I was down in that Big Fancy London a couple of weeks ago and paid my usual visit to Ray’s Jazz in Foyles on Charing Cross Road. The new shop is all bright and light and separated by a floor or two from the new café. I always preferred the old space in the shop next door at number 84. You could order your coffee and cake and then carry out a bit of crate digging, leaving an unattended briefcase full of top military secrets to bagsy a window seat from which you could later watch the buses go by. (Sometimes, you had to take the top secret files out to fit the LPs in.) They do, however, still have an excellent selection of new and second-hand CDs and they can still lay an aural trap to snare the unwary punter, unused to the big city ways.
They did it to me but I have no
regrets as I now find myself fifteen quid lighter but the better for having
bought Return from the Stars by Mark
Turner.
I’ve been a fan of Turner’s ever
since his Fly Trio album Year of the
Snake came out in 2012, on which album he partnered with Larry Grenadier
and Jeff Ballard, a rhythm section of some repute. Lathe of Heaven from 2014 by the Mark Turner Quartet was another
exceptional album. Bassist Joe Martin is the only carry over from that album to
feature on Return from the Stars and
you can see why Turner has hung onto him when you hear the role he plays in the
current quartet.
The album opens with the title
track, Miles-ian, tightly structured and controlled with delicate, tickling
drums. Passages of unison play by sax and trumpet are broken by bass solo
interludes then Turner and Palmer indulge in a soaring joust that takes us back
to the stars.
To an extent that sets the model
for what follows. If that sounds dismissive it is not meant as such. This is a
wonderful album, full of verve and drama. Turner has composed all the tracks
but these are, as with the best of jazz, foundations for the others to build
on. Palmer, especially, on trumpet, takes full advantage to really open up, and
again, soar on Bridgetown whilst It’s Not Alright with Me has Martin and Turner playing with, against
and around each other and it makes for wonderful listening.
Nigeria II is probably the standout track for me. Its pace and
attack and furious chasing solos from Turner and Palmer are a joy and the only
mark against it is its brevity, at 4:36 it’s the shortest track on the album.
Of course, with it being an ECM
album, it is beautifully recorded with exceptional separation between the
musicians and every note sounds clearly, though I would have pushed the drums a
bit further up in the mix on some of the early tracks as sometimes they feel
remote and a bit lost. (The exceptions are Unacceptable
and Waste Land where the sax and
trumpet are broken up by interludes as on the first track but this time it is Pinson’s
drums that take on the task, Martin playing a few spare phrases on bowed bass).
The closer, Lincoln Heights is a showcase for bassist Joe Martin and it’s a
reward for holding the whole album together. He solos for most of the track
over delicately played horns before a full pile by the others and some furious
drumming. Although he anchors the sound of the group throughout it’s in a
prominent role, just behind the horns. I’ll be looking to see if he has
anything out under his own name.
The CD also comes in the usual
cardboard sleeve, the main purpose of which, for me, is in helping to spot ECM
albums in the second hand racks at Foyles. Having said that, and in the
interests of the environment and reducing excess packaging, it’s probably time
for ECM to knock the cardboard sleeves on the head.
The album is currently available on CD and download from all the usual outlets with a vinyl release to follow in the autumn. Turner’s website doesn’t look to have been updated for a few years and part of it is being cyber squatted by a bookies. He does have a Facebook page which can be found by searching Mark Turner Jazz and that is up to date - Dave Sayer
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