Jazz Articles about Brad Turner

About Brad Turner

Album Review

Unconditional is the debut recording as leader by Atley King who is described in a press release as “Canada's leading young jazz vibraphonist." While that portrayal may or may not be true--not to mention gratuitous--King is very good, as are the members of his admirable quintet. Besides playing splendidly, King wrote the first eight of the album's nine selections, closing with John Coltrane's soulful “Naima." His compositions are fine, albeit more or less generic--that is to say, ...

Album Review

Cory Weeds: Home Cookin'

Read "Home Cookin'" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
January 17, 2024

On Home Cookin', his second recording with an eleven-piece “little big band," tenor saxophonist Cory Weeds is doing the best he can. Really. As Weeds writes in the liner notes, the plan was to rehearse the band for two nights at Frankie's Jazz Club in Vancouver, Canada, home to Weeds and most of the band's personnel, then to convene at the Warehouse Studio on Sunday to record. Arriving at the club on Friday evening, Weeds found to his dismay that ...

Album Review

Cory Weeds: Home Cookin'

Read "Home Cookin'" reviewed by Pierre Giroux

by Pierre Giroux
November 26, 2023

Cory Weeds, a prominent figure in the contemporary jazz scene, has made a remarkable statement with his Little Big Band's latest album Home Cookin'. The session showcases a vibrant collection of compositions/arrangements carefully curated to resonate with his personal journey, including those by Horace Silver, Thad Jones and Oliver Nelson, which are essential to him for a variety of reasons. The band comprises ten of his favorite world-class Vancouver, BC-based musicians. These previously mentioned influential tracks ...

Album Review

Brad Turner Quintet: The Magnificent

Read "The Magnificent" reviewed by Jack Bowers

by Jack Bowers
November 11, 2023

If the title of Canadian trumpeter Brad Turner's latest album, The Magnificent, sounds a trifle self-absorbed, rest assured it does not refer to him but to another “magnificent" horn player, the late Thad Jones. The honorific, however, would not be unwisely used if applied to Turner himself, who not only excels on the trumpet but also plays tasteful piano and wrote every one of the album's generally engaging themes. Although the group is listed on the album ...

Radio & Podcasts

Ivan Lins, Donald Harrison & Brad Turner

by Joe Dimino
September 24, 2023

We begin the 821st Episode of Neon Jazz with multi-instrumentalist Brad Turner and music from his 2023 release The Magnificent. That tune kicks off a full hour of music dedicated to the new jazz. From there, we hear from Kurt Elling, Donald Harrison, Ron Blake and Ivan Lins. We complete the circle with Jon-Erik Kellso live at The Ear Inn. We also give a very special shout out to MLB legend Dwight “Doc" Gooden. Dig the jazz and baseball, my ...

Album Review

Daniel Hersog Jazz Orchestra: Open Spaces

Read "Open Spaces" reviewed by Jerome Wilson

by Jerome Wilson
September 23, 2023

The subtitle of this album is “Folk Songs Reimagined" and Daniel Hersog uses a very liberal meaning for the term “folk song" here. He includes traditional folk songs on this album, in addition to familiar tunes by Bob Dylan and Gordon Lightfoot and his own folk-based compositions. All are given a glistening polish in the sweeping cinematic arrangements which he writes for his orchestra, and are further enhanced by excellent solo work from a number of musicians. Hersog's ...

Album Review

Brad Turner Quintet: The Magnificent

Read "The Magnificent" reviewed by Pierre Giroux

by Pierre Giroux
September 23, 2023

Brad Turner's album The Magnificent is a sonic gem on which he invites listeners on a musical journey which effortlessly balances tradition and innovation. Comprising a wish-list of stellar musicians, including guitarist Peter Bernstein, bassist Neil Swainson, drummer Quincy Davis and, on four tracks, tenor saxophonist Cory Weeds, the band gathered together to record a session to breathe life into nine Turner compositions. The opening track is “You're OK," in which Turner's trumpet takes center stage ...