Mark Turner: Yam Yam
Editor's Choice
Author: Stuart Nicholson
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Musicians: |
Jorge Rossy (d) |
Label: |
CrissCross/Elemental Music |
Magazine Review Date: |
July/2022 |
Media Format: |
2 LP |
Catalogue Number: |
1094LP |
RecordDate: |
Rec. 12 December 1994 |
Recorded in 1994, the Young Lions resurgence was well under way by the time Turner made this, his debut as a leader on recordings. He turned to the then fast rising Brad Mehldau Trio and up and coming guitar whiz Kurt Rosenwinkel in what has become one of the most enduring of the albums recorded during this period.
Not one for following the crowd, Turner turned to the Lennie Tristano school as a formative influence, his playing a refreshing antidote to the avalanche of Coltrane inspired saxophonists fresh out of music college. Not that Turner escaped Coltrane’s long shadow – he includes ‘Moment’s Notice’ for example – but Coltrane’s influence seems to be more harmonic than technical. Instead, his playing hints at his close listening to Lee Konitz, but more particularly tenor saxophonist Warne Marsh, then closely associated with Konitz in Tristano’s ensemble and on classic albums such as Lee Konitz with Warne Marsh. The result was a neat dovetailing with Mehldau’s trio – a meeting of two independent thinkers, one on saxophone and one on piano – with Rosenwinkle taking a Billy Bauer role (a guitarist closely associated with Tristano), plugging into the mood of the session, yet retaining his independence of thought and conception. The appearance of Seamus Blake and Terence Dean on ‘Zurich’ is a minor distraction as it shatters the prevailing aesthetic created by Turner and Mehldau, but nevertheless, the overall result is a refreshing two album set that deserves serious reappraisal. The album is here making its first-ever appearance on vinyl, with excellent mastering/cutting by Bernie Grundman.

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