Ernest Turner

Ernest Turner: My Americana

by Dan McClenaghan
May 2, 2019

Pianist Ernest Turner could have gone after the Great American Songbook--Cole Porter, George Gershwin, Lerner and Loewe--a repertoire he has learned well. Instead, on My Americana, he turns toward the sounds that reflect how he grew up, music taken from the African-American experience, with tunes from Thelonious Monk, Kenny Kirkland, Stevie Wonder and Fats Waller, along with songs from the spiritual traditions, and three of his own strong originals. Turner opens with his own “Return of Thanos," sounding ...