Mark Turner (musician)

Mark Turner
File:Mark Turner 1.JPG Turner in 2010
Background information
Born	(1965-11-10) November 10, 1965 Fairborn, Ohio, U.S.
Genres	Jazz
Occupation(s)	Saxophonist
Instruments	Saxophone
Years active	1990s–present
Labels	Warner Bros., ECM
Associated acts	Kurt Rosenwinkel, Aaron Goldberg, David Binney, Billy Hart, Gilad Hekselman, SFJAZZ Collective

Mark Turner (born November 10, 1965) is an American jazz saxophonist.

He is considered one of the most influential tenor saxophonists of his generation.

Biography

Born in Fairborn, Ohio, and raised in the small Southern California town of Palos Verdes, Turner originally intended to become a commercial artist. In elementary school he played the clarinet, followed by the alto and tenor saxophones in high school. He attended California State University, Long Beach in the 1980s (playing in the jazz ensembles) and then transferred to and graduating from Berklee College of Music in 1990 before moving to New York. Turner worked at Tower Records in New York City for an extended period before working full-time as a jazz musician.

In early November 2008 Turner injured two fingers on one of his hands with a power saw, but as of late February 2009 he was performing again with the Edward Simon Quartet at the Village Vanguard.

He is married to the psychiatrist and anthropologist, Dr. Helena Hansen.

Style and influences

Turner's sound is reminiscent of that of Warne Marsh; he also has elements of John Coltrane in his playing. Turner has mentioned both Marsh and Coltrane as influences, and has used elements of both players' styles in his music. Turner's range extends into the high altissimo register. His improvised lines tend to span several octaves and contain great harmonic and rhythmic complexity. His compositions often make use of repeated patterns, odd-metered time signatures, intervallic leaps, and a selective use of space.

Musical associations

In September 2014, Turner released his first album as a leader since 2001 on ECM Records; it features trumpeter Avishai Cohen, bassist Joe Martin, and drummer Marcus Gilmore. Turner is also a member of the trio Fly, which features himself, bassist Larry Grenadier, and drummer Jeff Ballard. Turner is a member of guitarist Gilad Hekselman's Quartet, and drummer Billy Hart's Quartet. He has been featured extensively on records by guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel, saxophonist David Binney, and pianist Aaron Goldberg, among others.

Gallery

Photos: Hreinn Gudlaugsson

• Mark-Turner01.jpg
• Mark-Turner02.jpg
• Mark-Turner04.jpg
• Mark-Turner03.jpg

Selected discography

As leader

• Yam Yam (Criss-Cross, 1995)
• The Music of Mercedes Rossy (Fresh Sound, 1998)
• Mark Turner (Warner Bros., 1998)
• In This World (Warner Bros., 1998)
• Two Tenor Ballads (Criss Cross, 2000)
• Ballad Session (Warner Bros., 2000)
• Dharma Days (Warner Bros., 2001)
• Lathe of Heaven (ECM, 2014)

Fly (band)

• Fly (Savoy Jazz, 2004)
• Sky & Country (ECM, 2009)
• Year of the Snake (ECM, 2012)

As sideman

With Ryan Kisor

• On the One (Columbia, 1993)

With Jonny King

• In from the Cold (Criss Cross Jazz, 1994)

With Jimmy Smith

• Damn! (Verve, 1995)

With Edward Simon

• Edward Simon (Kokopeli, 1995)
• La Bikina (Mythology, 1998)

With Aaron Goldberg

• Turning Point (J Curve, 1999)
• Home (Sunnyside, 2007)

With Jon Gordon

• Witness (Criss Cross, 1996)
• Along the Way (Criss Cross, 1997)
• Possibilities (Double-Time, 2000)

With George Colligan

• Newcomer (Steeplechase, 1997)
• Unresolved (Fresh Sound New Talent, 1999)

With Seamus Blake

• Four Track Mind (Criss Cross, 1997)

With Guillermo Klein

• Minotauro (Candid, 1997)

With Chris Cheek

• A Girl Named Joe (Fresh Sound New Talent, 1998)

With Lee Konitz

• Parallels (Chesky, 2000)

With Joshua Redman

• Beyond (Warner Bros, 2000)

With Matthias Lupri

• Same Time Twice (Summit, 2002)
• Transition Sonic (Summit 2004)
• After Hours (Summit, 2010)

With Kurt Rosenwinkel

• The Enemies of Energy (Verve, 2000)
• The Next Step (Verve, 2001)
• Heartcore (Verve, 2003)
• The Remedy (ArtistShare, 2009)

With OAM Trio

• OAM Trio & Mark Turner Live in Sevilla (Lola!, 2002)
• Now and Here (Nuba, 2009)

With Jaleel Shaw

• Perspective (Fresh Sound, 2004)

With Omer Avital

• Asking No Permission (Smalls, 2006)
• The Ancient Art of Giving (Smalls, 2006)

With Billy Hart

• Billy Hart Quartet (High Note, 2006)
• All Our Reasons (ECM, 2012)
• One Is the Other (ECM, 2014)

With David Binney

• Cities and Desire (Criss Cross, 2006)
• Barefooted Town (Criss Cross, 2011)

With Mikkel Ploug

• Mikkel Ploug Group (Fresh Sound New Talent, 2007)
• Harmoniehof (New Talent, 2008)

With Ferenc Nemeth

• Night Songs (2007)

With Baptiste Trotignon

• Share (Naïve, 2008)

With Enrico Rava

• New York Days (ECM, 2009)

With Diego Barber

• Calima (Sunnyside, 2009)

With Jochen Rueckert

• Someone Meeting Nobody (Pirouet, 2011)
• We Make the Rules (Whilrlwind 2014)

With Gilad Hekselman (2011–2013)

• Hearts Wide Open
• This Just In

With SF Jazz Collective (SFJAZZ, 2010–2011)

• Music of Horace Silver
• Music of Stevie Wonder

With Ben Van Gelder

• Reprise (Pirouet 2013)

With Stefano Bollani

• Joy In Spite Of Everything (ECM, 2014) feat. Bill Frisell

With Yelena Eckemoff featuring George Mraz, Joe Locke & Billy Hart

• A Touch of Radiance (L & H Production, 2014)

With Tom Harrell

• The Trip (Highnote 2014)

Reviews

• In This World @ Allaboutjazz.com
• Dharma Days @ Jazznow.com
• Ballad Session @ Allaboutjazz.com
• G. Giddins: “Turner Classic Moves,” VV (April 14, 1998), 118
• G. M. Stern: “Airtime: Mark Turner: You Don’t Have to be Twenty Years Old to Succeed,” Windplayer, no.58 (1998), 10
• "Saxophonist Mark Turner's Stylistic Assimilation of Warne Marsh and the Tristano School," Master's Thesis by Jimmy Emerzian, California State University, Long Beach, 2008.

External links

• Mark Turner discography at Jazzdiscography.com
• Turner-Marsh-Tristano Thesis download links at Emerzianmusic.com
• Interview with Mark Turner, by Fred Jung
• Grove Dictionary of Music entry by Gary Kennedy