With lyrical, original music and spoken passages, jazz saxophonist Mark Turner and his ensemble reflect upon The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man (1912), the landmark novel by James Weldon Johnson about a young biracial man in post-Reconstruction era America.

Turner performs this concert following his August 2021 Kennedy Center Book Club session on Johnson’s Autobiography with Jason Moran, Elizabeth Alexander, and Dianne Reeves. This poignant musical and literary exploration of race, class, and privilege is not to be missed.

In a career that spans two decades and encompasses a broad array of musical ventures, 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’s earned a far-reaching reputation as one of jazz’s most original musical forces.

A New York Times profile of Turner titled “The Best Jazz Player You’ve Never Heard” called him “possibly jazz’s premier player,” noting his reputation amongst his peers and his influential stature in the jazz world.