This always-busy British player is a master drummer and collector of percussion equipment who plays modern improvised music with the panache of a classic swing drummer, reflecting his varied musical interests and involvements since he began playing as a young man. Roger Turner came out of the musically active and creative Canterbury scene and first improvised formally in front of the British Arts Council with collaborator Chris Biscoe in 1966. It would be more than a decade before this judging body would grant him several bursaries to continue his exploration into percussion and electronics, but in the meantime he moved to London in 1968 and began working in the Ghanian drum ensemble Mask. African music was an obvious point of grounding for any drummer, but Turner had also been closely following jazz. For several years, he toured with the experimental, innovative Ritual Theatre group but began focusing on developing an individual style as a player in the early '70s.
© 2009
