Artist: Mark Turner
Album: Patternmaster
Genre: Post-Bop, Contemporary Jazz
Label: ECM Records
Released: 2026
Quality: FLAC (tracks+.cue)
Tracklist:
01. Patternmaster (Turner) - 6:02
02. Trece Ocho (Turner) - 9:55
03. It Very Well May Be (Turner) - 6:24
04. Lehman's Lair (Turner) - 6:09
05. The Happiest Man on Earth (Turner) - 7:39
06. Supersister (Turner) - 12:16
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Personnel:
Mark Turner - tenor saxophone
Jason Palmer - trumpet
Joe Martin - double bass
Jonathan Pinson - drums
Tenor saxophonist Mark Turner bravely leads his pianoless quartet into the future unknown with 2026's Patternmaster. His third with the harmonically daring group, the album once again finds him drawing inspiration from the world of science fiction. Where 2014's Lathe of Heaven was named after Ursula K. Le Guin's novel and 2022's Return from the Stars drew upon the work of Stanislaw Lem, Patternmaster borrows its title from Octavia E. Butler's ever timely 1976 novel about a distant future reality where the human race has been divided into hierarchical classes. Yet, even aside from the heavier philosophical notions, Patternmaster might be one of the best titles for a jazz album ever, evoking the motivic improvisational language or "patterns" that Turner and his band excel at here. Joining him is the same line-up that has been together since 2022, featuring trumpeter Jason Palmer, bassist Joe Martin, and drummer Jonathan Pinson. Musically, Turner's group builds upon Ornette Coleman quartet of the '60s whose harmolodic "free" improvisations serve as a bold outline for Turner's compositionally minded, if no less unfettered work. There's an organic quality to the quartet's playing, one that feels both composed and freely improvised in the moment. On the Latin-esque title track, he and Palmer seem to come up with the melody in unison, tumbling and turning like birds in the sky. That playfulness turns more aggressive on the hard-swinging "It Very Well May Be," as they chase each other like kids racing on dirt bikes over a gravel road. Throughout, Turner and Palmer stick to their motivic "pattern" approach, taking singable melodic lines and reworking them in ever evolving ways. Martin and Pinson react in kind, crafting kinetic grooves that serve as darker hued mirrors of the colorful horn melodies. This is true whether the quartet is trading spiraling lines over the roiling, minor-key "Lehman's Lair" or wrapping themselves in the warm, late afternoon glow of "The Happiest Man on Earth." Either way, there's a purity of sound and harmonic conception running through all of Turner and his quartet's playing on Patternmaster that feels as deeply considered as the science fiction ideas that inspired it.
Review by Matt Collar