Mike Turk - Reviews

 

Review : Mike Turk's "Turk's Works"
Date: February, 2002
Reviewer: Bob Blumenthal, Boston Phoenix

"At the risk of making Mike Turk's conception sound easily won, which it was not, or his music lazy, which it most definitely is not, I can't help noting at the outset how effortless this collection sounds. Perhaps the harmonica just conjures images of huffing and puffing, or the ingenious tribute to Dizzy Gillespie on "Lover" / "Diggin' for Diz" created expectations of pyrotechnics. What we get, though, is music where the ideas and the swing are unforced, where everything flows with such assurance that one forgets that Turk plays one of the jazz world's miscellaneous instruments and simply hears his harmonica as a lead voice, comfortable and in-place as the more familiar trumpet or sax.

Turk, who admits to having listened to Gillespie for years, without "really trying to get into Dizzy's thing" traces his own approach to two specific individuals. "You hear a deep connection in my music to Toots Thielemans and to Lester Young. Phrasing is a matter of how you think, and of not playing everything you know all at once. I've heard this said numerous times from every legendary horn player who is asked....It's a Dexter [Gordon] thing, and Dexter was a Lester Young guy. I just try to lay back like Lester and play some nice lines." "I think of Lester when I hear many of these tunes," Turk continues, "including "Prey Loot," because Lucky (Thompson) comes out of Lester, too; and "Nobody Else But Me," which I heard recorded by Stan Getz, another deep Lester guy."

This emphasis on the Lester Young school of saxophone players does not diminish Turk's appreciation for the reigning harmonica voice in modern jazz. "Toots Thielemans is the guy who showed me where I could come in, where the harmonica fits as a jazz instrument," he declares, "and I like the way he just comes out and makes a statement musically, rather than having to prove what he can do in each solo. A preponderance of musicians of all ages come out and lay everything on the line; but, back in the 40's and 50's the guys who established modern jazz didn't play their hot stuff (all the time), they interpreted songs."

Thielemans, (another Lester guy) originally played the arrangement here of "Sweet and Lovely," which he recorded in the 60's with Don Sebesky, and also recorded the rare previous examples of pair-ing harmonica and organ, which Turk employs on other tracks in the album. "Toots did some organ stuff, but it was with that 60's sound," Turk notes. "I've always enjoyed the Hammond sound that cuts through everything. I've been inspired by some of the trio sessions that Gene Ammons and Wes Montgomery recorded, as well as by young organists like Larry Goldings and Joey Defrancesco. Bill Cunliffe told me that he also played organ, so I found a nice little studio with a Hammond and a six-foot Leslie speaker and just waited until Bill would be in town to do the album."

This kind of patience is indicative of Mike Turk's career, which has found him taking his time so as to best get his thing together. He was born in the Bronx in 1951, the son of "a working member of Local 802," jazz bassist and vocalist Dick Richards. "I started playing harmonica in the summer of '67," he recalls, "doing the stuff that was happening in those days - blues! Paul Butterfield was my introduction. For the next 10 years, I played everything: blues, country, folk, all kinds of recordings throughout the 70's with up-and-coming New England acts that up and came and went."

In the midst of musical diversity, Turk was hearing still more. "The jazz inspiration was always there, and I was always trying to impose some kind of jazz line or phrasing on my Marine Band blues harp playing. While it started to swing, I didn't have the ability to play a Charlie Parker head. Howard Levy is the one person who has been able to make the Marine Band harmonica a jazz instrument. I didn't have his discipline, though, so I switched to chromatic harmonica and went to Berklee in 1977."

Turk likens the change to what one might encounter in moving from an accordion with buttons to one with a keyboard. "You go from the pentatonic scale of the Marine Band harmonica which allows you to play by ear, ... to the full instrumental range with all chromatic tones, of the chromatic-harmonica, which allows for almost limitless possibilities." Now, the Marine Band harmonica only makes a rare appearance when Turk plays - it can be heard here in the background of the moody "Bluesharp," which is the only track to include overdubbing. Turk is one of the numerous musicians who picked up what he could use, rather than a full degree, from Berklee College of Music. "There was no way they could relate to me," he explains, "I was just an ear player at the time and didn't know anything technical or theoretical about music . . . and they didn't have harmonica instructors. So I started my musical literacy from scratch, studying saxophone, composing, and arranging."

Education being a lifelong process, Turk has continued to learn. He can now look back on nearly two decades of refining his jazz voice to a point where it is pure and natural. The blues roots are there... even in a composition like his "Senor Fumo," where hints of blue shade the attractive Latin Ballad. No one would mistake Turk for a bar-band runaway after hearing him caress "How Long Has This Been Going On?"... or Horace Silver's "Peace," or swing his way through Milt Jackson's "S.K.J." and the quote-strewn nod to Gillespie, which Turk was inspired to play after hearing the trumpeter's take on "Lover" (alternately titled "Diggin' for Diz" and "Dynamo A") done by both the Gillespie big band in a vintage film and Dexter Gordon with Stan Levey.

The supporting cast had never worked before in this specific unit, yet clearly had experience and affinity going for it. Jon Wheatley, Marshall Wood and Joe Hunt have played with Turk frequently over the past five years - Turk and Wood go back as far as 1980 - and Cunliffe, who Turk met more recently in Los Angeles, has the kind of selfless musical approach that fits right in. Wheatley and Cunliffe are invaluable because, like Turk, they refuse to play out of a narrow stylistic bag. The use of organ on some tracks presents another bit of variety.

One can imagine the obstacles that confront a harmonica player determined to play jazz; but one does not hear those obstacles reflected in Mike Turk's music. On the contrary, the mood here is comfortable. like those soft shoes Turk's idol Lester Young preferred. And like those shoes, Turk's Works can't help but make you feel better when you slip it on."

-Bob Blumenthal

 

Review : Mike Turk's "A Little Taste Of Cannonball"
Date: June 12, 2002
Reviewer: Nicholas Cocris

"It's a tribute to one of Hard Bop's major exponents Julian "Cannonball" Adderley, along with a few adjunctive pieces of equally stupendous artists of the hard bop era like Bobby Timmons (Moanin' , which is not covered in this album, is his staple composition) and Duke Pearson who's a a fine arranger and songwriter.

Mike Turk - Harmonica
Alberto Marsico - Hammond B3
Alessandro Di Pucci - Vibraphone
Alessandro Fabbri - Drums

Sack O' Woe is the one that opens the album; like most of Adderley's songs has a catchy theme. A bassy hammond along with the drums in a pit-a-pat groove run the pace lap , vibes join in, and soon everything is twined by Mike Turk's chromatic. After a while , harmonica, gallantly steps aside to make way for vibraphone's and it turns hammond's busy soloing so that it can come right back later for an even solo. As for Alessandro Fabbri behind the drums set , he gives a prompt uptempo beat all the way. The vibes bring to mind Jackson's session work on Adderley's "Things Are Getting Better" and have at least a slinky resemblance of Lars Erstrand's vibes (Erstrand has been one of my favourite vibraphonists with, IMHO, the best recorded version of "Reunion Blues" while OPUS 3 label he's signed with offers cutting edge reference recordings). The B3 Hammond also does very well like a funky Jack McDuff would do.

Jeannine is a standard; it is the one written by Duke Pearson. The whole piece fits snugly to the background of a black-tie cocktail party occasion :
Let's say that we are guests sipping martini while mingling lightened up by an elegant and swift number, the galloping drums with the fleet footed vibes & chrom harp.

Things Are Getting Better is borrowed from Adderley's classic gem album with the same title. A pecussive trot with equally calm vibraphone bobs open the piece that is covered in a more quiet , spacious way, with chromatic harmonica in a very mild mood and all the rest of the solos coming in single file. Hammond B3 has a tincture of Jimmy Smith on the upcoming lick and it also holds the supporting role of the double bass while the vibes are making it even sweeter later on. The chrom is silken soft for the most part but it has its hot bursts as well; Mike Turk seems rapt enough and soon's getting food to taper it off to a pointed climax. The drums are nicely pastel in feel and sound , supporting all while bringing them out, or better, setting them off. To get an idea of what Cannonball sounded like check his version (the original).

This very piece, also reminded me a few things about chromatic harp and the setup of the whole album juxtaposed to Adderley's music: The phrasing is nice and the sound of Mike Turk's chrom full bodied, only it leans closer to that of a badoneon or a muted trumpet than that of (Cannonball's) alto saxophone. Nothing wrong with it, just a notion on the contrasts of sounds.

This Here; a song written by Bobby Timmons a major jazz pianist in the hard bop/soul jazz sound. It's one of his most well known compositions among others (like, say, Moanin, and the track, listed as the one before last in this CD, Dat Dere). This is the harpless interlude. It's also one of the funky moments of the party. The featured one is the organ. The simmering B3 hammond nods to Smith, percussion walks in and has a talk with it. I like the Alberto Marsico and Alessandro Fabbri interplay, on hammond and drums respectively. Also it shows how well the hammond works in a bassless setting, playing all the bass fill-ins as well, sounding like a double bass with reverb.

A Little Taste, another Cannonball standard, from his very first LP "Spontaneous Combustion" for Savoy in '55, would be an excellent background for a reception. Mike Turk twirles notes like ribbon eurythmics exercises filled with a trumpet-tinged chromatic harmonica ; a Nat Adderley meets Chet Baker excursion, a trace of which is workmanlike in Jeannine and Wabash too but with particularly that one sounding innocuous, being more of a west coast jazz twiddling. The hammond along with Alessandro Fabbri's brushworks and the crystal tinkling vibes enamel the piece beautifully proposing a nice , very sweet version of the briskier Adderley bros original.

Save Your Love For Me, is a beautiful, slow blues ballad written by Buddy Johnson. You may loosen up your bow ties now. It features Mike Turk's really suave chromatic, where notes are melting like fondu delicacies. The piece is soothing, mild yet deep-toned phrases are nicely vibrating and relaxing like an old rocking chair (ok , you can be fine with your vintage lazy-boy, too). The hammond adds a wavewash of an accompaniment which makes it even blander. Mike Turk is in top form on this melic ballad.

Hamba Nami, features both chrom & short harp and in fact, is the other uptempo high spirited piece along with Cereal Killer and the previous track. The hammond is slashing and fizzing, complemented by a stylish high-speed kick-in from the vibes right after Bobby Hutcherson's style. Then here comes Mike Turk's solo - now's switched to diatonic delivering a fast Lee Oskarish lick. Drums are standing out as the speedometer with pace setting beat that keeps everyone from being un-hot and slide harp's taking it home with a hammond & harp flick for the tail-tagged ending.

Wabash, is by turns the chill out moment; Refill your martini glasses and follow. There's M. Turk groovin in rhythm despite being surrounded by gentle vibes and a funky organ that sounds sort of lent by McDuff 's own with a breeze of Richard "Groove" Holmes's pulsar attacks. Round about taking it home, the vibes & chrom play call & response a bit quoting a line from Take The A Train. Vibraphone is the fine lusterware, making it smooth, while harmonica brings an air of prissy eloquence.

Dat Dere, the other Timmons piece and the second longest one, with Alessandro Di Pucci's peering vibraphone opener for the lingering groovy ensemble follow up might be another of Mike Turk's finest moments; his playing is syncopated and chips in a becoming interchanging line or two from Softly, As In A Morning Sunrise. The piece gets off a luscious, affectedly nebulous slow start with celestially gentle vibes. Mike Turk's harmonica maintains the slow mood but not for long, escalating to a hot - occasionally alto saxophone in shades - chromatic harp. Vibes prove to be live and kickin in turns later, full of reverb now , sounding roomy , realigning the piece's classy atmoshpere. Drums, are the germane underscoring punch and hammond's taciturn passing by is funky. Circular, ensemble closing - nice touch. Could be a soundtrack to a whodunit. In fact, this is definitely on a par with Bobby Timmons's original, uhh no wait, maybe better - no kidding!

Cereal Killer, :-) a contribution by Alberto Marsico is the funkiest piece of the whole. The organ initiates the groovy n funky atmosphere as it opens with a sonorous hike right off a revival meeting, M. Turk plays very timely cool sax lines, even quoting nicely from Birks Works later, Alberto Marsico is whistling 'n' slashing on hammond tearing it up Charles Kynard-style (yup) and the vibraphone has a bit of that Lars Erstrand sound once more but even that one is funky over here. Drums conduce to a train running tempo,and the chrom...now is really altoish!! Superb. Drop curtain by a bassy organ with a dashing short harp chugging rolls it all up.

This album, because of the hammond I figure, made me remember having read somewhere that William Clarke got his one man rhythm section sound from organ-led trioshe dug the heck out of them with Jimmy McGriff being one of his heros. Makes sense. Even more so for blues. And this album is swinging jazz in it's liveliest blues.

In all, hope you've had a nice day, but if it turned out to be so 'n' so get this one to spend a Sunday in bed , to grace a (candlelit?) dinner to embellish a classy party. Heck, if not for these reasons get it for the sheer pleasure of closing your eyes thru a very laid-back listening.

And a little tip : don't listen to it with the default order! Here's the very best one : 2 , 6 , 5 , 10 , 9 , 4 , 3 , 1 , 8 , 7"

Suggested Discography :

Cannonball Adderley :
Things Are Getting Better (w/Milt Jackson)
The Summer Of '55

Lars Erstrand:
Four Brothers
Two Sides Of Lars Erstrand

Bobby Timmons :
This Here Is Bobby Timmons

Kind Regards,

Nicholas Cocris
Athens, Greece
diexco2@hotmail.com

Review : Mike Turk Quartet
Date: March 25, 2000
Venue: The Center for the Arts, Natick, MA

Mike Turk, the fine jazz harmonica player, appeared at TCAN last night. The evening was of the very finest we've experienced - the group which include Alfredo Cardim piano, Pierre Pienasola bass and Joe Hunt played two heavily Brazilian influenced sets. The creamy sound of Mikes chromatic harmonica and rich lyrical delivery transported the audience - trance-like - into blissful, floating, sonic euphoria. The concert was characterized by close, sensitive interplay between Turk and Brazilian pianist Cardim. The package folded together and tied masterfully by subtle lines from bassist Pienasola.

As the performance drew to a close, drummer Joe Hunt - solid in every way - could contain himself no longer. He stood up and grabbed the microphone out of Turk's harmonica filled hand and - with the concert in this suspended state - thanked Mike for his mastery and lyricism on a most difficult instrument. "He plays it with so much ease and facility that one would think he were playing a saxophone." Said Hunt.

The audience agreed. Standing up at the end of the show and simply insisting that the group return for one more flight. "We'll do something simple," said Turk and launched into a scrumptious "Green Dolphin St." I recommend you see Mike as soon as you can.

 

 

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