Description
Loveland, Denmark 2025
Limited edition black 12″ vinyl with artwork by Danish artist Tal R.
“In a career that spans three decades and encompasses a broad array of musical ventures, tenor saxophonist Mark Turner (b. 1965) has proved himself as one of American jazz’s most original and influential musical thinkers. A New York Times profile of Turner titled “The Best Jazz Player You’ve Never Heard” called him “possibly jazz’s premier player,” noting his reputation amongst his peers and his influential stature in jazz.
From 1995 to 2001 Mark Turner recorded five albums of his own (with the likes of Brad Mehldau, Larry Grenadier, Brian Blade a.o., primarily on Warner) — while keeping busy as a sought-after collaborator and sideman. Despite his growing reputation and influence, Turner intentionally pulled back from working as a leader, although still composing for and co-leading the trio Fly, before returning with a series of albums on ECM a decade later. More recently Mark Turner is heard on “Misterioso” with Jeff Tain Watts and performing Wayne Shorter’s music live with his last quartet. His latest studio album “Return to the Stars” (ECM, 2022) was recorded less than a month prior to the session in Copenhagen working with Jakob Bro on music for “Music For Black Pigeons”.
That studio session is now materialized as Mark Turner’s first solo saxophone LP “We Raise Them To Lift Their Heads” on Jakob Bro’s label Loveland Music. It is as vulnerable and raw as it is powerful and something essential to Mark Turner, a document to his harmonic world and vision, which can only be conveyed through music, always finding a new way for putting the pieces together and constantly looking for new ground. He still does.
Mark Turner: Tenor Saxophone.
All compositions by Jakob Bro except Slow & Fast by Mark Turner and Misterioso by Thelonious Monk.
Recorded at The Village Studio, Copenhagen on December 6–7th 2019. Engineer: Thomas Vang. Mastering: David Elberling.
Cover painting by Tal R
