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Described as “one of the transforming figures of early 21st century jazz,” by The Guardian and as a “state-of-the-art musical thinker” by The New York Times, alto saxophonist Steve Lehman is a composer, performer, educator, and scholar who works across a broad spectrum of experimental musical idioms. Lehman’s pieces for large orchestra and chamber ensembles have been performed by the American Composers Orchestra, International Contemporary Ensemble, So Percussion, JACK Quartet, and the PRISM Saxophone Quartet. His recent recording, “The People I Love,” was cited as one of the “Top 10 Jazz Albums” of 2019 by NPR Music, Rolling Stone, The Los Angeles Times, and The New York Times. His previous recordings include, Sélébéyone (2016), Mise en Abîme (NPR #1 Jazz Album of 2014), and Travail, Transformation & Flow (NY Times #1 Jazz Album of 2009).
The recipient of a 2015 Guggenheim Fellowship and a 2014 Doris Duke Artist Award, Lehman has performed and recorded nationally and internationally with his own ensembles and with those led by Anthony Braxton, Vijay Iyer, George Lewis, Bennie Maupin, and Jason Moran, among many others. He has taught undergraduate courses at Columbia University and the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris, and is currently a professor of music at the California Institute of the Arts near Los Angeles.
In a career that spans two decades and encompasses a broad array of musical ventures, saxophonist Mark Turner has emerged as a towering presence in the jazz community. With a distinctive, personal tone, singular improvisational skills, and an innovative, challenging compositional approach, he has earned a reputation as one of jazz’s most original and influential musical forces. Born in 1965 in Ohio and raised in Southern California, Turner has released more than a dozen albums as leader and is also prolific as a sideman. He has recorded and toured with musicians as diverse as Tom Harrell, Billy Hart, Ed Simon, Enrico Rava, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Ethan Iverson, and the SFJAZZ Collective. His latest recording is the 2022 critically acclaimed Return from the Stars, titled after Stanislav Lem’s science fiction novel, which was followed by Live at The Village Vanguard released in fall 2023 with the same quartet.