Label: ECM Records, 2022
Personnel - Mark Turner: tenor saxophone; Jason Palmer: trumpet; Joe Martin: bass; Jonathan Pinson: drums.
With Return From the Stars, the resourceful saxophonist Mark Turner returns to his own quartet, eight years after Lathe of Heaven (ECM, 2014). There were two alterations in the lineup, with the young trumpeter Jason Palmer replacing Avishai Cohen and the drummer Jonathan Pinson grabbing the chair that belonged to Marcus Gilmore. Rounding out the group is bassist Joe Martin, who remains as one of the rhythm section’s pillars.
Eschewing any type of conformism in his compositional strategy, the bandleader’s employment of a chord-less ensemble taps into his musical intentions. He named the album, and its magnificent opening track, after Stanislav Lem’s sci-fi novel of the same name, whose topics fall into social alienation and dystopia. The thematically strong title cut has saxophone and trumpet working in conjunction, and launches the improvisations with Martin, who never lets go of the groove. After him, working over blowing changes in triple meter, there is a scintillating dialogue between Turner and Palmer. The saxist, vibrant in tone, blows with an extraordinary sense of phrasing, while the trumpeter articulates notes with admirable precision.
A couple of cuts imply some discontentment with the current state of the world. One example is “It’s Not Alright With Me”, where inventive tenor diagonals cut across several choruses in full force. “Unacceptable” is another one, which, after being accented with inspired phrases in the head, shows horn-driven discipline during the 13-beat cycle (the same that gets the piece off the ground) that separates Turner’s combustible solo from the patiently built narrative of Palmer.
Following the intriguing Shorter-esque “Terminus”, which fluidly shifts between moods, texture and tempo, there’s the brightly shine of “Bridgetown”, a nearly anthemic Afro-Caribbean-flavored piece delivered with a pompous glory. “Nigeria II” is an uptempo bop-inflected workout that swings and dances with unhesitant, nimble steps, whereas “Waste Land” sounds like a chamber piece in which the ensemble interacts with a spacey kinship. The intensity swells underneath via Pinson’s chop-infused drumming, which is considerably mitigated during the sculptural “Lincoln Heights”, a temperate 3/4 consolidation of jazz and pop/rock. Rest assured that all eight pieces on this album reveal high levels of musicianship, maturity and chemistry.
Favorite Tracks:
02 - Terminus ► 05 - Nigeria II ► 07 - Unacceptable