Recording TURN in 2005
Tatiana Lanchtchikova, Steve Garden, Jonathan Besser, Peter Scott, Miranda Adams, Nigel Gavin

" … beautiful, free-flowing, peaceful music, where it’s not always clear where composition ends and improvisation begins."
Bruce Morley, NZ MUSICIAN

When I compose for Bravura I cross many musical borders, drawing on jazz, classical, chanteuse, Jewish folk traditions, and even Indonesian gamelan. On this album I want to make my most personal musical statement to date, drawing on musical traditions and languages that are part of me in order to explore what it is to have travelled to this time and place, to have shifted from New York to New Zealand in the early 80s and to now live and make music here.

I  work very differently with Bravura than when I work with other, perhaps more conventional ensembles. I like to create more space for the musicians to explore and contribute to the structure and content of my compositions. One of the main aims with Turn was to produce open musical textures, and space for more extended solo pieces and small ensemble sections. The music we created proved to be a harmonious balance of composition and improvisation, mixing intellectual rigor with spontaneous in-the-moment performance. — Jonathan Besser, 2006

“Immaculately recorded by Steve Garden in the ambience of a Coromandel beach-house, there's a quality of stillness and enchantment to this CD that many listeners will find irresistible. The hints of tango here and there remind us that Besser is a dab hand at Argentina's favourite dance."
William Dart, NZ HERALD