Born in Fairborn, Ohio in 1965, Mark Turner is returning to Columbus with his project the Mark Turner Quartet on September 26th at the Wexner Performing Arts Center. Turner was raised in southern California and graduated from the Berklee College of music in Boston in 1990, after which he moved to New York where his music career took off. In 2002 The New York Times published an article called “The Best Jazz Player You’ve Never Heard” that highlighted his ability to not only play with new, young jazz musicians but to influence them as well. Turner has released six albums as a band leader but his new album Lathe of Heaven will be the first he has branded with his own name since 2001. He has also recently been featured on works by several other artists. With the new album in stores Sept. 9th, fans can be assured he will be bringing some new sounds with him to the Wexner Center.
From the Wexner Center:
Saxophonist and composer Mark Turner is renowned for his rich dusky tone, exploratory intellect, and intimate expressive range on the tenor. Last seen at the Wexner Center with Israeli jazz guitar sensation Gilad Hekselman, Turner is now reestablishing himself as a band leader. He will soon release Lathe Of Heaven, his debut on ECM Records under his own name, following albums for the label with the cooperative trio Fly (with Larry Grenadier and Jeff Ballard) and appearances on key recordings by Billy Hart, Enrico Rava, and Stefano Bollani. Leading a quartet of kindred spirits, Turner intertwines musically with dynamic trumpeter Avishai Cohen as they play long, mesmerizing, introspective lines supported by the lithe rhythm section of bassist Joe Martin and drummer Gregory Hutchinson.