Mark Turner presents some new material on his quartet tour in Europe.
Mark Turner, tenor saxophone; Jason Palmer, trumpet; Joe Martin, bass; Jonathan Pinson, drums. Live at Fasching, Stockholm, April 16, 2024.
Saxophonist Mark Turner has toured and recorded with his quartet four some ten years by now. I have heard them live several times, and there is a lot of consistency in repertoire and group interplay even if bassist Joe Martin is the only original member besides Turner.
The past month they have toured Europe and their last stop was Stockholm, Sweden. Turner has only recorded two studio albums with them, and since they only perform original music, it gives them a limited repertoire.
They play some familiar songs at the Stockholm concert, but also a lot of new material by Turner and trumpeter Jason Palmer. It is just what they need to ignite their performance, especially since some of it is very up-tempo, to drummer Jonathan Pinson’s obvious delight.
A music of patience
The scaled down setting of the band without a chordal instrument reminds of the quartets Ornette Coleman and Sonny Rollins led with trumpeter Don Cherry some 60 years ago. But where they used to achieve a lot of spontaneity Turner’s music is more thought out with long themes and arrangements.
A lot of responsibility for holding the music together goes to Joe Martin who both plays rhythm and harmony. Turner jokingly refers to him as the piano player in the band. Jonathan Pinson is an obvious powerhouse drummer whenever he gets the chance to show it, but on some of the songs in slow tempo his role is very restricted. In whatever tempo he plays Pinson adds a grain of funk.
The two frontmen shine. Turner is one of the two or three most important new tenor saxophonists of the past three decades. He reminds a lot of past masters like Wayne Shorter and Joe Henderson in how he balances artistic expression with an interest in form. Jason Palmer convinces with some fast playing in the high register. He has a clean and articulated tone. Hopefully, the new material can result in a new album soon. There is a lot of patience in the music of Turner, and you must show a lot of it waiting for a new album by him.
Jazz Desk 