Turtle Island Quartet (USA)
David Balakrishnan, viool
Mark Summer, cello
Mads Tolling, viool
Jeremy Kittel, altvioolA Love Supreme, the Legacy of John Coltrane (Telarc) 2007 and 2008 Grammy winner, Best Classical Crossover
“There is something nearly ecstatic in Turtle Island’s handling of works written by or in tribute to the jazz sax colossus John Coltrane...” — Strings Magazine.
De originele naam is afgeleid van de scheppingsmythologie, teruggevonden bij de Native American (Indianen) bevolking: “the Ancient Ones”. Het Turtle Island Quartet is sinds zijn oprichting in 1985, steeds onderscheidend geweest in het ontwikkelen van gedurfde, nieuwe trends in kamermuziek voor strijkers. Het kwartet is Grammy Award winnaar 2006 en onlangs van de 2008 Grammy Award voor Best Classical Crossover Album.
Turtle Island gaat uit van de esthetiek van het klassieke strijkkwartet maar gebruikmakend van hedendaagse Amerikaanse muziekstijlen en door in de uitvoeringspraktijk een verdeling te maken die beide genres eer aan doet. Hiermee is ontegenzeggelijk en onvermijdelijk de “state of the art” geherdefinieerd. Cellist zonder weerga, Yo-Yo Ma, riep Turtle Island Quartet uit tot: “a unified voice that truly breaks new ground – authentic and passionate – a reflection of some of the most creative music-making today.”De geboorte van het kwartet was het resultaat van brainstormverkenningen van violist David Balakrishnan en zijn compositiorische visies ten tijde van het voltooien van zijn masters degree aan Antioch University West in de VS. Bij deze muzikale reis plunderde Turtle Island elementen uit genres als folk, bluegrass, swing, be-bop, funk, R&B, new age, rock en hip-hop, evenals latin en Indiaas repertoire. Dit leverde honderden ingenieuze arrangementen en originele werken op.
Resultat: een dozijn cd-opnames op labels als Windham Hill, Chandos, Koch en Telarc, soundtracks voor belangrijke speelfilms en tv en radio talkshows zoals Today Show, All Things Considered, Prairie Home Companion, and Morning Edition. Het leverde ook hoofdartikelen op in grote tijdschriften als People en Newsweek.
Turtle Island Quartet werkte samen met wereldberoemde artiesten als latin-klarinettist Paquito D’Rivera, vibrafonist Stefon Harris, gitaarlegendes als Leo Kottke en de Assad Brothers, het vokale ensemble The Manhattan Transfer, pianisten Billy Taylor, Kenny Barron en Ramsey Lewis, het Ying Quartet en de Parsons Dance Company.Uniek element van Turtle Island is het laten herleven van eerbiedwaardige kamermuziektradities in improvisatie en compositie die al bijna 200 jaar niet meer zijn verkend door strijkers. Ten tijde van Haydn’s apocriefe ontwikkeling van de strijkkwartet vorm, leken musici meer op de huidige saxofonisten en meesters van de toetsen in de jazz- en popwereld, d.w.z. improviserende, componerende en arrangerende musici.
Elk Turtle Island lid heeft zijn sporen verdiend op deze gebieden naast een gedegen conservatoriumtraining als strijker.Uitkomst van deze toegewijde manier van werken: de fenomenale internationale impact en muzikale indruk die Turtle Island op de vele podia bij het publiek achterlaat. Dit geldt in het bijzonder in Europa waar kamermuziek nog altijd een vitaal onderdeel uitmaakt van het klassieke muzikale podiumleven. Wat eens viel onder het begrip ‘alternatieve kamermuziek”, vormt nu een stevig genre van crossover naar jazz en worldmusic. De Turtle Island leden ontwikkelen nieuw repertoire van hedendaagse componisten en eigen composities en arrangementen op het snijvlak van nieuwe stijlen en crossovers, in samenwerking met vooraanstaande solisten en ensembles en met een vastbesloten commitment voor educatie. Turtle Island Quartet belooft het strijkkwartet van de 21e eeuw te zijn.
Turtle Island Quartet - Have You Ever Been There ...? - album 2010
TIQ takes on a big challenge in transforming the music of rock guitar legend Jimi Hendrix to the language of a classical string quartet, yet succeeds with exhilarating flair on the six Hendrix tunes (as well as seven more tunes by TIQ founding violinist David Balakrishnan and others).
TISQ takes on a big challenge in transforming the music of rock guitar legend Jimi Hendrix to the language of a classical string quartet, yet succeeds with exhilarating flair on the six Hendrix tunes (as well as seven more tunes by TISQ founding violinist David Balakrishnan and others). This disc follows their Grammy winning 2007 recording, A Love Supreme: The Legacy of John Coltrane.
TISQ is Balakrishnan (violin, baritone violin), cofounder Mark Summer (cello), Mads Tolling (violin) and newcomer Jeremy Kittel (violin). The origins of this project trace back to two Hendrix concerts at the L.A.
Forum that Balakrishnan attended as a teenager in 1969 and 1970, which led him to practicing Henrdix guitar licks on his violin.Decades later, his interest in Hendrix was fortified by a visit to the Woodstock Museum where he watched a video of Hendrix’s performance.
The title work, a seamless four-piece suite of Hendrix tunes including “Have You Ever Been (To Electric Ladyland),” “House Burning Down,” “1983…A Merman I Should Turn to Be,” and “Voodoo Child (Slight Return)” opens the album. That piece segues into John McLaughlin’s lively “To Bop Or Not To Be.”
While the troupe adroitly translates Hendrix’s music, it’s really Balakrishnan’s four-movement composition, “Tree of Life” that is the album centerpiece. Inspired by Darwin’s Origin of the Species, it contains four pieces (“Ashwattha,” “Lucy,” Monkey Business,” and Coelacanth”)
which reverently embrace Indian classical music, bluegrass, swing, bebop, Afro-Cuban styles and more. Vibraphonist Stefon Harris is featured on the catchy TISQ’s interpretation of Hendrix’s bluesy “Gypsy Eyes.” Summer skillfully performs Hendrix’s “Little Wing” as a solo cello piece.Other tunes include Billy Roberts’ ballad, “Hey Joe,” and Bob Dylan’s “All Along the Watchtower” featuring Mike Marshall on mandocello. Hendrix made the latter tune popular in his 1968-recorded version.
This highly recommended addition to the TISQ discography proves that, after 25 years, this group still has the ability to dazzle the listener. Nancy Ann Lee.
A Love Supreme
In 2007 bracht Turtle Island Quartet zijn nieuwe album uit, A love Supreme, The Legacy of John Coltrane. Met deze hommage aan de legendarische John Coltrane vestigen ze zich definitief als ultiem chamber jazzkwartet. Alle jazzelementen van de jazz, improvisatie, stevige funky grooves, swing, komen er in samen.“ This is a wonderful cd that allows one to appreciate the artistic accomplishments of the Turtle Island Quartet as well as hear their fine presentation of John Coltrane’s ‘A Love Supreme’. All of the musicians perform the arangements with an introspective sense of improvisation, expansion, articulation and expression”. – Alice Coltrane
A Love Supreme (Telarc) 2007 and 2008 Grammy winner, Best Classical Crossover
“There is something nearly ecstatic in Turtle Island’s handling of works written by or in tribute to the jazz sax colossus John Coltrane...” — Strings Magazine
“The Turtle Island Quartet have the chops, the guts, the soul, the spirit and the taste to take on the musical legacy of John Coltrane— what more could anyone want?” — All Music Guide
“Jazz fans will find new pathways into “A Love Supreme” while the classical set will find a gateway to one of jazz’s enduring achievements.” — Amazon.com
Andere Turtle Island Quartet cd-opnames
4 Plus 4 met Ying Quartet on Telarc Records; Grammy Award Winner Best Classical Crossover
Danzon met latin klarinettist Paquito D’ Rivera
The Art of the Groove
The Hamburg Concert
Turtle Island String Quartet – a Windham Hill Retrospective
A Night in Tunisia
Spider Dreams – Spider Dreams Suite composed by David Balakrishnan
Persrecensies over Turtle Island Quartet"Impeccable precision in its pitch and coordination...ebullient!"
— New York Times“A sterling example of first-rate jazz music-making.”
— Los Angeles Times“....zest, imagination and brilliant technique...”
— San Francisco Examiner“It must have been like this when Beethoven was taking Vienna by storm – the exhilaration of seeing the future of classical music unfold before your eyes and ears.”
— St. Louis Post-Dispatch“The strings sing, not like angels, but like they’ve been around. The improvisations...hang tough, solidly built, and take no back talk from anybody.”
— The Seattle Post-Intelligence“...intellectually engaging, technically dazzling and emotionally rich...”
— The Birmingham News“It’s group string jazz at its finest, not only brilliantly conceived but brilliantly played as well, by master-musicians having a wonderful time with their own wit and humor and imagination.
—Sacramento Bee“At some other time, in some other venue, I may have heard a better live performance. But I doubt it... astonishing virtuosos... the quartet’s performance was breathtaking...”
—Nashville Scene“Innovators to the core, the group was founded on an exploration of forms that had never been attempted in a traditional string quartet format. And they did it with amazing power and finesse. Their brilliant leads rise and subside seamlessly into the ensemble sound, keeping the focus on story line and rhythmic pulse and leading their listeners deeper into a comforting musical spell...”
— The Oregonian“This unique, jazzy four piece continues to entertain with its distinctive brand of tight, impressive bow-ery in motions.”
— Billboard Magazine“While the respected Kronos Quartet visits...the frontiers of jazz, bluegrass, world music and even Jimi Hendrix; Turtle Island dwells in them, and stands tradition on its civilized ear.”
— People MagazineTurtle Island Quartet wordt voor hun concertmanagement in Nederland exclusief vertegenwoordigd door Jupiter 4 Artists.
www.turtleislandquartet.com
Jupiter 4 Artists - Louise de Haas
Esdoornlaan 15
1901 SC Castricumtel. 0251 674218
M: 06 42143397
E: info@jupiter4artists
fotos:
Peter Serling
Michael Amsler
