Results for Turtle Island String Quartet
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Turtle Island String Quartet

Turtle Island String Quartet

Formed:
1985

Representative Songs:

"Turning Twice," "A Night in Tunisia," "Who Do You Think You Are?"

Representative Albums:

Windham Hill Essential Series, Who Do We Think We Are?, Spider Dreams

Similar Artists:

Performed Songs By:

Mark Summer, Cole Porter, Philip Bimstein, David Balakrishnan, Darol Anger
  • Genre: Jazz
  • Active: '80s, '90s, 2000s
  • Major Members: Mark Summer, David Balakrishnan, Darol Anger

Biography

While the Kronos Quartet cracked open the field of jazz for the once-exclusively classical string quartet, the Turtle Island String Quartet is the first whose members can actually improvise, thus giving the foursome much credibility in the jazz world. Their repertoire extends from bebop standards like "A Night in Tunisia" to Third Stream material to rock & roll treatments of Robert Johnson's Delta blues ("Crossroads"), throwing in bluegrass, South Indian ragas, and any other influences that they can latch onto -- all without the crutch of a rhythm section.

Violinist/cofounder Darol Anger spent nine years (1975-1984) as a founding member of the David Grisman Quintet, which helped to open up the possibilities of jazz improvisation for stringed instruments. Just before leaving Grisman, Anger played with violinist David Balakrishnan in a four-violin group called Saheeb. Soon thereafter, the two recorded an album with jazz violinist Matt Glaser -- and together with cellist Mark Summer of the Winnipeg Symphony, Anger and Balakrishnan founded the TISQ in 1985. The viola chair has been a revolving door throughout much of the group's history, filled respectively by Irene Sazer, Katrina Wreede, and Danny Seidenberg. Balakrishnan in turn was replaced in 1993 by Tracy Silverman. Their first self-titled album for Windham Hill Jazz -- released in 1988 -- led to several more on that label, including the soundtrack for the film Spider Dreams. In 1993, the TISQ and the Billy Taylor Trio performed Taylor's Homage, one of the more gracefully balanced classical/jazz fusions around, in concert. ~ Richard S. Ginell, All Music Guide
 
 
Wikipedia: Turtle Island String Quartet

The Turtle Island String Quartet is a San Francisco Bay Area based jazz string quartet formed in 1985 and still actively touring worldwide and recording as of 2007. They were the first string quartet to achieve artistic and commercial success integrating jazz improvisation, jazz rhythms and comping using extended techniques. Their extensive repertoire consists primarily of compositions and arrangements by quartet members that highlight their versatility by bridging several styles including Bluegrass, European classical music, funk, jazz, Latin American music, and Indian classical music. They became known for their renditions of jazz standards, such as founding violinist David Balakrishnan's Grammy-nominated arrangement of "A Night In Tunisia" by Dizzy Gillespie, "Stolen Moments" by Oliver Nelson, or "Blue Rondo a la Turk" by Dave Brubeck on Art of the Groove, as well as for jazz interpretations of famous classical music pieces, as shown on the humorously titled "Bach's Lunch" on The Hamburg Concert. The quartet has also covered rock and roll pieces, such as Jimi Hendrix's "Gypsy Eyes" on Who Do We Think We Are? and Eric Clapton's - originally Robert Johnson's - "Crossroads" on Skylife.

In addition to playing as a quartet, they have collaborated with renowned jazz artists such as clarinetist Paquito D'Rivera and pianist Kenny Barron, the classical string quartet Ying Quartet, and several major orchestras.

Their name was taken by co-founder Darol Anger from Native American mythology, where "Turtle Island" is the name for the North American continent, courtesy of poet Gary Snyder's influential book of the same name.

Quartet members

As of 2006:

Former members:

Awards and recognition

  • Grammy Awards & Grammy nominations
    • Grammy Award for Best Classical Crossover Album for 4 + Four (2006)

Discography

  • Turtle Island String Quartet1988 Windham Hill
  • Metropolis1989 Windham Hill
  • Skylife1990 Windham Hill
  • A Shock to the System1990 Windham Hill
  • On the Town1991 Windham Hill
  • Spider Dreams1992 Windham Hill
  • Who Do We Think We Are?1994 Windham Hill
  • By the Fireside1995 Windham Hill
  • The Hamburg Concert1997 CCn'C Records
  • Art of the Groove2000 Koch
  • Danzon2002 Koch
  • A Night in Tunisia, A Week in Detroit2002 Chandos
  • 4 + Four2005 Telarc, with the Ying Quartet
  • A Love Supreme2007 Telarc

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Copyrights:

Artist. Copyright © 2008 All Media Guide, LLC. Content provided by All Music Guide ® , a trademark of All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Turtle Island String Quartet" Read more

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