Musicians make albums every day, but statements come along far less often. With his latest release, Reflections on: The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man (releasing October 10th, 2025), tenor saxophonist Mark Turner has crafted a magnum opus deeply personal and macrocosmic in its exploration of social issues.

Turn is widely heralded as one of the most important musicians of modern jazz, with The New York Times calling him “possibly jazz’s premier player” and instrumental peers lavishing him with praise, such as Ravi Coltrane (“I think Mark Turner is one of the most important players that has come along in the last 20 years, easily the most influential”) and Miguel Zenon (“One of the things that jumps out is just his range, the way he plays the altissimo. Even when I heard him the first time, that jumped out, because it’s not usual - maybe now it is, but then it wasn’t”).

The seeds of this project go back two decades to when Turner undertook an autodidactic review of African-American history. Visiting the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in Harlem, he came across a rack of essential history books.

Among them was The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man by James Weldon Johnson, the seminal Civil Rights activist, diplomat and professor who, amongst his many accomplishments, is known for writing - in collaboration with his composer brother J. Rosamond Johnson - “Lift Every Voice and Sing” considered to be the Black National Anthem.

1. Movement 1. Anonymous
2. Movement 2. Juxtaposition
3. Movement 3. Pulmonary Edema
4. Movement 4. New York
5. Movement 5. Europe
6. Movement 6. The Texan...The Soldier
7. Movement 7. Mother...Sister...Lover
8. Movement 8. Pragmatism
9. Movement 9. Identity Politics
10. Movement 10. Closure

Cited as one of modern jazz’s most influential saxophonists, this wondrously crafted new recording opens on the tentative Anonymous and the more forthright, confident Juxtaposition, and then we get the effortless gaze of Pulmonary Edema, a clearly impassioned New York, before the veritably shimmering Europe is brought forth.

Up next is the emboldened The Texan...The Soldier which is then backed seamlessly by the smolderingly elegant Mother...Sister...Lover, the resoundingly decadent Pragmatism, the set rounding out on the sturdy rhythmic timbre of Identity Politics, closing on the organically cobbled Closure.

Musicians:
Mark Turner - Tenor Sax & Narration
Jason Palmer - Trumpet
David Virelles - Piano, Profit & Organ
Matt Brewer - Acoustic & Electric Bass
Nasheet Waits - Drums

Official Purchase Link

Mark Turner @ Instagram