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

Biography

Born in Fairborn, Ohio, and raised in the small Southern California town of Palos Verdes Estates, 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 graduated 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, but 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, and intervallic leaps. Turner states that his music is "unfolding like a narrative". Consequently, his 2014 album Lathe of Heaven is named after Ursula K. Le Guin's novel of the same title which is based on the idea of a world where the nature of reality keeps shifting.

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 a member of the trio Fly, which includes himself, bassist Larry Grenadier, and drummer Jeff Ballard. He also appears in guitarist Gilad Hekselman's Quartet, and drummer Billy Hart's Quartet. Turner has recorded extensively with guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel, saxophonist David Binney, and pianist Aaron Goldberg, among others. Turner has played or collaborated with more than 45 jazz bands. In 2018 and 2019 alone he played on eight different jazz albums as a sideman or collaborator.

Discography

As leader/co-leader

As group

Fly with Jeff Ballard and Larry Grenadier SFJAZZ Collective

As sideman

With Reid Anderson With Omer Avital With David Binney With Jakob Bro With George Colligan With Benoit Delbecq With Aaron Goldberg With Jon Gordon With Tom Harrell With Billy Hart With Jochen Rueckert With Edward Simon With Kurt Rosenwinkel With Gilad Hekselman With Matthias Lupri With Ibrahim Maalouf With Joe Martin With Baptiste Trotignon With David Virelles With Miki Yamanaka With others

Reviews