Mark Turner, Lathe of Heaven
Posted: October 15th, 2014, 8:12 am
Mark Turner Quartet, Lathe of Heaven (ECM)
Mark Turner, tenor sax; Avishai Cohen, trumpet; Ben Street, bass; Marcus Gilmore, drums.
This is the first recording by Mark Turner's quartet, a group that has been performing for several years. It was worth waiting for.
It certainly won't be to everyone's taste. It's quite an austere sound, with slowly moving melodies, little to no traditional swing, and no chordal instrument to clarify harmonic movement. The atmosphere is cool and cerebral on the surface, but with no little passion in the solos. It's cool but intense. The passion is contained, but definitely there.
And Turner and Cohen play gorgeously, with great deliberation (in a good sense) and focus. They create a sense of mystery and yearning with their carefully phrased, unhurried lines. Beneath them, Ben Street is a discreet pivot, playing few notes and anchoring the structure, while Marcus Gilmore plays quietly but with more speed and seeming liberty than the horns. I get a sense of the fractal, with the drums expressing form at a smaller, more frequent level and the horns overarching with a larger, slower expression. It's very intriguing and original.
I said there was little to no swing, but there's no mistaking that it's jazz. Jazz rhythms are there, in a kind of distilled, suspended form, and the tradition comes through in the saxophone and trumpet solos. I find myself thinking of Kenny Wheeler sometimes when I listen to Cohen here, which I've never noticed on his own recordings.
For me this is a beautiful and important recording. It's very particular, and might not match the tastes of more straight-ahead listeners. But if you don't love it right away, it might grow on you.
Mark Turner, tenor sax; Avishai Cohen, trumpet; Ben Street, bass; Marcus Gilmore, drums.
This is the first recording by Mark Turner's quartet, a group that has been performing for several years. It was worth waiting for.
It certainly won't be to everyone's taste. It's quite an austere sound, with slowly moving melodies, little to no traditional swing, and no chordal instrument to clarify harmonic movement. The atmosphere is cool and cerebral on the surface, but with no little passion in the solos. It's cool but intense. The passion is contained, but definitely there.
And Turner and Cohen play gorgeously, with great deliberation (in a good sense) and focus. They create a sense of mystery and yearning with their carefully phrased, unhurried lines. Beneath them, Ben Street is a discreet pivot, playing few notes and anchoring the structure, while Marcus Gilmore plays quietly but with more speed and seeming liberty than the horns. I get a sense of the fractal, with the drums expressing form at a smaller, more frequent level and the horns overarching with a larger, slower expression. It's very intriguing and original.
I said there was little to no swing, but there's no mistaking that it's jazz. Jazz rhythms are there, in a kind of distilled, suspended form, and the tradition comes through in the saxophone and trumpet solos. I find myself thinking of Kenny Wheeler sometimes when I listen to Cohen here, which I've never noticed on his own recordings.
For me this is a beautiful and important recording. It's very particular, and might not match the tastes of more straight-ahead listeners. But if you don't love it right away, it might grow on you.