In a world where albums are frequently produced but fewer works truly resonate as statements, tenor saxophonist Mark Turner has crafted a landmark musical and social commentary with Reflections on The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man. Set for release on October 10, 2025, the album arrives via Giant Step Arts as part of its Modern Masters and New Horizons series, curated by Jason Palmer and Nasheet Waits.
Turner, often cited as one of modern jazz's most influential saxophonists, turns inward and outward in this powerful suite—melding his personal lineage with literary resonance to explore deep and often unspoken themes of identity, race, history, and the human condition.
“A cult hero and musician’s musician in jazz circles… a tenor player with a sound and language of his own.”
– Josef Woodard, DownBeat
From Harlem Archives to Harmonic Truths
The genesis of the album dates back more than 20 years, when Turner—engaged in a self-guided study of African-American history—visited Harlem’s Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. Among the many essential texts he discovered was James Weldon Johnson’s The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man. First published anonymously in 1912, Johnson’s semi-fictional narrative explores the life of a biracial man who “passes” for white in post-Reconstruction America.
For Turner, the story wasn’t just historical fiction—it echoed his own family history.
“My mother can pass. My great aunts did exactly what the protagonist does in the book,” he shares. “I hadn't ever read a book that talked about passing before… at least not one that early on. The nuance with which Johnson handles these issues struck me. It’s still profoundly relevant.”
Literary Inspiration, Musical Innovation
Turner doesn’t attempt to write a programmatic score for the novel. Instead, he creates a musical suite inspired by the book’s emotional and philosophical gravity, embedding spoken excerpts throughout the album. Phrases like:
“Sometimes it seems to me that I have never really been a Negro... at other times I feel that I have been a coward, a deserter…”
linger long after the notes have faded.
Each composition follows the arc of the book without being bound to it. The track titles mirror the novel’s chronology, and the album culminates in a touching quote of “Lift Every Voice and Sing”—the Black National Anthem written by Johnson and his brother J. Rosamond Johnson—performed by pianist David Virelles, who also anchors the album’s ensemble.
The Ensemble: Long-Term Collaborators and Creative Allies
Turner’s band features trumpeter Jason Palmer, bassist Matt Brewer, drummer Nasheet Waits, and pianist/synthesist David Virelles—a group of long-standing creative collaborators who first premiered the suite during a Village Vanguard residency in 2018.
Each player brings a deep understanding of Turner’s aesthetic vision, resulting in a sound that is cerebral, soulful, exploratory, and emotionally gripping. Highlights include the twin tracks “New York” and “Europe”, where Virelles employs synthesizers in a nod to Sun Ra’s Afrofuturist palette.
“You will come to see that evil is a force… to attempt to right the wrongs and ease the sufferings of the world in general is a waste of effort…”
— Spoken excerpt from The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man featured in the suite
Craft and Cohesion: A Compositional Triumph
“I wanted to have music that was enhanced with words, not words that were enhanced by music,” Turner explains. “The compositions are musically interconnected—through harmonic motifs, forms, even keys. The book gave me an emotional thread to follow.”
Turner’s attention to structural cohesion is unmistakable. Each track serves as a reflective lens—not just on the protagonist of Johnson’s book, but on the broader implications of identity, generational trauma, and cultural duality.
A Defining Release in a Bold Series
Turner’s album is part of Giant Step Arts’ Modern Masters and New Horizons initiative—a platform for contemporary jazz’s most vital voices. Curated by Jason Palmer and Nasheet Waits, the series honors musicians who are both architects and avant-gardists, pushing the art form forward.
Upcoming entries in the series will spotlight saxophonist Neta Raanan, drummer Eric McPherson, and the Edward Pérez/Michael Thomas Band, among others.
A Bold, Reflective Work for Our Times
Reflections on The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man is not just an album. It is a musical essay, a cultural meditation, and a spiritual reckoning. Turner’s voice—instrumental and literary—stands as a testament to jazz’s enduring ability to speak the unspeakable, to articulate what lies between words, and to connect deeply personal stories to universal themes.
Release Date: October 10, 2025
Label: Giant Step Arts
Series: Modern Masters and New Horizons
Personnel:
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Mark Turner – tenor saxophone, spoken text
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Jason Palmer – trumpet
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David Virelles – piano, synthesizers
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Matt Brewer – bass
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Nasheet Waits – drums
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