Mark Turner Quartet | "Return from the Stars" | ECM

Saxophonist Mark Turner Leads an

Exploratory and Thought Provoking Journey

in his Latest Release, Return from the Stars

Quartet features Jason Palmer,

Joe Martin, and Jonathan Pinson

Available Now via ECM Records

"...a brilliant tenor saxophonist who has never rushed any facet of his artistry...”

— WBGO

"Turner, known for a floating, lightness of tone, has delivered several strong compositions and has been pushed on some of them beyond his usual comfort zone to more intense, fiery expressions.”

— Glide Magazine

Mark Turner has been a frequent and significant presence on ECM recordings of the last dozen years, bringing his saxophone artistry and his musical commitment to recordings with Enrico Rava, the Billy Hart Quartet, the cooperative Fly trio (with Jeff Ballard and Larry Grenadier), Stefano Bollani and, most recently, Ethan Iverson, on the duo recording Temporary Kings. Albums under Turner’s leadership, however, have been rare and Return from the Stars is the first ECM recording to feature his quartet since 2014’s Lathe of Heaven.

 

Turner’s writing for his group on Return from the Stars gives the players plenty of space in which to move, on an album both exhilarating and thoughtful in its arc of expression. Solos flow organically out of the arrangements and, beneath the dazzling interplay of Turner’s tenor and Jason Palmer’s trumpet, bassist Joe Martin and drummer Jonathan Pinson often roam freely. The absence of a chordal instrument keeps the conversational possibilities in the music wide open, as the compositions modulate between the meticulously structured and the loosely guided. Mark Turner puts a lot of faith in intuition and the shared artistic goals of an ensemble, and cherishes the narrative tension arising from the juxtaposition of freedom and responsibility:

 

“My process in writing is that I write for the people playing,” he says. “I don’t like to say a lot to them about the compositions. I like to write a piece of music and know that the people I’ve chosen are going to play it, basically, the way they play. I’d rather they find themselves in the music. The tunes are written in such a way that each musician has a choice in terms of how they take care of what they’re supposed to be doing. There are parts written for the horns. Not so much is written for the rhythm section, except for a few ‘hits’ and maybe time changes in sections. I just give guidelines about how the section should feel and then I let bass and drums figure out how to do it. Whatever makes the rhythm section sound good, that’s what we do. Then, the horns will play on top of that. “

 

Bassist Joe Martin is the sole musician retained from the Lathe of Heaven line-up. He’s been playing with Turner in diverse contexts since 1995. And, as he outlined it to Music & Literature magazine: “I always feel, playing with Mark I have to play as well as possible and raise the bar. In the quartet, because there isn’t a piano or guitar player to fill a certain harmonic space for everybody, I’m more probably more conscious of my note choices. Just one single note choice changes everything, suggesting tonality, harmony.”

 

Turner met dynamic drummer Jonathan Pinson while playing with Israeli guitarist Gilad Hekselman’s group. Pinson’s CV begins at a high level: he dived into the music at the deep end, touring with Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter and Greg Osby while still in his early twenties. His résumé also includes work with Kamasi Washington, Ambrose Akinmusire, Dave Liebman and many others. Pinson makes his ECM debut with Return from the Stars, as does trumpeter Jason Palmer.

 

Palmer and Mark Turner first encountered each other as sidemen in bands a decade ago. Mark subsequently played in projects led by the trumpeter, also recording in some of his projects (Places, Rhyme and Reason and The Concert). He singles out Palmer’s “willingness to go into zones unknown to him” among his outstanding qualities. The two of them share an encyclopaedic knowledge of the music. The Boston Phoenix has said of Palmer that he “builds fire with his secure tone and the cool deliberation of his solos”. The same could be said of Turner, who, according to National Public Radio, “has an innovative sonic signature, a certain floating chromaticism, rhythmic mindfulness and lightness of tone, filled with subtleties.”

 

Return from the Stars takes its title from Stanisław Lem’s science fiction novel in which an astronaut returns from an exploratory space mission to find life on earth greatly changed, and his own values out of step with those of a conformist, risk-averse society. Turner’s sci-fi enthusiasms are well known, and some observers have perceived a kind of idiomatic ‘time travelling’ quality in his work: The Guardian described his ECM quartet album Lathe of Heaven (named after an Ursula K. Le Guin story) as “sounding like Birth of the Cool floated over a 21st-century rhythmic concept.” Deep study of a range of jazz masters has informed his style, his expressivity on the full range of the tenor saxophone, and the scope of his writing, which brings the music forward while being acutely aware of its history.

 

Return from the Stars was recorded at New York’s Sear Sound Studio and mixed at Studios La Buissonne, in Southern France. The album was produced by Manfred Eicher.

Mark Turner   Saxophone

Jason Palmer   Trumpet

Joe Martin   Double Bass

Jonathan Pinson   Drums

1. RETURN FROM THE STARS (Mark Turner) 09:35

2. TERMINUS (Mark Turner) 07:22

3. BRIDGETOWN (Mark Turner) 08:56

4. IT’S NOT ALRIGHT WITH ME (Mark Turner) 10:26

5. NIGERIA II (Mark Turner) 04:37

6. WASTE LAND (Mark Turner) 05:16

7. UNACCEPTABLE (Mark Turner) 12:22

8. LINCOLN HEIGHTS (Mark Turner) 06:15

Mark Turner | Return from the Stars

ECM Release Date: March 25, 2022

Tigran Hamasyan - StandArt (April 29, 2022 Nonesuch Records)

Nonesuch Records releases pianist and composer Tigran Hamasyan’s StandArt —his first album of American standards— on April 29, 2022. StandArt includes songs from the 1920s through the 1950s, by Richard Rodgers, Charlie Parker, Jerome Kern, David Raksin, and others; it also includes a piece Hamasyan improvised with his bandmates —bassist Matt Brewer and drummer Justin Brown —and trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire, who is featured on two of the album’s tracks. Other special guests include saxophonist and label-mate Joshua Redman on Charlie Parker’s “Big Foot,” as well as saxophonist Mark Turner on Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein’s “All the Things You Are.” Produced by Hamasyan and recorded last spring in Los Angeles, StandArt is Hamasyan’s first release of American music, having previously only released original compositions and traditional Armenian music.

1. De-Dah

2. I Didn't Know What Time It Was

3. Tigran Hamasyan, Mark Turner - All the Things You Are (feat. Mark Turner)

4. Tigran Hamasyan, Joshua Redman - Big Foot (feat. Joshua Redman)

5. When a Woman Loves a Man

6. Softly, as in a Morning Sunrise

7. Tigran Hamasyan, Ambrose Akinmusire - I Should Care (feat. Ambrose Akinmusire)

8. Tigran Hamasyan, Ambrose Akinmusire - Invasion During an Operetta (feat. Ambrose Akinmusire)

9. Laura

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Miki Yamanaka (w/ Mark Turner, Orlando le Fleming) to release 'Stairway to the Stars' on October 1 via Outside in Music

Celebrated Pianist, Composer and Bandleader Miki Yamanaka Announces the Release of Her Upcoming Trio Record, Stairway to the Stars, Featuring Saxophonist Mark Turner and Bassist Orlando le Fleming, Out October 1st on Outside In Music

Outside In Music is pleased to announce the October 1st release of Stairway to the Stars, an intimate, pared-down glance into renowned pianist Miki Yamanaka’s musical ethos. A follow-up to 2020’s Human Dust Suite, Stairway to the Stars was recorded on August 12, 2020. Initially slated to be recorded live in front of an audience at Mezzrow Jazz Club during one of Yamanaka’s monthly weekend performances, 2020 had other plans for this esteemed pianist as the city shut down amidst a global health crisis. Recorded at home, Stairway to the Stars captures a fiercely immersive trio session featuring Miki Yamanaka on piano alongside consummate bassist Orlando le Fleming and acclaimed saxophonist Mark Turner.

2020 was no ordinary year, and this is no ordinary album – Stairway to the Stars features a drumless configuration of piano, saxophone and bass and yet does not sacrifice one iota of stellar rhythmic invention. Yamanaka brings a nuanced intensity to the eight tunes presented on this album, especially her two original pieces, “Oatmeal” and “Wonder”. Stairway to the Stars is released while the pianist, composer and bandleader is fresh off the heels from her second studio release Human Dust Suite, which was hailed by master organist Larry Goldings as “a wonderful example of the breadth of Miki’s musical vision” and “a seasoned follow-up to her widely recognized debut Miki” by Mike Jurkovic of All About Jazz.

Yamanaka’s fervent, muscular performance is only augmented by her esteemed houseguests Orlando le Fleming and Mark Turner, both of whom are prolific bandleaders and sidemen with a who’s who of jazz luminaries. Yamanaka notes “I was always a huge fan of Mark, and had never gotten to play with him before COVID. He is busy usually, as a leader and a sideman. I was too excited when both of them showed up to my apartment!”

Yamanaka’s stellar original compositions shine on Stairway to the Stars, her tune “Oatmeal” makes its recording debut, this soulful piece highlights the cohesiveness of this small ensemble of New York staples. Turner’s sax soars over Yamanaka’s bluesy harmonic refrains as le Fleming’s thoughtful bass lines provide the track with a tight-knit swing and buoyancy. Yamanaka demonstrates her stunning facility at melodic invention over the tune’s jaunty changes.

Miki Yamanaka by Rudy Royston

The ensemble lends its instrumental agility and refinement to a diverse array of jazz classics including old chestnuts such as “My Melancholy Baby” and “Tea For Two”; as well as  bebop hits such as Charlie Parker’s 1947 composition “Cheryl”, and Steve Swallow’s lush composition “Eiderdown”. Each composition activates new territory for the seemingly boundless outfit to explore, leaving the listener with a comprehensive album that acts as a masterclass in interplay and dynamics.

Yamanaka notes “I will never take it for granted to be able to be with my favorite people making music, drinking nice wine, eating nice food together, ever again. It made me realize how important that is in my life.” Stairway to the Stars seemingly captures the excited, joyous energy of a confluence of fine musicians and friends gathering together to do what they do best.

The Kobe, Japan native, who has lived in New York City since 2012. A student of Jason Lindner, Jeb Patton, Fred Hersch, Sam Yahel, and Larry Goldings, in 2015 she was one of three pianists selected to participate in “Betty Carter’s Jazz Ahead”, an intensive composition residency at the Kennedy Center. She earned her Master of Music degree from Queens College. Miki has appeared in concert with many notable musicians including Steve Nelson, Seamus Blake, Jerry Dodgion, Victor Lewis, Rich Perry, Antonio Hart, and Peter Bernstein. She holds residencies at Smalls and Mezzrow Jazz Clubs in New York City and has had multiple week-long engagements at Dizzy’s Club Coca Cola since 2016. She is the current pianist in the Philip Harper Quintet, the Roxy Coss Quintet, and the Antonio Hart Group. Miki recorded an EP, “Songs Without Lyrics” in 2012, which featured Lawrence “Lo” Leathers, Tivon Pennicott, and Spencer Murphy, she released her aforementioned debut album, “Miki” with Steve Nelson, Orlando le Fleming, and Bill Stewart in 2018 and “Human Dust Suite” in 2020 alongside alto saxophonist Anthony Orji, bassist Orlando le Fleming, and drummer Jochen Rueckert.

1. Cheryl

2. My Melancholy Baby

3. Eiderdown

4. Ask Me Now

5. Wonder

6. Oatmeal

7. Stairway to the Stars

8. Tea For Two

Outside in Music Website

Benoît Delbecq 4 - Gentle Ghosts (June 2021 Jazzdor)

The founding of Delbecq 4 traces back to November 2003, a few years after New York pianist Ethan Iverson had introduced Benoît Delbecq’s work to saxophonist Mark Turner. Turner joined the Delbecq Unit – a quintet which also featured Oene Van Geel, Mark Helias and Emile Biayenda – for its premiere at the 2003 Strasbourg Jazz d’Or Festival. The ensemble recorded Phonetics for the Vancouver-based label Songlines. This release affirmed Delbecq’s prowess as a leader and garnered such wide-ranging acclaim as the Choc de l'Année 2004 Jazz'man and a sprawling piece by celebrated New York Times critic Ben Rattlif.

In 2008, the young in-demand bassist John Hébert – New Yorker by way of Louisiana, and a fan of Delbecq's work – proposed the formation of a new trio with Delbecq and drummer Gerald Cleaver. Both artists had worked together as the final rhythm section for legendary pianist Andrew Hill. The John Hébert trio released acclaimed albums Spiritual Lover (2010) and Floodstage (2014) for Cleanfeed Records, touring across France and the United States.

The Delbecq 4 unites Turner and Delbecq, spotlighting a musical relationship marked by a compelling empathy that blossomed within Hébert’s trio. In 2016, the quartet premiered at Cornelia Street Café in New York City’s West Village, later recording Spots on Stripes (Cleanfeed, 2019) at Trading8s studio in New Jersey. The release received peer acknowledgment and international praise.

Delbecq 4 toured France, Switzerland and Belgium in spring as well as fall of 2019. Following their concert at the Philharmonie de Paris at Jazz à la Villette Festival, the collaborators recorded Gentle Ghosts in a single day at MidiLive studio near Paris; director Igor Juget captured the session on film. As he always does for his own projects, Delbecq served as composer for the entire recording which includes two of his older tunes, one of which he wrote for Turner in 2002.

A delicate use of electronics refines Delbecq’s search for new musical vibrations. Sitting at the piano with a midi foot pedal on the ground, Delbecq uses a real-time recording program of each instrumentalist’s microphone – sometimes of the entire quartet mix – a process he calls “post-radiophonic.” Consequently, the musicians as well as the listener dive into the revisiting of micro-musical miniatures after having heard them a brief moment earlier. Such ear attitude creates a mutation feel, as these miniatures are re-injected into the quartet's playing and overall sound, a playful process that crafts new states of music. This signature approach serves and expands Delbecq’s role of real-time “remixer,” one he established on Plug and Pray with Jozef Dumoulin and Ambitronix with Steve Argüelles, who previously assumed the same role on Delbecq’s albums Pursuit (Songlines, 2000) and Poolplayers (Songlines, 2007) with Arve Henriksen.

Delbecq has received support throughout his long-term, evolving sonic arcs from such crucial musicians as Mal Waldron, Steve Lacy, Paul Bley, Steve Coleman, György Ligeti or Pascal Dusapin, as well as from venues and festivals that are particularly championing of his sound and approach, such as Jazz d’Or Strasbourg, Europa Jazz Le Mans, the Vancouver International Jazz Festival, the Wroclaw Jazztopad and the Sud des Alpes in Geneva, among other international performance hubs. The Parisian pianist continues to work diligently toward his original musical visions. He is as curious about architecture as he is about the properties of imaginary numbers; he loves Thelonious Monk as much as the music of the Aka pygmies, Paul Bley as much as Domenico Scarlatti, Ornette Coleman as much as Claude Monet. He is a free and active musician who has traveled the international jazz scene since the early 90s.

Over the past three decades, Delbecq has built a fuss-free career, for he is unaffected by fashions and seductive strategies, his career being fostered by a vibrant momenta and the transmission of a musical language. His inspiration emerges from critical thinking and persistent research, and his expression praises collective, inventive forms and sounds in movement served by the exceptional voices of his fellow improvisers. All these elements invite his listeners into a kind of rhythmic and melodic mirage-like music – Gentle Ghosts – a music that questions our own history, our own memory. The sound of Benoît Delbecq is one that quietly influences the jazz of tomorrow. 

1. Anamorphoses 06:11

2. Chemin sur le Crest 06:15

3. Gentle Ghosts 05:43

4. Strange Loop 09:10

5. Stereo Fields 05:38

6. Le même jour 07:00

7. Havn 02:59

All compositions are by Benoît Delbecq (Sacem).

Recorded by Samuel Navel on September 3, 2019 at MidiLive, Villetaneuse, Paris.

Piano technician : Philippe Bailleul.

Mastered by Klaus Sheuermann at studio 4ohm, Berlin.

Produced and mixed by Benoit Delbecq.

Executive producer: Philippe Ochem for Jazzdor Series.

Photo: John Rogers

Graphic design: Helmo

Pre-order

April 4 Kickoff for Giant Step Arts & KEYED UP!: Series of Jazz Concerts in Central Park

Artist-focused non-profit Giant Step Arts partners with Jazz Generation's KEYED UP! for new edition of acclaimed concert series Walk With The Wind

Free performances beginning April 4 in Central Park honor legacy of congressman and civil rights leader John Lewis

Featuring Wayne Escoffery/Jeremy Pelt Quartet, William Parker Trio, James Brandon Lewis Freed Style Free Trio, Melissa Aldana Trio, Chris Potter Trio, Antonio Sanchez Trio, Marquis Hill Quartet, Michael Thomas Quartet, Nasheet Waits, Mark Turner, Marika Hughes, and Immanuel Wilkins

"Sitting socially distanced on The Mall and listening to live jazz feels like an optimistic moment...Jimmy Katz and Giant Step Arts are plugging a gap with Walk With The Wind." - Dan Bergsagel, London Jazz News

Giant Step Arts in partnership with Jazz Generation’s KEYED UP! continues the acclaimed performance series Walk With The Wind honoring civil rights activist and congressman John Lewis. The concerts – curated by Jimmy Katz and Nasheet Waits – will take place at pop up locations in New York City’s Central Park.

Shows run from 11 a.m. – 3 p.m. and feature at least two bands. They will be rescheduled in case of inclement weather.

CONCERT SCHEDULE

• Sunday, April 4 – Note new location at The South End of the Mall

11 a.m. – Alto saxophonist Sarah Hanahan, trumpeter Giveton Gelin, bassist Phil Norris, and drummer Robert Lotreck   

1 p.m. – The Wayne Escoffery/Jeremy Pelt Quartet with Dezron Douglas and Johnathan Blake  

• Saturday, April 10

11 a.m. – Alto saxophonist Sarah Hanahan, bassist Phil Norris, and drummer Robert Lotreck 

1 p.m. – William Parker Trio with Cooper Moore and Hamid Drake 

• Sunday, April 11 

11 a.m. – Alto saxophonist Sarah Hanahan, bassist Phil Norris, and drummer Robert Lotreck 

1 p.m. – Melissa Aldana Trio with Pablo Menares and Kush Abadey  

• Saturday, April 17 – Chris Potter Trio with Joe Martin and Nasheet Waits

• Sunday, April 18 – Antonio Sanchez Trio with Donny McCaslin and Matt Brewer

• Saturday, April 24 – Marquis Hill Quartet

• Sunday, April 25 – Michael Thomas Quartet with Michael Rodriguez, Edward Perez and Johnathan Blake

• Saturday, May 1 – James Brandon Lewis, Freed Style Free Trio with Rashaan Carter and Chad Taylor; Aaron Burnett Quartet with Peter Evans, Nick Jozwiak, and Tyshawn Sorey

• Saturday, May 8 – Marika Hughes: The New String Quartet with Hughes, Charlie Burnham, Marvin Sewell, and Rashaan Carter

Other upcoming dates will include bands led by Nasheet Waits, Mark Turner, and Immanuel Wilkins.

“The pandemic has been disastrous for musicians, many of whom normally earn a living through live performances and tours,” says Katz. “We wanted to find a way to continue supporting musicians, bring them together with audiences safely, and enable them to have a payday! Walk with the Wind, honoring the legacy of the great American John Lewis, is one way we are accomplishing this, and the response has been tremendous.”  

The well-received series, which began August 28, 2020 with Wayne Escoffery’s trio, has also featured The Marquis Hill Quartet, the Michael Thomas Trio, Marcus Strickland Trio, the Eric McPherson Trio, the Leap Day Trio and the Joel Ross Quartet. 

Founded by renowned photographers Jimmy and Dena Katz in January 2018, Giant Step Arts is an innovative, artist-focused non-profit organization dedicated to commissioning and showcasing the work of innovative modern jazz artists. Giant Step Arts offers musicians the artistic and financial resources to create bold, adventurous new music free of commercial pressure. Giant Step Arts provides promotional material and publicity services, presents premiere performances and compensates artists, records performances for independent release, provides artists with CDs and digital downloads to sell directly, conveys complete ownership of masters to artists, and provides PR support for the recordings. “Giant Step Arts does not sell any music,” Katz says. “Our goals are to help musicians make bold artistic statements and to advance their careers.”

Jazz Generation was founded in 1999 to emphasize the importance of live jazz as an art form and the performing arts as a cultural asset. The Jazz Discovery Program (JDP) and The Jazz Standard Youth Orchestra (JSYO), and since 2014 KEYED UP!, an anti-poverty program, has offered services that support professional jazz artists in their performing careers, revitalize local businesses, and develop a new generation of audiences and performers. KEYED UP! Has quickly become a favorite NYC entity for musicians, audiences, and venues. Operating simultaneously in over 25 partner venues spanning from Jersey City to Boston, KeyedUP! Is proud to keep hundreds of musicians working and thousands of jazz listeners happy at no extra cost to partner venues.

Jeff Ballard - Fairgrounds (EDITION RECORDS January 25, 2019)

Honest, inventive and adventurous, Fairgrounds is the embodiment of Jeff Ballard’s ceaseless desire and energy to move people emotionally, physically and intellectually. His second album as a leader, sees the US drummer set on a new trajectory of increased recorded output, focus as a bandleader with a new home at British label, Edition Records.

“The only direction or concept I imposed on the players in this group was to feel an absolute freedom to play (or not) whatever they want at any given time. Totally freedom was the only restriction. Structures came from content, or sometimes the structure was already there if we happen to play a specific song but it would be a very new version each time. The music and how we played it came from the moment we all shared then and there, always.” JEFF BALLARD

Jeff Ballard ranks among the most inventive and adventurous drummers of his generation. He makes music that feels like the 21st century – open, fluid, ever-developing; a sound informed by jazz but truly coming to life where musical worlds collide: acoustic and electric, swinging and ambient, analogue and digital, accessible and experimental.

The virtuoso drummer, who made his name playing with Ray Charles, Chick Corea, Pat Metheny and Brad Mehldau, is not inhibited by convention. His music is honest, original and adventurous with a ceaseless desire and energy to move people emotionally, physically and intellectually. Jeff’s latest project and album ‘Fairgrounds’, released on Edition Records, provides a freedom to explore and to express himself with musicians who are close to his heart and mind.

The result is highly captivating and bursting with energy. With a rich and flexible musical language, embracing influences as diverse as Jazz, Rock, Pop, Electronica and West African music, ‘Fairgrounds’ is a unique insight into the distinctive sound world of Jeff Ballard.

JEFF BALLARD drums, percussion

LIONEL LOUEKE guitar, vocals

KEVIN HAYS piano, keyboards, vocals

REID ANDERSON electronics

PETE RENDE piano, fender rhodes

Guest appearances: 

CHRIS CHEEK tenor saxophone (track 5 and 11)

MARK TURNER tenor saxophone (track 6 and 8)

All songs written and arranged by Fairgrounds

except for:

Hit The Dirt by Kevin Hays

Miro by Reid Anderson

Cherokee Rose by Chris Cheek

1. Grounds Entrance

2. YEAH PETE!

3. The Man's Gone 03:56

4. I Saw A Movie

5. Hit The DIrt

6. Twelv8

7. Marche Exotique

8. Grungy Brew

9. Miro

10. Soft Rock

11. Cherokee Rose

Recorded live between March 1 and 20, 2015 while on tour in Europe (Amsterdam, Berlin, Dublin, Munich, Molde, Odense, Paris, Rome, Tours, Terrassa, Vienna, Zurich)

Mixed by Pete Rende

Mastered by Nate Wood

Mark Masters with Andrew Cyrille, Oliver Lake, Tim Hagans, Mark Turner and more - Sept. 21 on CAPRI RECORDS

Composer and arranger Mark Masters paints compelling jazz landscapes for eight original works on new Capri Records release Our Métíer

With Andrew Cyrille, Oliver Lake, Mark Turner, Tim Hagans, Gary Foster,

Dave Woodley, Putter Smith, Anna Mjoll and more

"Masters' arrangements allow the freedom for solos that are creative in the extreme."

- Dan McClenaghan, All About Jazz

"Masters' arrangements are, no pun intended, masterful."

- Scott Albin, JazzTimes

With his Capri release Our Métíer (September 21, 2018), Mark Masters applies his prodigious talent for painting brilliant, complex, and satisfying jazz landscapes.  The eight Masters compositions featured on the album showcase some of the most adventurous creative improvising musicians in jazz today: Andrew Cyrille, Mark Turner, Oliver Lake, Tim Hagans, Gary Foster, Dave Woodley and Putter Smith. In addition, Masters incorporates the unique voice of Anna Mjoll as an orchestral color, mixing with the instrumental waves in wordless swirls of sound. 

The ensemble that supports these improvisers includes Scott Englebright and Les Lovitt (trumpet), Stephanie O'Keefe (French horn), Les Benedict and Ryan Dragon (trombone), Jerry Pinter, Kirsten Edkins and Bob Carr (woodwinds), Ed Czach (piano), and Craig Fundyga (vibes). The group's big band sound is augmented by bass clarinet and vibes giving the project, at times, an ethereal personality.

In his ten previous projects for Capri Records, Masters has reimagined the music of Lee Konitz, Gary McFarland, Dewey Redman, Donald Fagen and Walter Becker (Steely Dan), Grachan Moncur III and Clifford Brown.

With Our Métíer, Masters has produced a classic "free-bop" large ensemble statement.  One key to the success of the recording is the combination of improvisers completely simpatico with the compositions. In fact, the music was conceived and written specifically for these soloists. The music itself is an artist's canvas filled with all the hues and textures that flow from Masters' creative core.

The opening track "Borne Towards the Stars," inspired by the conclusion of Malcolm Lowry's novel "Under the Volcano," shimmers with atmospheric gravity and features explosive solos by Lake and Hagans.  In "51 West 51st Street," drummer Cyrille establishes the groove after an opening steeped in funk featuring Mjoll and Carr's bass clarinet.  When Hagans and Foster boogaloo into the musical space you can close your eyes and imagine being in Toots Shor's legendary New York City bar.  "Lift" is an understated blues featuring Mjoll's exquisite voice and solid solo work from Mjoll, Lake, Smith and Fundyga.  The harmonically engaging "Ingvild's Dance" with Foster and Turner brings to mind the classic pairing of Lee Konitz and Warne Marsh. "A Précis of Dialogue" is the first of two collective improvisations demonstrating clear textures and sparkling musical interplay with Turner, Foster, Cyrille and Smith.  Foster, Smith, Woodley, and Turner deliver emotionally charged solo statements on the heartbreakingly gorgeous ballad "Dispositions of the Heart."  "Obituary" is Masters' tribute to friends and teachers no longer living.  Far from a dirge, the composition is an up- tempo, celebratory romp that shows off the ensemble in top form.  From the haunting opening and trombone clusters aided by Mjoll to the sophisticated tenor sax and trumpet solos that follow, "Luminescence" brings you the blues in an entirely different way. "In Our Time," the second of two collective improvisations is wildly exploratory, conversational and always compelling.  The title track closes the recording with a powerful, quintessential "free-bop" statement.

Mark Masters Biography

Mark Masters (b. 1957) has earned wide acclaim as an inventive and prolific composer and arranger. All About Jazz calls him "one of the great jazz arrangers of the late 20th and 21st centuries."  Born in 1957 in Gary, Indiana, Masters studied jazz at California State in LA. He organized his first ensemble in 1982 and has never looked back.

"A strikingly creative spirit," (Jim Santella, All About Jazz), Masters has led numerous recording sessions, almost all for Capri Records. Among them are Priestess (Capri, 1990) that Masters wrote to feature Billy Harper and Jimmy Knepper.  A subsequent recording with Knepper, The Jimmy Knepper Songbook (Focus, 1993), featured arrangements by Masters of Knepper's compositions.

Masters' most recent recording Blue Skylight (Capri, 2017), features his innovative ensemble writing and unique approach to the music of Gerry Mulligan and Charles Mingus.  Farewell Walter Dewey Redman (Capri, 2008) features Masters' "in and out" approach and re-casts Dewey Redman's music while retaining its substance.  The project features Oliver Lake, Tim Hagans, Dave Carpenter, and Peter Erskine. Other recordings include Wish Me Well (Capri, 2005) with Steve Kuhn, Gary Smulyan, Gary Foster, and Tim Hagans, Exploration (Capri, 2004) with Grachan Moncur III's octet arranged by Masters, One Day With Lee (Capri, 2004) featuring alto saxophonist Lee Konitz, and The Clifford Brown Project (Capri, 2003) featuring Jack Montrose, Gary Smulyan, Tim Hagans, Cecilia Coleman, and Joe La Barbera. In addition, in 2013 Capri released two recordings, Ellington Saxophone Encounters and Everything You Did: The Music of Walter Becker & Donald Fagen.

Masters' 2005 recording Porgy and BessŠRedefined! (Capri) is a more harmonically adventurous approach to Gershwin's classic folk opera than what has come before.  John Kelman, writing for All About Jazz said "ŠMasters' score is the real star here.  From the opening fanfare he introduces two contrasting elements that, to a large part, define the approach to the whole suite-vibrant swing and some surprisingly free passages.  He clearly proves that it's possible to take a piece that has been approached from a variety of angles and still find a new way in."

Since 1998, Masters has been president of The American Jazz Institute, a non-profit organization dedicated to the enrichment and enhancement of the appreciation of jazz. Under Masters' direction, the AJI supports activities that educate and expose the public to jazz through live performance and an oral history project, as well as by supporting charitable endeavors that advance jazz music. One such endeavor is the AJI's Find Your Own Voice mentoring program that takes professional musicians to middle and upper school campuses to present clinics and master classes to student musicians. 

Masters served as a guest lecturer at Claremont McKenna College (1999 - 2006) where he was involved with the History of Jazz class, overseeing an oral history project, and writing for and producing a series of concerts that brought such notable artists to the college as Billy Harper, Billy Hart, Bennie Maupin, Rufus Reid, Sam Rivers, Andrew Cyrille, Mark Turner, Gary Foster, Lee Konitz, Jack Montrose, John La Porta, Tim Hagans, Gary Smulyan, Ray Drummond, Steve Kuhn, Peter Erskine, Joe La Barbera, Ted Brown, Grachan Moncur III, Henry Grimes, and Dewey Redman.

Masters has been named a Rising Star Arranger in DownBeat Magazine's Annual Critics Poll multiple times.

caprirecords.com

Mark Turner / Ethan Iverson - Temporary Kings (ECM 2018)

With Temporary Kings two of the most distinct voices on today’s jazz scene present their debut on record as a duo: Engaging in inspired dialogue Mark Turner and Ethan Iverson here explore aesthetic common ground in the atmosphere of a modernist chamber music-like setting at the Auditorio Stelio Molo RSI, Lugano. The saxophonist and the pianist had begun their association in the Billy Hart Quartet, where the two players featured sympathetically on two ECM albums by that band. The new duo album now contains six originals by Iverson (among them the nostalgic solo tune “Yesterday’s Bouquet”) and two by Turner (including “Myron’s World,” which has acquired near-classic status among contemporary jazz players). There’s an off-kilter blues (“Unclaimed Freight”) and a strikingly melodic, almost Ravelian opening track dedicated to the town where the album was recorded under ideal sonic conditions (“Lugano”), plus an interpretation of Warne Marsh’s playfully serpentine “Dixie’s Dilemma.”

Mark Turner, Tenor Saxophone

Ethan Iverson, Piano

1 LUGANO (Ethan Iverson) 05:00

2 TEMPORARY KINGS (Ethan Iverson) 05:44

3 TURNER?S CHAMBER OF UNLIKELY DELIGHTS (Ethan Iverson) 05:54

4 DIXIE'S DILEMMA (Warne Marsh) 06:00

5 YESTERDAY'S BOUQUET (Ethan Iverson) 04:44

6 UNCLAIMED FREIGHT (Ethan Iverson) 06:49

7 MYRON'S WORLD (Mark Turner) 07:15

8 THIRD FAMILIAR (Ethan Iverson) 04:24

9 SEVEN POINTS (Mark Turner) 07:54

Mikkel Ploug & Mark Turner - Faroe (SUNNYSIDE RECORDS 2018)

The actions of simplifying and scaling down can change the dynamics of even the longest relationships. After having toured with the great saxophonist Mark Turner for a decade, guitarist Mikkel Ploug has decided to record a duo album in order to present a new representation of their musical interaction in an intimate setting. Both musicians truly shine on the new recording, Faroe. 

After he finished his music studies at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague in 2005, the Danish guitarist visited New York to play some sessions and take some lessons with a number of musicians. Ploug had written some tricky music for jazz quartet that was inspired by Turner’s Dharma Days recording, among others. After presenting the compositions to a number of his peers and heroes, Ploug was encouraged to approach Turner with the music with the goal of playing and, perhaps, recording with him. 

Turner liked the pieces and was happy to join Ploug’s Group, along with bassist Jeppe Skovbakke and drummer Sean Carpio. The Group has toured regularly over the past decade all over Europe. Although Ploug continues to enjoy the energy that the quartet can provide, he felt that it was time to do something different. Something scaled down to allow for a more subtle interaction between Turner and himself. On a trip to the Faroe Islands, Ploug began writing and planning for a duo recording at his hotel. 

Ploug intended to keep the core dynamic he had established with Turner, but highlight their melodic and chordal movement without the rhythm section’s percussive bombardment. This allows Turner to remain in a calm and heady role, rather than having to maintain volume and intensity. Having fallen for Turner’s dry tone and creative storytelling, Ploug wanted to establish a broad carpet of guitarsound to support the saxophonist but also allow himself to stretch further and broaden the guitars musical function.  

US Drummer Jeff Ballard Signs to Edition (EDITION RECORDS)

US Drummer Jeff Ballard signs to Edition Records for the release of his new album ‘Fairgrounds’ featuring Lionel Loueke, Kevin Hays, Reid Anderson, Pete Rende, Mark Turner and Chris Cheek.

Jeff Ballard, the virtuoso drummer who has made his name playing with the likes of Ray Charles, Chick Corea, Pat Metheny and Brad Mehldau has signed to Edition Records with his new album, Fairgrounds, due for release in January 2019.

Jeff Ballard makes music that feels like the 21st century – open, fluid and ever-developing - a sound informed by jazz but truly coming to life where musical worlds collide: acoustic and electric, swinging and ambient, analog and digital, accessible and experimental.

With Lionel Loueke on guitar and vocals, Kevin Hays on keyboards and vocals and Reid Anderson on electronics, the album also features saxophonists Mark Turner and Chris Cheek, Pete Rende on keyboards, who also recorded and mixed the album, with mastering by Nate Smith. This is a potent combination of musicians who revere the past while realising that art is always made in the present tense; they grew up versed in deep traditions but are keen to blur boundaries between genres. Jazz, rock, electronica and West African music all figure in the shape-shifting, cross-cultural sound of this dream band.

A new home for Jeff on an independent and European label presents new opportunities for him. As Jeff explains; ‘I feel extremely lucky to have come into contact with Dave and Edition Records. It is sort of a dream come true in that I feel with them I have the means, the modern means, to reach a larger public with complete artistic freedom and support. This is one of the benefits of having a forward thinking independent label which is dedicated to the artist like Edition is. It is obvious to me that their focus is on quality and longevity. And to be honest the passion I sense from them is contagious. I’m excited not just about this new record release and reaching out and connecting to more people thru a variety of new (for me) ways but I am just as excited - if not more so - about what’s coming next. Thanks Edition!’

This release marks a significant signing for Edition Records, as label boss Dave Stapleton explains; To be able to work with Jeff on his album is both humbling and hugely exciting. Not only is he regarded as one of the greatest drummers in Jazz, and he's worked with some of the most celebrated players in this music, but he’s both a musician and a man of deep integrity and trust with endless enthusiasm and passion. Edition is a label growing in a very changeable industry; Jeff’s natural tendency to trust, and his desire to work together on building audiences, perfectly fits with our own vision of working with our artists in a very open and collaborative way. We’re incredibly excited to start work on this great music. I’ve no doubt it’s going to be a lot of fun’.

Fairgrounds will be released on 25th January 2019

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Matt Penman - Good Question (SUNNYSIDE RECORDS June 8, 2018)

"The music on this recording is a series of musical questions I posed to my bandmates over two days, that I might get their input on a range of subjects that interest me. Much like having prescribed topics for conversation, I wrote these tunes in the hope of starting a dialogue that could provoke reactions, new angles and corollaries that were unforeseen, yet welcome. In fact all of the musicians on this album have their own points of view and a strong opinion, as well as a natural inclination to collaborate, and these are the reasons why I wanted to record with them. This is also why the musical discussion proved to be so rich and wide-ranging." – Matt Penman 

Bassist/composer Matt Penman has spent much of the past decade developing and presenting music for the illustrious SFJazz Collective and the fantastic James Farm collective. That had left a gap between solo recordings that he felt it was time to abate. The result of his efforts are presented here on Good Question, a poignant recording of pieces meant to challenge, engage and entertain both its listeners and the musicians involved in its creation. 

Originally from New Zealand, Penman, since his arrival in 1995, has been an essential voice in the musical landscape of New York. His experience in the States has provided him with both inspiration and exasperation. He has chosen to address his feelings as a part of his new music: 

"There are a variety of musical moods and spaces, some written with these exact musicians in mind, some not; some written as a response to the cultural and political climate in the country I have chosen to make my home, and some as purely musical excavations. Overall, you could say that the album represents a general delight, bemusement, indictment and celebration of the American experiment through the eyes of a foreigner who has now lived more than half his life in the States." 

The ensemble that Penman assembled features not only the top musicians in jazz but also his regular collaborators and friends, including saxophonist Mark Turner, pianist Aaron Parks and drummer Obed Calvaire. There are also guest appearances by guitarist Nir Felder, saxophonist Will Vinson and percussionist Rogerio Boccato. 

Penman’s compositions are meant to stimulate the ensemble into reactions and conversations within their framework. The pieces either present musical puzzles or are think pieces for reflection on topics, mainly natural or political. The ensemble handled the task with aplomb over three days of recording at Brooklyn Recording during the spring and summer of 2017. 

The recording begins with the shimmering “Mr. Right,” which poses questions of how much freedom is too much and do the boundaries of a closed song form encourage creativity? The challenge behind the deceptively difficult yet beautiful “Small Famous” is to make the tune’s complex harmonic form sound easily formulated. The quietly insistent “Fifths and Bayou” presents the players with defined phrase lengths and a set form with the hopes that they would transcend them, as does the soaring soprano saxophone of Will Vinson. A moving excursion on “Blues and the Alternative Truth” explores the many possibilities of the open space allowed by paring down the ensemble to a trio of piano, bass and drums. The exploratory “Cave Life” is about portraying a scene and creating a story about it, in this case spelunking. 

“Ride the Paper Tiger” is an adventurous piece that provides ample opportunity to highlight the talents of the ensemble, including guest guitar slinger Nir Felder. On “Copeland,” Penman asks the ensemble to create an aural safe haven from the traumas of modern life, “a place for political refugees, PTSD sufferers, ex-White House staffers and anyone undergoing a tax audit.” The impressively wrought “Meats” is through composed with a little solo wriggle room given to drummer Calvaire. The concluding piece, “Big Tent, Little Tent,” is a grooving, easygoing composition that frees the ensemble as it closes out the set. 

After posing his questions and framing his scenarios to his open-minded ensemble, Matt Penman has been awarded with a fascinating and moving recording in Good Question, knowing all along that there might not be any answers to his queries at all. 

"'Good question' becomes a response when we don’t actually know the answer, but are willing to ponder further."

1. Mr. Right

2. Small Famous

3. Fifths and Bayou

4. Blues and The Alternative Truth

5. Cave Life

6. Ride the Paper Tiger

7. Copeland

8. Meats

9. Big Tent, Little Tent

Matt Penman - bass

Mark Turner - tenor sax (1, 2, 5, 7-9)

Aaron Parks - piano, Rhodes, organ, vibraphone

Oded Calvaire - drums

Nir Felder - guitar (6 & 9)

Will Vinson - soprano sax (3)

Rogerio Boccato - percussion (3)

Benoit Delbecq 4 - Spots On Stripes (CLEAN FEED RECORDS 2018)

« A thoughtful chill runs through the music of Benoît Delbecq, a French pianist of investigative temperament and crystalline technique. There’s a ton of compressed energy in his playing, but he projects an unflappable calm ». These lines from the New York Times in 2010 by jazz critic Nate Chinen offer a pertinent description of Delbecq’s music. Delbecq is a multi-awarded  Parisian pianist and composer, a type-setter who persists in developing his ideas among which a very rhythmic approach that brings the soul of jazz to John Cage’s prepared piano. Delbecq may prepare just a few strings with wood sticks then sit at the piano become a percussion-and-piano ensemble. Delbecq is curious with sound, the rhythm of prose, and mutating loops of sound fabrics. His musical thrust continues to weave some outstanding and compelling tapestries for our delight.

This new quartet assembles four musicians from New York and Paris of the highest caliber in today’s contemporary jazz scene. There are winding melodies written for silversmith Mark Turner who kneads them like dow when Delbecq elegantly seems to observe them from a mirror, as well as lines for John Hébert whose rocking bass may decide to shift the whole group’s harmony, the whole cooking magically with Gerald Cleaver’s stellar, soulfoul and contagious drumming. The quartet plays a nomadic and rhythmic music as if they followed a map with contour lines only, letting musical gems appear and farm them on the moment on such fertile terrain.

Delbecq was born in 1966. Since the early nineties, his works have received acclaims from legendary musicians such as Mal Waldron, Steve Lacy, György Ligeti, Steve Coleman, Evan Parker, as well as from many critics and festivals around the world. He studied improvised music in Paris with free music pioneer Alan Silva. When aged 19, he joined Silva’s Celestrial Communication Orchestra, while jazz giant Mal Waldron mentored him to work on his own musical ideas. Delbecq has participated in a couple of jazz workshops at the Banff Centre and studied there with Dave Holland, Steve Coleman, Muhal Richard Abrams, among others greats. He also studied composition and music analysis with Solange Ancona, a former student of Olivier Messiaen. For composing he uses his own graphic notation he came cross with when transcribing the music of the Aka pigmees from the Central African rainforest.

He has previously worked with Mark Turner, John Hébert and Gerald Cleaver in two different projects (Delbecq Unit with Turner in 2003-5, and Hébert trio with Cleaver on drums since 2008). He’s been an activist of the Hask Collective Paris (1992-2004) and is presently a founding member of Bureau de Son Paris (2008) and the dStream label.

Delbecq’s works include collaborations with Mark Turner, Evan Parker, Oliver Lake, Michael Moore, Jean-Jacques Avenel, John Hébert, Steve Argüelles, Gerald Cleaver, Julian Argüelles, Marc Ducret, Guillaume Orti, Noël Akchoté, Mark Helias, Fred Hersch, Andy Milne, Ethan Iverson, Kris Davis, Jozef Dumoulin, Mike Ladd, Mary Halvorson, Taylor Ho Bynum, Tomas Fujiwara, François Houle, Gerry Hemingway, Toma Gouband, Samuel Blaser, Masa Kamaguchi, Emile Biayenda, Miles Perkin, Guillaume Orti, Robin Fincker, Sylvain Darrifourcq, Robin Verheyen, Clemens Van de Feen, Tomas Fujiwara, Jonas Burwinkel, Petter Eldh, Tim Berne, Tom Rainey, Lotte Anker, Hubert Dupont, Sarah Murcia, Olivier Py, François Thuillier, Stéphane Galland, Petter Bruun, Claudia Solal, Sarah Murcia, Kim Myhr, Michele Rabbia, Maria Pia de Vito, Oene Van Geel, Mandhira de Saram, Jonas Burgwinkel, Petter Eldh, Jorrit Dijsktra, John Hollenbeck, Dave King, Grdon Gordina, Kenton Loewen and many others.

1 Spots on Stripes 8:35

2 Broken World 4:13

3 Rosemary K 3:41

4 The Loop of Chicago 5:24

5 Disparition Du Si 3:20

6 Dawn Sounds 6:51

7 Old Vinyl 5:43

8 Springs 5:28

9 Dripping Stones 4:35

10 De Stael 5:30

Mark Turner  tenor saxophone

Benoît Delbecq  piano

John Hébert  double bass

Gerald Cleaver  drums

All compositions by Benoît Delbecq (Sacem)

Recorded June 15th, 2017 at Trading8s Studio, Paramus NJ by Christopher Sulit | Mixed by Benoît Delbecq at PlushSpace Paris | Mastered by Klaus Sheuermann at 4ohm Berlin

Produced by Benoît Delbecq | Executive production by Pedro Costa for Trem Azul | Design by Travassos