Paul Turner is an English musician and songwriter. He has been the bassist of the jazz-funk band Jamiroquai since 2005.
Career Turner began his professional bass career in 1987. After moving to Birmingham, he worked as a freelance musician, including as a dep musician on jazz, blues and other live engagements. His work with bassist Roger Inniss led to engagements with singer Ruby Turner, followed by touring and television work.
In the early 1990s, Turner became a touring musician for Take That. He toured with the group from 1992 to 1996 after being recommended by musical director Mike Stevens. He subsequently worked on a number of pop and soul tours and later toured with Annie Lennox, including tours in 2003, 2004 and 2008.
Turner has also performed and recorded with artists including Tina Turner, Bryan Ferry and George Michael. In 2018, MusicRadar reported that he had worked with more than 70 artists during his career, including live and television work with Ruby Turner, Errol Brown and Edwin Starr. Tonalic also lists collaborations with Tom Jones and Seal.
Jamiroquai Turner joined Jamiroquai in 2005. According to Tonalic, he has contributed to every Jamiroquai album and tour since joining the band. He has remained the band's bassist since 2005.
In a 2018 interview with Joel McIver for MusicRadar, Turner described the recording process for Jamiroquai, explaining that vocalist Jay Kay and keyboardist Matt Johnson would sometimes contribute ideas for bass parts. Turner said that the band's recordings favoured complete performances and a sense of "vibe and spirit" rather than assembling bass parts from multiple takes.
Turner has also described Jamiroquai's live performances as relatively flexible, with the band sometimes performing songs without a fixed setlist and drawing on its repertoire during performances.
Other projects Turner formed the jazz-funk band Trioniq with Jamiroquai guitarist Rob Harris and Iwan VanHetten. He has also been associated with Brother Strut, Groovesonix and the Dark Sinatras, and has performed with Sister Sledge.
Musical style and equipment Turner's playing is associated with funk, soul, acid jazz and R&B. In his 2018 interview with MusicRadar, he emphasised the importance of listening to other musicians and maintaining a strong rhythmic feel. He described groove as something that should encourage physical movement while playing, such as nodding the head or tapping the foot.
Turner has used a number of vintage and custom basses. His instruments have included a 1966 Fender Jazz Bass, a 1963 Fender Precision Bass, Music Man and other basses, as well as custom five-string instruments made by luthier Tom Stenback. Tonalic describes his preference for vintage-style passive Fender instruments and custom five-string basses.
Turner has also used effects to produce filtered and synthesised bass sounds. He told MusicRadar that his equipment included vintage Mu-Tron effects and a 3Leaf Doom pedal, and that he used octave and envelope effects for some Jamiroquai material.
For much of his career, Turner used Aguilar amplification. In 2018 he said that he had used Aguilar equipment for his live backline since 2004, including DB751 and AG700 amplifiers and several Aguilar speaker cabinets.
By 2025, Turner was using a Trickfish amplification rig with Jamiroquai. A December 2025 performance reviewed by No Treble showed Turner playing a Stenback bass through a Trickfish rig. The Trickfish Amplification company has also published a photograph of Turner using its equipment on stage.
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