Mark Turner Meets Gary Foster

It’s taken many years for this concert to be issued, but it was worth the wait for about 90 minutes of Mark Turner Meets Gary Foster. The two saxophonists joined forces with the bass and drums team of Putter Smith and Joe La Barbera for this stirring performance at Claremont McKenna College in Southern California in 2003. With the repertoire stemming mainly from the co-leaders interest in composers in the Lennie Tristano orbit, the first set kicks off with Warne Marsh’s Background Music. Not surprisingly for this group of musicians, the emphasis is on hard swinging and unfettered melodic invention in extended, free-wheeling improvs. Everyone gets to solo on the opener, in a time-honored routine designed to introduce each player to the audience. First Foster, then Turner, Smith and La Barbara take their turns, before the saxophonists play a friendly call and response sequence then return to the head. Sonny Red’s ‘Teef is next, a tune introduced on a Louis Hayes album for Vee-Jay back in 1960 and a real favorite for Foster, who has recorded it half a dozen times since 1979. Putter Smith played on a few of those recordings, and he takes the first solo here. Foster follows with a beautifully flowing solo before ceding the spotlight to a seemingly off-hand but well-constructed solo by Turner. Tristano’s Lennie’s Pennies is up next in a delightfully brisk rendition which opens with the saxes in deep communion on the theme, then dives into a masterful duet before a powerhouse solo by Turner. An extended look at the Arlen/Mercer classic Come Rain or Come Shine, featuring an exciting opening cadenza by Turner, concludes the first set. Another Tristano classic, 317 East 32nd Street, opens the late show with more lovely sax styling and a warmly melodic bass solo by Smith. That’s followed by a relatively brief and tender look at What’s New?, and to close, a delicious and sensual quarter-hour with Lee Konitz’s Subconscious-Lee. It was crystal clear from statements by Foster and Turner (in the booklet for Our Métier, a Mark Masters Ensemble recording from 2017 that they both played on) that the two men form an inter-generational mutual admiration society. There are plenty of reasons why they might feel that way, and most of them are on full display in this most enjoyable documentation. Joyfully recommended.
Capri 74156; Gary Foster (as) Mark Turner (ts) Putter Smith (b) Joe La Barbera (d); Claremont, CA, February 8, 2003; Disc 1 (52:07): Background Music/ ‘Teef/ Lennie’s Pennies/ Come Rain or Come Shine. Disc 2 (35:18): 317 East 32nd Street/ What’s New?/ Subconscious-Lee. www.caprirecords.com