Roger Turner (born 1946,

Whitstable Whitstable () is a town on the north coast of Kent adjoining the convergence of the Swale Estuary and the Greater Thames Estuary in southeastern England, north of Canterbury and west of Herne Bay. The 2011 Census reported a population of ...

, England) is an English

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

percussionist. He plays the drumset, drums, and various percussion, and was brought up into the jazz and visual art cultures inhabited by his older brothers, playing drums from childhood in informal jazz contexts.

Career

Turner studied English literature and contemporary philosophy at Sussex University, playing with

Chris Biscoe Chris Biscoe (born 5 February 1947, East Barnet, Hertfordshire, England) is an English jazz multi-instrumentalist, a player of the alto, soprano, tenor and baritone saxophone, the alto clarinet, piccolo and flute. Biscoe is most notable for hi ...

for the British Council in 1968, a first concert in improvisation. His move to London gave him contact with the first and second generation improvisers and he began to play primarily with

Lol Coxhill George Lowen Coxhill (19 September 1932 – 10 July 2012) known professionally as Lol Coxhill, was an English free improvising saxophonist. He played soprano and sopranino saxophone. Biography Coxhill was born to George Compton Coxhill ...

, Gary Todd, John Russell, Hugh Davies,

Steve Beresford Steve Beresford (born 6 March 1950) is a British musician who graduated from the University of York He has played a variety of instruments, including piano, electronics, trumpet, euphonium, bass guitar and a wide variety of toy instruments, suc ...

, and

Phil Minton Phil Minton (born 2 November 1940) is a British avant-garde jazz/ free-improvising vocalist and trumpeter. Minton is a highly dramatic baritone who tends to specialize in literary texts: he has sung lyrics by William Blake with Mike Westbrook' ...

. In the years immediately after 1974 his work was primarily concentrated on opening the way to a more personal percussion language. This was also a period of intense collaborations that structured many of his future approaches to music-making and saw the formation of two long-lasting acoustic duos with

and with John Russell. Recordings of these duos document an extreme attention to timbre and pitch, as well as a constantly shifting speed that typified much of his work at the time. The duo with Minton toured extensively throughout Europe, USA and Canada. In 1979 he established CAW records with John Russell and Anthony Wood, and recorded the solo album ''The Blur Between'' focussing on single surface improvisations: a linear and reduced equipment approach he had started using with

Carlos Zingaro Carlos Zíngaro (or Carlos "Zíngaro" Alves, born 15 December 1948 in Lisbon, Portugal) is a Portuguese violinist and electronic musician active in free improvisation. Biography Zingaro studied classical music at the Lisbon Music Conservatory fr ...

and others in live performances. In addition to forming Trump music with Gary Todd to promote improvised music in London, he also involved himself in formative activities of the

London Musicians Collective The London Musicians Collective (LMC) is a cultural charity based in London, England devoted to the support and promotion of contemporary, experimental and improvised music. From its foundation in 1975 until its reorganization in 2009, the LMC or ...

during this period. He was awarded Arts Council of Great Britain bursaries for solo percussion in 1980, and in 1983 for investigation into percussion with electronics. Extensive festival and club solo work followed, including the

Bracknell Jazz Festival The Bracknell Jazz Festival was a major showcase for British modern jazz in the 1980s. The festival was known for attracting a largish audience for free improvisation, modern jazz composition and all kinds of British modern jazz in general. Ho ...

and the Brussels Festival of Percussion. In 1982 the trio The Recedents was formed with

and Mike Cooper exploring the possibilities of electro-acoustic music, in which Turner initially played drumset and EMS Synthi A as a means of bending the sounds of various metal percussion instruments. This group, still existing, mixes song, jazz, punk/thrash, with acoustic detail in always shifting sonorities, and has worked throughout Europe, Canada and the UK, also recording for the French Nato label. Involvements with experimental rock musics and open-form song included extensive work in duo with Annette Peacock 1983-5, with whom he toured in Europe and Scandinavia. They recorded the album ''I have no feelings'' for Ironic. In 1984-5, he was invited for workshop residences at

Alan Silva Alan Silva (born Alan Lee da Silva; January 22, 1939 in Bermuda) is an United States of America, American free jazz double bassist and Keyboard instrument, keyboard player. Biography Silva was born a British subject to an Azores, Azorean/Portug ...

's Institute Art Culture Perception in Paris, where long-term collaborations with Alan began, culminating in The Tradition Trio with Johannes Bauer. This group was central to his explorations of forms of free jazz, an interest that has seen him working with musicians on both sides of the Atlantic (including

Elton Dean Elton Dean (28 October 1945 – 8 February 2006) was an English jazz musician who performed on alto saxophone, saxello (a variant of the soprano saxophone) and occasionally keyboards. Part of the Canterbury scene, he featured in, among ot ...

, Irene Schweizer, Cecil Taylor, Roy Campbell,

Henry Grimes Henry Grimes (November 3, 1935 – April 15, 2020) was an American jazz double bassist and violinist. After more than a decade of activity and performance, notably as a leading bassist in free jazz, Grimes completely disappeared from the music s ...

, The Wardrobe Trio and

Charles Gayle Charles Gayle (born February 28, 1939) is an American free jazz musician. Initially known as a saxophonist who came to prominence in the 1990s after decades of obscurity, Gayle also performs as pianist, bass clarinetist, bassist, and percussioni ...

). Since the early 1980s his work has focussed on numerous projects with improvising musicians and groups, touring Europe, Australia, USA and Canada. Perhaps the most important of the later groups would be Konk Pack, formed in 1997, with

Tim Hodgkinson Timothy "Tim" George Hodgkinson (born 1 May 1949) is an English experimental music composer and performer, principally on reeds, lap steel guitar, and keyboards. He first became known as one of the core members of the British avant-rock group ...

and Thomas Lehn, a group whose use of volume and sense of detail continues the exploration of an electro-acoustic dynamic that forms one of his main musical concerns. This group has toured extensively in Europe and USA. He forged working relationships with Japanese musicians over the years: in the 1980s with

Toshinori Kondo was a Japanese avant-garde jazz and jazz fusion trumpeter. Career Kondo was born in Ehime Prefecture. He attended Kyoto university in 1967, and became close friends with percussionist Tsuchitori Toshiyuki. In 1972 the pair left university, and ...

in the trio with John Russell, but since the mid-1990s in concerts and recordings with guitarist Kazuhisa Uchihashi in Austria, Japan, and U.K, and in the recent (2009) Hana-Bi three-day event in London that included the guitarist and the pianist Chino Shuichi. An active involvement in visual art has always been in dialogue with his music, and an inspiration for it. In the forefront of this is his work with Susan Turcot (the investigation/documentation of music and sound-drawing both in Europe and Canada—including the ''Being Rich'' box collection --, and music for her 2008 animation film ''Bitumen, Blood, and the Carbon Climb''. His music for dance/performance includes work with Alexander Frangenheim's ''Concepts of Doing'', Stuttgart ; Carlos Zingaro's ''Encontros'' projects in Lisbon and

Macau Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a p ...

; and most recently in the Josef Nadj production ''etc.etc.'' (premiered Vandeouvre, France, 2008) and which is a continuing involvement. In March 2009 he was invited to travel and perform on the Arctic island Svalbard, and was also invited to attend and play in the ''Comprovise'' event in Cologne, Germany in June 2009, set up to examine any possible relationship between improvisation and composition. Turner's music-making with international improvisers in ad hoc and group collaborations have since the 1970s to the present day included

, Derek Bailey, Fred Frith,

Evan Parker Evan Shaw Parker (born 5 April 1944) is a British tenor and soprano saxophone player who plays free improvisation. Recording and performing prolifically with many collaborators, Parker was a pivotal figure in the development of European free ja ...

, William Parker, Cecil Taylor,

Otomo Yoshihide is a Japanese composer and multi-instrumentalist. He mainly plays guitar, turntables, and electronics. He first came to international prominence in the 1990s as the leader of the experimental rock group Ground Zero, and has since worked i ...

, Shelley Hirsch, Joelle Leandre,

Keith Rowe Keith may refer to: People and fictional characters * Keith (given name), includes a list of people and fictional characters * Keith (surname) * Keith (singer), American singer James Keefer (born 1949) * Baron Keith, a line of Scottish barons ...

, Ab Baars,

Barry Guy Barry John Guy (born 22 April 1947, in London) is an English composer and double bass player. His range of interests encompasses early music, contemporary composition, jazz and improvisation, and he has worked with a wide variety of orchestras ...

, Barre Philips,

, Paul Rutherford, Gunter Christmann,

Marilyn Crispell Marilyn Crispell (born March 30, 1947) is an American jazz pianist and composer. Scott Yanow described her as "a powerful player... who has her own way of using space... She is near the top of her field." Jon Pareles of The New York Times wrot ...

, Irene Schweizer, Frederik Rzewski, and

Malcolm Goldstein Malcolm Goldstein (born March 27, 1936 in Brooklyn, New York) is an American-Canadian composer, violinist and improviser who has been active in the presentation of new music and dance since the early 1960s. He received an M.A. in music compositio ...

Discography

*''Sunday Best'', Incus, w/Gary Todd *''Artless Sky'', Caw, w/Toshinori Kondo & John Russell *''The Blur Between'', Caw, solo *''Cous Cous'', Nato, w/Lol Coxhill *''Ammo'', Leo, w/Phil Minton *''I have no feelings'', Ironic, w/Annette Peacock *''Barbeque Strut'', Nato, w/The Recedents *''Ruff'', Leo, w/Minton,Tomlinson, Davies *''Several young men ignite'', Reflex, w/The Nose Flutes *'' Take Some Risks'', In Situ, w/Alan Silva,Didier Petit *''Frogdance'', Impetus, w/The Recedents *''Zombie Bloodbath'', Nato, w/The Recedents *''Dada da'', Leo, w/Phil Minton *''Mouthful of Ecstasy'', Victo, w/Minton Quartet *''Birthdays'', Emanem, w/John Russell *'' In the Tradition'', In Situ, w/Alan Silva & Johannes Bauer *''Per s.e.'', Durian, w/Helge Hinteregger & Franz Hautzinger *''Short in the UK'', Incus, w/Steve Beresford Dennis Palmer,Bob Stagner *''Recent Croaks'', Acta, w/Martin Klapper *''Interplay'', FMR, w/Hugh Davies,John Russell *''Junk Percussion'', Zero-g, Solo recordings for sampling *''Autism'', Durian, w/Hinteregger& Uchihashi Kazuhisa *''Big Deep'', Grob, Konk Pack *''Umlaut'', Nurnichtnur, w/Birgit Ulher & Ulli Phillipp *''The Boss'', Pink, w/Mathieu Chamagne & Franck Collot *''The Second Sky'', Emanem, w/John Russell *''Warp Out'', Grob, Konk Pack *''Screen'', COD, w/Frangenheim, Yoshihide, Parkins, Leimgruber & Schurch,Newton. *''Tone'', a11, Tradition Trio (w/Silva,Bauer) *'' Live at the Total Music Meeting'', a11, The New Flags (w/Xu,Fuchs) *''Trap Street'', emanem, w/ Tomlinson & Beresford *''Off Leash'', Grob, Konk Pack *''Drainage'' (double CD ), Emanem, w/Phil Minton *''I segnali della ritirata'', Burp, w/Sanna & Ricci *''Number Nine'', Emanem, w/ John Oswald & Michael Keith *''Oche'', Kning Disc, w/ Christian Munthe *''Slur'', Emanem, w/ Phil Minton Quartet *''Scatter'', FMR, w/ Thomas,Tucker,Minton *''Goodbye Silence'', FMR, w/The Articles (Thomas, Gustafsson) *''Wishing You Were Here'' (5-CD Box set), Freeform Association, w/The Recedents *''Over the Title'', Freeform Association, w/Witold Oleszak *''Fragments of Parts'', Freeform Association, w/Witold Oleszak

References

External links

Official website

* Allmusic biography by Eugene Chadbourne
FMP biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Turner, Roger Living people 1946 births English jazz drummers British male drummers Free improvisation English experimental musicians People from Whitstable Emanem Records artists Avant-garde jazz percussionists Musicians from Kent British male jazz musicians Incus Records artists