Fourteen years ago, when Canadian drummer Anthony Fung moved to Boston to attend the Berklee College of Music, his new teacher—the larger-than-life drum legend, Ralph Peterson—had something to say about a life in music. “Onward and upward,” remembers Fung, “that was his whole philosophy. Forward. Forth.”

Now with three full-length recordings as a leader already under his belt, Fung’s newest studio effort pays honest tribute to his mentor’s mantra. Set for release on September 29th, 2023 it is entitled Fo(u)rth. As a concept, it features his longtime trio—of young stars Luca Alemanno, bass, and Michael Ragonese, piano—welcoming modern saxophone legend Mark Turner into their circle.

As a statement, Fo(u)rth is a freshly thrilling whirl of contemporary writing and improvisation which remains gallantly off-the-cuff. “A snapshot in time,”, remarks the composer, “not overthinking what’s happening.”

1. The Valley
2. A Second Chance
3. A Drummerlude
4. Utopia
5. The Upside Down
6. Fo(u)rth
7. Boo Boo’s Birthday
8. Hero Song

The album opens on the veritably cinematic The Valley and the soaringly melodic A Second Chance and then brings us the first of his solo drum sets, A Drummerlude, the gleaming Utopia, the aching ballad The Upside Down, with the second drum solo, titular Fo(u)rth coming along seamlessly next, the recording rounding out on a wholly realigned rendition of Thelonious Monk’s Boo Boo’s Birthday, closing on the piano trio piece Hero Song (which was written for his late father).

This philosophy of fearless forward-motion is dear to the drummer-leader. For his last record—2022’s What Does It Mean To Be Free?, which Fung produced and mixed himself during the early pandemic days—his desire was to “Capture this moment in time and not to be too precious about the music.”

Fung, thusly, is a prime example of when “new school” playing meets the “old-school” mentality: you get into the studio, you press record, and you hit. As always, you forge ahead. And for your new recording, you call your hero Mark Turner and see if he’s into collaborating.

“Mark moved to LA a couple of years ago—during the pandemic,” remembers Fung. Turner was an early inspiration for the drummer. “People of our generation,” he says, “we grew up listening to a lot of Kurt Rosenwinkel, and hearing Mark on those records.”

And for Fung, that saxophonist “with this wide, intervalic, leaping sound” — a well-beloved idiosyncracy of Turner’s that renders him instantly identifiable —“well, it was always captivating to me.”

“I met him a few times over the years; we were really interested in talking with each other, in playing with each other. So this past December, I asked him: would you be down to record two singles with me? He goes, ‘Yeah.’ And then, a month later, I’d written all this new music—specifically for him. I was in that mode of writing every single day — three to four hours of writing as soon as I’d wake up. All those songs were written around him; and so a week before the recording session, I tell him, ‘Hey: I wrote all this music. You still down?’” And he was. Then it wasn’t just a couple of singles anymore: it was a full record.”

A full record filled with surprise. Over the course of eight tracks—including four originals written for Turner, two drum interludes, one Monk tune, and a piano trio lullaby written for the bandleader’s father — the latest of Anthony Fung’s voice, both compositionally and on his instrument, is beautifully unfurled.

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