Mark Turner (musician)

Mark Turner (born November 10, 1965) is an American jazz saxophonist. He is considered one of the most influential tenor saxophonists of his generation.

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 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.

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.

The bandleader claims 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.

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.

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)

With MTB

• Consenting Adults (Criss Cross, 1994)

With Fly

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

With Baptiste Trotignon

• Share (Naïve, 2008)

With James Moody and Larry Goldings

• Warner Jams, Vol. 2: The Two Tenors (Warner Bros.)

As sideman

With Ryan Kisor

• On the One (Columbia, 1993)

With Jonny King

• In from the Cold (Criss Cross, 1994)

With Perico Sambeat

• Ademuz

With Jimmy Smith

• Damn! (Verve, 1995)

With Edward Simon

• Edward Simon (Kokopelli, 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 (HighNote, 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, 2007)
• Harmoniehof (Fresh Sound, 2008)

With Ferenc Nemeth

• Night Songs (2007)

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 (Whirlwind, 2014)

With Gilad Hekselman (2011–2013)

• Hearts Wide Open
• This Just In

With SFJAZZ 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

With Yelena Eckemoff

• A Touch of Radiance (L&H, 2014)

With Tom Harrell

• The Trip (HighNote, 2014)

• "Yam Yam". Retrieved October 27, 2014. 
• [1] Archived November 24, 2004, at the Wayback Machine.
• "Two Tenor Ballads". Crisscrossjazz.com. Retrieved October 27, 2014. 
• "In Tenor Saxophonist Mark Turner's New Album, The Music Unfolds Like A Narrative". NPR. Retrieved March 2, 2015. 
• "Lee Konitz super audio CD SACD Parallels USA SACD240 CHESKY Audiophile 2002". ebay. Archived from the original on April 30, 2015. 

• 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.