Kevin Sun

The quarter note plays a big role in the Mark Turner sound, I think. I'm not sure what it is exactly, but there's something intensely pointed and focused about these lines of quarter notes, and they're in full display on this burning "The Man I Love," from Warner Jams, Vol. 2: The Two Tenors (also easily identifiable on other solos from the same record, like "The Plain But The Simple Truth" ).  I remember being mesmerized as a teenager by Stan Getz's use of long, two-repeated-eighth-note melodies (the intro to "S-H-I-N-E" from West Coast Jazz  might be the most obvious example), but aside from the technical aspect of its execution, I remember being able to hear the melodic improvised line more clearly—basically because there were half as many pitches in the same amount of time as an eighth note line. Mark's quarter note lines end up having a similar effect: aside from giving him and listener a break from the dense, substitution a...

A gem from the '90s Continuing the effort to post forgotten transcriptions from the past year, I finally finished up two solos that I'd started at the very beginning of the year: James Moody & Mark Turner on a Bb blues.  Miguel had recommended the album, Warner Jams, Vol. 2: The Two Tenors , to me at the end of 2013, mentioning that I should check out the difference in time feels between Moody and Mark. It's a fascinating document of two great artists conversing across generations, and definitely worth digging up a copy if you've got the time and resources ("Satellite" and "The Man I Love" are also particularly memorable). At times, it's truly gravity-defying how much Mark plays behind the beat without dragging; Moody, as usual, sounds ebullient throughout.  To my knowledge, there weren't any more Warner Jams after this one. The first volume was a mash-up of a bunch of second-generation 'Young Lions,' and I have ...