Noted as “possibly jazz’s premier player” by the New York Times, and lauded as playing “the best tenor saxophone of his generation” by his longtime collaborator Ethan Iverson, Mark Turner is unquestionably a giant of the tenor saxophone – a modern day jazz master.

Highly inventive saxophonist Mark Turner will be joined by CJC faculty members Liberty Ellman on guitar, Dean of Instruction Jeff Denson on bass, and Drum Department Chair Gerald Cleaver for an evening of original, hand-picked music to showcase the collaborative nature of their individual playing styles.

Band Members & Instrumentation

Mark Turner – tenor saxophone

Liberty Ellman – guitar

Jeff Denson – bass

Gerald Cleaver – drums

Artist Bios

Mark Turner has found acclaim with his meticulous, harmonically rich approach to modern creative jazz. In a career that spans more than two decades, Mark Turner has emerged as a towering presence in the jazz community and is one of the most highly-regarded tenor saxophonists in jazz. As The New York Times noted, his stature in the jazz world keeps growing… a great jazz musician.” With a distinctive tone, singular improvisational skills and an innovative compositional approach, Turner has earned a far-reaching reputation as one of jazz’s most original musical forces. As fellow saxophonist Ravi Coltrane put it, “Mark Turner is one of the most important players that has come along in the last 20 years, easily the most influential.”

Noted as “possibly jazz’s premier player” by the New York Times, and lauded as playing “the best tenor saxophone of his generation” by his longtime collaborator Ethan Iverson, Mark Turner is unquestionably a giant of the tenor saxophone – a modern day jazz master.

Born in Fairborn, Ohio, in 1965, Turner grew up in Southern California where his parents exposed him to a fertile mix of jazz, R&B, and gospel. Starting out on clarinet in elementary school, he quickly gravitated to the saxophone, inspired in part by the fact that his father, who died when Turner was not yet two, had played the instrument.

While music was a driving passion, he initially studied design and illustration at California State University, Long Beach, and played in various jazz ensembles before transferring to Boston’s renowned Berklee College of Music. During these years, he studied his idols, dissecting the solos of artists like John Coltrane, Lester Young, Joe Henderson, Warne Marsh and others. Graduating in 1990, he moved to New York City, where he quickly found himself an in-demand performer, playing live and recording with Leon Parker, Ryan Kisor and Jimmy Smith. He also began leading his groups, and by the early ’90s, had begun developing his own distinctive approach to jazz, playing highly intellectual, probing solos rife with nuanced harmonies and motivic development.

A highly inventive saxophonist, Mark Turner has found acclaim with his meticulous, harmonically rich approach to modern creative jazz. In a career that spans more than two decades, Mark Turner has emerged as a towering presence in the jazz community and is one of the most highly-regarded tenor saxophonists in jazz. As The New York Times noted, his stature in the jazz world keeps growing… a great jazz musician.” With a distinctive tone, singular improvisational skills and an innovative compositional approach, Turner has earned a far-reaching reputation as one of jazz’s most original musical forces. As fellow saxophonist Ravi Coltrane put it, “Mark Turner is one of the most important players that has come along in the last 20 years, easily the most influential.”

Guitarist / composer Liberty Ellman has performed and or recorded with a host of stand out creative artists including: Joe Lovano, Myra Melford, Wadada Leo Smith, Butch Morris, Vijay Iyer, Steve Lehman, Greg Osby, Rudresh Mahanthappa, Nels Cline, Somi, Nicole Mitchell, Matana Roberts, Ledisi, JD Allen, Michele Rosewoman, Adam Rudolph, Stephan Crump, Jonathan Finlayson, Okkyung Lee, and Ches Smith. In 2014 Ellman participated in Luanda Kinshasa, a video installation by visionary filmmaker Stan Douglas and Jason Moran.

Mr. Ellman is perhaps best known for his long tenure in Henry Threadgill’s groundbreaking ensemble, Zooid. The group has recorded several critically lauded albums. Their most recent recording “In For A Penny, In For A Pound” earned a Pulitzer prize for Mr. Threadgill. In addition to playing guitar, Mr. Ellman is credited as producer and mixing engineer on that recording. He has mixed and mastered many other recordings as well, including Gregory Porter’s “Be Good,” which was nominated for a Grammy.

As a composer and bandleader Mr. Ellman has produced several critically acclaimed recordings including: Orthodoxy (Red Giant Records), Tactiles, Ophiuchus Butterfly, Radiate, and Last Desert (Pi Recordings). Ellman’s compositional style has been described as “At once highly controlled and recklessly inventive,” and “quite original and subtle.” Ben Ratliff of the New York Times wrote: “Mr. Ellman’s ballads are special, exotic things: their melodies are memorable.” Quote from the Wall Street Journal: “Along with his contemporaries, Mr. Ellman is helping define the sound of jazz in the 21st century.” Voted #1 Rising Star Guitarist in the 2016 Downbeat Critics Poll, he was also honored in the 2015 Jazz Times expanded critics poll, as one of the four guitarists of the year alongside Bill Frisell, John Scofield and Julian Lage.

Liberty Ellman has also worked beyond the jazz world: hip hop artists Midnight Voices, and The Coup, dance producer DJ Joe Claussell, and worked on remixes of N’Dea Davenport, Chico Freeman, Ann Dyer, Ayo and others. He also made an appearance on the Grammy nominated Groove Collective record, People People Music Music.

Jeff Denson has balanced a full career as both an acclaimed performing musician and a highly respected educator. Jeff has released 16 albums as a leader or co-leader and has toured extensively throughout the U.S. and Europe with both his own groups, worked with some of jazz’s finest artists such as Brian Blade, Jane Ira Bloom, Dave Douglas, Charles McPherson, Cuong Vu, Joe Lovano, Ralph Alessi, Walter Smith III, Dayna Stephens, Vadim Neselovskyi, Florian Weber, Warren Wolf, Romain Pilon, Edward Simon, Dan Weiss, Paul Hanson among others, and had an ongoing relationship with the legendary Lee Konitz since 2007.

Jeff is currently the Dean of Instruction and Chair of the Bass Department of the California Jazz Conservatory in Berkeley, CA. Learn more at jeffdenson.com

In his All Music bio of Gerald Cleaver, journalist Thom Jurek notes that “Gerald Cleaver is among the most agile and wide-ranging first-call musicians on the 21st century jazz scene.” Jurek goes on to cite year after year of Cleaver’s artistry on recordings and on tour, which witnessed his performing on a dozen or more recordings a year for more than a decade. Cleaver has worked with such jazz luminaries as Rodney Whitaker, Marcus Belgrave, Hank Jones, Tommy Flanagan, Kenny Burrell, Frank Foster, Cecil Bridgewater, Eddie Harris, Diana Krall, Don Byron and Bill Frisell, among many others.

Cleaver now serves as Chair of the California Jazz Conservatory Drum Department in Berkeley, CA, as the first-ever recipient of the Jennifer A. Maxwell Distinguished Professorship Award.

JAMBAR Presents is a special series of select concerts, workshops, and other events sponsored by JAMBAR whose purpose is to support music and active living.

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Proof of vaccination is no longer required for Covid-19. Masking is optional and masks are available upon request. The California Jazz Conservatory kindly requests that anyone feeling unwell refrain from attending in-person events of any kind.