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Matt Turner
Turner completed his undergraduate studies at Lawrence University and his Master of Music degree in Third Stream Studies (now the Contemporary Improvisation program) at the New Conservatory of Music, where he studied with Dave Holland, Geri Allen and Joe Maneri, and where he was the recipient of a Distinction in Perfomance Award.
As a leader, Turner's recordings appear on Illusions, Stellar, O.O. Discs, Asian Improv, Penumbra, Fever Pitch, Geode, Tautology and Meniscus Records. Turner is a Yamaha Performing Artist and currently performs and records with Bill Carrothers' Armistice 1918 ensemble and with the Fantastic Merlins. Source: Matthew L. Turner
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Matt Turner: Patina
by Budd Kopman
Patina is the first of a pair (to date) of recordings by cellist Matt Turner that stretch the boundaries of jazz, or perhaps better, blur the lines between music, sound, and noise, making use of technology in this case. Whereas Dada Ear Ink made it clear that all sounds heard came from the piano, perhaps prepared with different materials on the strings, Patina declares the following: “All software treatments manipulated and recorded in real time using only ...
read moreMatt Turner: Dada Ear Ink
by Budd Kopman
Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar, but in the case of Dada Ear Ink, a piano is not merely a piano. The liner proclaims loudly, NO effects, reverb, or editing used on this recording, and from the start it is clear that at least part of the conceit is for the listener to try to imagine how Matt Turner gets the sounds he is pulling from a piano. Listeners familiar with music for prepared piano might ...
read moreMatt Turner: Patina
by AAJ Staff
No one will ever accuse cellist Matt Turner of being predictable. His work in a variety of situations (on cello, piano, and voice) has a restless quality that renders it ephemeral and elusive. Both of his solo records have been very adventurous in approach. Last year's fine Outside In (with pianist John Harmon) represented an high point for Turner--a recording of sustained clarity and vision.
On Patina, Turner turns inward. This record consists of fourteen solo cello improvisations, ...
read moreMatt Turner and John Harmon: Outside In
by AAJ Staff
Outside, inside; man, this disc is all over the place. Cellist Turner, probably best known from various fine collaborations with Jeff Song (guitar, kayagum, bass), here is mostly in, with standards pop, jazz, and religious, and with bizarre timing, an original tune called “Ground Zero,” which turns out to be an excellent blues. It’s not mood music, though much is, um, standard. Harmon’s piano comping is solid mainstream and Turner turns in some tasty slurs and off notes.
From “I ...
read moreMatt Turner: Crushed Smoke
by AAJ Staff
Crushed Smoke is difficult but rewarding. Matt Turner speaks with his own language on the cello, and it's comprised of an elaborate vocabulary, grammar and syntax. He's asking us to listen to a handful of meditations in that private language on Crushed Smoke. This recording (an addition to his solo discography) sets the cellist free, and he takes an extended voyage through a series of unpredictable, often mystifying explorations. The titles help with a couple: “Koto Caress," for example, is ...
read moreMatt Turner: Crushed Smoke
by Glenn Astarita
Wisconsin-based cellist Matt Turner is apt to stretch his instrument of choice to the far-reaching limits of time, space, and practicality, whether performing in rock, jazz, or contemporary classical frameworks. With Crushed Smoke, the artist opts for the solo route via his acoustic and Yamaha electric cellos. Essentially, Turner serves up a series of mind-bending improvisations amid a cornucopia of variegated motifs throughout these fifteen cleverly articulated performances.
The cellist mimics what appear to be animal sounds or perhaps a ...
read moreMatt Turner & Chum: Never, Never Now
by Glenn Astarita
Cellist Matt Turner is a rather worldly and altogether complete musician who is equally adept at performing solo recitals, jazz, free-improv or supporting singer-songwriter Kitty Brazelton on her excellent 1999 release, “Love Not Love Lust Not Love”. Here, Turner along with monster bassist-solo artist Jeff Song and rock solid drummer John Mettam engage in a bit of psychedelic avante-garde-rock on Never, Never Now. “Matt Turner and Chum” are perhaps the wildest rock orientated cello-bass-drums trio you are likely to hear ...
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