays lines that flutter like the beating of bird wings or slowly unfold in delicate ways. Tenor saxophonist Mark Turner has a great tone and sense of nuance, and bassist Larry Grenadier’s playing ranges from artfully spare to hard-swinging. Throughout, Paul Motian displays his unique approach to the trap kit; time is a wonderfully flexible thing for this drummer and clichés are nowhere in sight. (It’s also amazing how engrossingly minimal his work can be — Motian’s not afraid to strike a cymbal just once and let the listener savor the hit’s hissing decay.) There are no going-through-the-motions gestures when the horns play the songs’ heads, either; the intermingling of reed and brass tones is absolutely gorgeous. Don’t let the mellow surface of much of New York Days fool you. Listen up: this is music to dig into.
11 Tracks
October 6, 2022 at PDT
Misterioso
8 Tracks
March 7, 2019 at PST
Étoilée (with Mark Turner, Kevin Hays & Nasheet Waits)
8 Tracks
September 7, 2023 at PDT
Shades of Rainbow
8 Tracks
March 15, 2012 at PDT
All Our Reasons
Early on, drummer Billy Hart played in R&B groups and was a member of Wes Montgomery’s band; later he worked with Pharoah Sanders, Herbie Hancock, and Miles Davis. He’s recorded several albums as a leader since the '70s, and his 2012 release, All Our Reasons, is a finely honed piece of work. Here, Hart helms a quartet—with pianist Ethan Iverson, bassist Ben Street, and tenor saxophonist Mark Turner—that has played together since 2003. The 13-minute Hart original “Song for Balkis” opens with a brief but gripping drum solo before moving on to nicely contrasting sections. “Ohnedaruth” (with a title referencing John Coltrane’s spiritual name) is an Iverson composition based on “Giant Steps.” After an extended solo piano statement, the other band members enter to further shape this inventive homage. Another Hart piece, “Tolli’s Dance,” features outstanding drumming from Hart and a cool-headed Turner solo. Turner’s “Nigeria,” based on Sonny Rollins’ “Airegin,” brings a 21st-century sensibility to that 1954 gem. “Imke’s March” charmingly expands on a whistling melody Hart used to use to call his daughter from the playground.
9 Tracks
August 21, 2014 at PDT
Joy In Spite of Everything
9 Tracks
September 1, 2016 at PDT
Charm Offensive (feat. Mark Turner, Mike Moreno & Orlando Le Fleming)
8 Tracks
June 20, 2019 at PDT
Mark Turner Meets Gary Foster
7 Tracks
June 5, 2011 at PDT
Barefooted Town (feat. Ambrose Akinmusire, Mark Turner, David Virelles, Eivind Opsvik & Dan Weiss)
7 Tracks
January 20, 2000 at PST
Ballad Session
10 Tracks
September 9, 2014 at PDT
Mythology (feat. David Virelles, Lage Lund, Marcus Gilmore, Steve Lehman & Mark Turner)
8 Tracks
June 30, 2019 at PDT
Where Are You?
10 Tracks
June 12, 2014 at PDT
Gone, but Not Forgotten (feat. Chris Potter, Mark Turner & Ben Street)
11 Tracks
October 6, 2016 at PDT
Stay There (feat. Mark Turner, Al Foster, Peter Bernstein & Doug Weiss)
10 Tracks
December 31, 1998 at PST
Abolish Bad Architecture
8 Tracks
September 26, 2013 at PDT
Reprise (feat. Mark Turner, Ben Street, Peter Schlamb, Sam Harris, Rick Rosato & Craig Weinrib)
11 Tracks
February 17, 2019 at PST
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12 Tracks

Mark Turner

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