Jazz trio Fly doesn't exactly play it safe

Turner, one of jazz's most widely admired saxophonists, didn't welcome the horrendous accident last November, but in the instant that he realized a simple home-repair project had turned into a possibly life-altering injury, he reflected upon his immeasurably rich two decades as a professional musician.

"I thought, that's it, I had a great run, and I'd done what I'd never thought I'd get a chance to do. All these opportunities have been a gift, and not a right," says Turner, 43, who opens a two-night run at Berklee's Cafe 939 on Wednesday (and a Friday gig at the Regattabar) with the collective trio Fly. "All those things flashed through my head, as well as excruciating pain, with all the yelling and screaming and cursing."

Turner, who lives in Brooklyn, is still working to recover some finger flexibility after surgery to reconnect nerves, arteries, and tendons, but the tenor and soprano saxophonist returned to the bandstand at the end of February, resuming a brilliant career marked by a series of near-telepathic collaborations.

He's probably best known for his long-running partnership with guitarist Kurt Rosenwinkel, whose rarified harmonic vocabulary and shimmering liquid tone serve as an inspired foil for Turner's deceptively cool sound and equally expansive harmonic palette. While less prolific, Fly is another context in which Turner's gift for melodic invention and interest in exploring unusual forms have flourished.

Featuring texture-minded drummer Jeff Ballard and supremely supple bassist Larry Grenadier, Fly released its second album last month, "Sky & Country," on ECM. All three players contribute compositions, which often unfold at length rather than serving as a springboard for extended improvisation. Instead of setting up solos, Fly's episodic tunes tend to orchestrate sinuous dialogues between Turner and Grenadier, while Ballard coaxes an extraordinary array of sounds out of the trap set using brushes, sticks, mallets, and hands.

"In most mainstream trios once the melody has been played, you know what the form is from the beginning," Turner says. "One thing we've found that helps maintain interest is composing tunes with sections, so the trio becomes a little less of a blowing session."

Though the trio has been together for nearly a decade, Fly performs only intermittently because of the players' crowded calendars. Grenadier is one of jazz's most sought-after bassists, with a who's who list of credits that includes long associations with Joshua Redman, Charles Lloyd, and Brad Mehldau. In 2005, Mehldau recruited Ballard for his celebrated and highly influential piano trio after hearing Fly perform, so the groups now share two-thirds of the same personnel.

It was a jazz piano legend who provided the impetus for Fly to take flight. Ballard first gained widespread recognition in Chick Corea's Origin sextet, and in 2000 the pianist produced "Originations" (Stretch), a compilation album showcasing the young musicians in his employ. For Ballard's tracks, the drummer chose to record with Grenadier and Turner, and the results were so satisfying they decided to keep working together.

From the beginning, the group's music was shaped by the lack of a chordal instrument like piano or guitar. The harmonic and textural openness presents a consistent challenge for which the trio finds a series of ingenious responses, strategies that often involve playing less rather than more.

"It's the idea of taking things out, rather than trying to fill up space, and to see how the space sits," Ballard says. "We've come up with different ways to bring out the drama in the music."

When it comes to drama off the bandstand, the trio seems eager for a safe and uneventful year.