Born in Fairborn, Ohio, and raised in the small Southern California town of Palos Verdes Estates, Turner originally intended to become a commercial artist.

He attended California State University, Long Beach in the 1980s (playing in the jazz ensembles) and then transferred to and graduated from Berklee College of Music in 1990 before moving to New York.

[1] In early November 2008 Turner injured two fingers on one of his hands with a power saw, but as of late February 2009 he was performing again with the Edward Simon Quartet at the Village Vanguard.

[4] In September 2014, Turner released his first album as a leader since 2001 on ECM Records;[5] it features trumpeter Avishai Cohen, bassist Joe Martin, and drummer Marcus Gilmore.

Fly with Jeff Ballard and Larry Grenadier SFJAZZ Collective With Reid Anderson With Omer Avital With David Binney With Jakob Bro With George Colligan With Benoit Delbecq With Aaron Goldberg With Jon Gordon With Tom Harrell With Billy Hart With Jochen Rueckert With Edward Simon With Kurt Rosenwinkel With Gilad Hekselman With Matthias Lupri With Ibrahim Maalouf With Joe Martin With Baptiste Trotignon With David Virelles With Miki Yamanaka With others [16]