Jim Turner

Born and raised in Los Angeles, pianist Jim Turner is the son of classical pianist and teacher Robert E. Turner; consequently, his childhood piano training commenced at an early age. He pursued jazz piano studies under Johnny Guarnieri and Dick Cary, later earning a degree in music composition and arranging from the University of California at Santa Barbara. A thriving career followed as a producer of piano recordings, during which he collaborated with his mentor Guarnieri along with Robert Silverman, Roger Williams, Peter Nero, Floyd Cramer, Steve Allen, Teddy Wilson, George Shearing, Chick Corea, Oscar Peterson, Liberace, Dick Hyman, and numerous other pianists representing diverse styles. Turner also maintained an active solo presence, specializing in stride and additional jazz idioms; his debut solo release, Old Fashioned Love: A Tribute to James P. Johnson, came out on Euphonic Sounds in 1981. Subsequent albums include Poet and Peasant, issued by Sacramento Jazz in 1986, The Dazzler, which appeared on Klavier Records in 1995, and Old Fashioned Love, released by Box Office Records in 1999. In 1983 he became pianist and arranger for Bob Ringwald’s Great Pacific Jazz Band, remaining eight years before assuming a comparable role with the Jim Cullum Jazz Band. He sustained his solo output, issuing Jelly Roll Blues: A Tribute to Jelly Roll Morton on Arbors Records in 2009.