Its name derived from creation mythology found
in Native American Folklore, the Turtle Island Quartet, since
its inception in 1985, has been a singular force in the creation of bold,
new trends in chamber music for strings. Winner of the 2006 and most
recently, the 2008 Grammy Award for Best Classical Crossover Album,
Turtle Island fuses the classical quartet esthetic with
contemporary American musical styles, and by devising a performance practice
that honors both, the state of the art has inevitably been redefined.
Cellist nonpareil Yo-Yo Ma has proclaimed TIQ to be “a unified
voice that truly breaks new ground – authentic and passionate – a reflection
of some of the most creative music-making today.”
The Quartet’s birth was the result of violinist
David Balakrishnan’s brainstorming explorations and compositional vision
while writing his master’s thesis at Antioch University West. The journey
has taken Turtle Island through forays into folk, bluegrass,
swing, be-bop, funk, R&B, new age, rock, hip-hop, as well as music of Latin
America and India …a repertoire consisting of hundreds of ingenious
arrangements and originals. It has included over a dozen recordings on
labels such as Windham Hill, Chandos, Koch and Telarc, soundtracks for major
motion pictures, TV and radio credits such as the Today Show, All Things
Considered, Prairie Home Companion, and Morning Edition, feature articles in
People and Newsweek magazines, and collaborations with famed artists such as
clarinetist Paquito D’Rivera, The Manhattan Transfer, pianists Billy Taylor
and Kenny Barron, the Ying Quartet and the Parsons Dance Company.
Another unique element of Turtle Island
is their revival of venerable improvisational and compositional chamber
traditions that have not been explored by string players for nearly 200
years. At the time of Haydn’s apocryphal creation of the string quartet
form, musicians were more akin to today’s saxophonists and keyboard masters
of the jazz and pop world, i.e., improvisers, composers, and arrangers.
Each Turtle Island member is accomplished in these areas of
expertise as well as having extensive conservatory training as
instrumentalists.
One result of this dedication can be seen in
Turtle Island’s phenomenal international appeal, particularly in
Europe where chamber music remains a vital facet of life. What was once
termed ‘alternative’ chamber music now firmly inhabits the mainstream.
Turtle Island members refine their skills through unusual and
endemic ‘re-compositions’ of works by the old masters, through the
development of repertory by some of today’s cutting edge composers, through
performances and recordings with major symphonic ensembles, and through a
determined educational commitment. Turtle Island Quartet
promises to be a string quartet for the 21st century.
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A
Love Supreme
Turtle
Island Plays The Music Of John Coltrane
Given
the proper conditions, a work of art can transcend both genre and era, claiming
its rightful place in the universality of human expression that justifies the
very existence of mankind. Such is
the case of John Coltrane’s jazz epiphany, A
Love Supreme. Recorded four
decades ago at a time when the country was deeply troubled by issues of race and
war, Trane’s music was a personal statement of redemption and salvation that
struck a chord in the hearts of millions, becoming one of the most enduring jazz
recordings of all time.
The
string quartet form itself continues to thrive in the 21st century in
no small part due to its impressive history of similar achievements in its two
hundred year old canon. In
exploring John Coltrane’s musical legacy, TI continues its own tradition of
employing the string quartet form to shed new light on the timeless joy and
beauty contained in the greatest music of the American jazz masters. The concert
program will present an in-depth look at this landmark recording in the greater
context of the music that preceded and followed, a time many consider to be the
last great evolutionary period of jazz.
SOLSTICE CELEBRATION
The Festival of Lights
This joyous voyage through World Holiday Music commemorates the quartet members'
ancestral roots with a series of concerts showcasing the music associated with
what is referred to in both the Jewish and Hindu traditions as the FESTIVAL
OF LIGHTS. From the songs of Chanukah, to the music of India's Dewali, to
the old English carols and Scottish reels of the 16th century, TI will explore
the timeless music that has been an integral part of winter holiday celebrations
for centuries. The quartet will also feature pieces that have touched Americans'
hearts for almost 40 years, such as pianist and composer Vince Guaraldi's
beloved music from A Charlie Brown Christmas. For many of the
performances, the quartet will be joined on stage by the community's choir for
an exhilarating finale. Take the family to Turtle Island this holiday season,
and experience the concert highlight of the year.
"This group has set a standard beyond the reach of its few contemporaries...In
the multifarious idiom they have all but invented, Turtle Island remains the
ne plus ultra." ~ The Los Angeles Times
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Turtle Island Quartet With Special Guests
2008-2009
ICONS – Turtle Island
Quartet with Cyrus Chestnut
Question: What do a well respected jazz pianist exploring the music of Elvis
Presley and a string quartet that dares to attempt to recreate John
Coltrane’s immortal A Love Supreme have in common? Answer: A desire
to sift out golden nuggets of beauty and purity from the granite stratums of
musical convention.
Warner Brothers recording artist Cyrus Chestnut and the Grammy award-winning
Turtle Island Quartet continue their grail-like quest in a program that
matches a reinterpretation of Brahms celebrated piano quintet with a
gospel-tinged fantasy of Down by the Riverside. The giants of jazz
such as Duke Ellington, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, and Louis Armstrong are
given their just due and bluegrass legends like Bill Monroe and Flatt and
Scruggs are brought to the table for this musical feast. From the ICONS of
music, these virtuoso players pull a program of unmatched brilliance.
Cyrus Chestnut appears by special arrangement with
ME Entertainment.
Limited dates available- February 2009.
String Theory --
Turtle
Island Quartet with The Assad Duo
At
first glance, the coming together of a string quartet and a guitar duo may seem
like nothing more than an entertaining night on the town. But these two super-groups of the string world, both having
irrevocably altered the face of their respective traditions, have something
altogether different in mind. Think around the world in one evening of wild
celebration, astounding virtuosity and deep beauty, from the lands of Africa and
India to the Appalachian Mountains, to the rhythmic poetry of the Balkans, the
warmth and passion of Brazil, the hard-swinging elegance of Gypsy jazz a la
Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grappelli, and everything in between.
Join the Assad
Brothers and the Turtle Island Quartet as they postulate a new unified string
theory of their own design.
The
Assad Brothers appear by special arrangement with
Opus 3 Artists.
The
Turtle Island Quartet and Ying Quartet
“Razor-sharp
execution of cutting edge music.”
-- Lincoln Journal Star
The Turtle Island Quartet and Ying Quartet collaboration features two
dynamic string ensembles from opposite ends of the musical spectrum
exploring the inner core and outer edges of their art form. The result won a
2006 Grammy Award.
The project was inspired by idle conversation between Phillip Ying and David
Balakrishnan while they both were attending a Chamber Music America board
meeting. The two groups had the opportunity to pursue the myriad
possibilities in person during a subsequent Turtle Island engagement at
Eastman School of Music, where the Yings are in residence. As the musicians
threw ideas back and forth, such as what role improvisation and groove play
in a classical string quartet and how vibrato is used in creating a sonorous
blend when playing jazz, a preliminary concept for a central theme soon
emerged: “Tradition versus Innovation.”
During the first half of the program each quartet performs separately,
demonstrating their individual styles of presentation and interpretation.
The quartets unite in the second half to perform a new transcription of
Darius Milhaud’s “La Création Du Monde,” the first significant attempt to
use jazz in a concert work (1923). “Julie-O,” a virtuosic tour de force for
cello duo by Mark Summer, follows. The centerpiece of the program is David
Balakrishnan’s, “Mara’s Garden Of False Delights,”* a three-movement work
imbued with the composer’s trademark stylistic integration of jazz, American
vernacular, western classical and East Indian musical genres. The program
ends with both groups squaring off in a classic ‘battle of the bands’
configuration to perform Evan Price’s masterful “Variations on an Unoriginal
Theme,” which takes the audience on a tour through a brief history of
chamber music, beginning with a bit of simulated Haydn and ending with the
sounds of James Brown! Telarc released the collaboration nationally in 2005.
*commissioned by the Lied Center at the
University of Kansas, Porter Center at Brevard College & Minnesota State
University/Moorhead.
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The
Art of the Groove
An
exploration of rhythm in classical and popular forms through lecture/
demonstration
Length:
60 minutes; up to 1000 6th
– college level
The
focus in this program is on the fundamental rhythmic differences between
European classical and American vernacular forms, using the rich historical
connection to the traditional string quartet as the point of departure for a
cross-cultural musical journey that begins with Beethoven and ends with.…TI!
Turtle Island identifies the "back-beat" as the key, unveiling
it in its various stylistic guises with the help of the audience, and then the
quartet embarks on a simple and methodical layering of the basic building blocks
employed in creating a jazz string combo, one instrument at a time.
TI discusses the various techniques that allow it all to happen,
including innovative percussive techniques, emulation of other instruments
(saxophone, guitar, trumpet, bass, etc.), neo-classical phrasing, composition
and arranging, and basics of improvisation.
One of the highlights is an exploration of the American fiddle tradition,
utilizing the second theme of Dvorak’s American Quartet.
Also touched upon are odd meters in jazz ala Dave Brubeck, Hip-Hop/60s
rock ala Jimi Hendrix, R&B ala Tower Of Power and clave rhythms of Latin
American music. There is even a
little fun with Vivaldi's Four Seasons. Throughout
all, the back-beat rules.
A
String Quartet is Like a Family
A
special lecture/ demonstration program for younger audiences
Length:
60 minutes; up to 700 students K – 6th grade
This
engaging and accessible presentation for children in grades K-6 utilizes the
model of the family to help students understand how a string quartet functions
and thrives. Turtle Island draws
comparisons between the interactions of the quartet and the audience’s
families, giving children a personal reference point that greatly helps them to
gain a simple but profound understanding of the complete dynamics that drive
musical groups. The children also
learn to discern the many different styles the quartet presents, and young
instrumentalists are presented with a new model of what is possible to achieve
on string instruments. Members of
the audience are invited to participate throughout the presentation, joining in
rhythmic clap-alongs, dialogue with quartet members and a question-and-answer
period following a rousing rock and roll finish. This presentation can easily be modified to include middle
school students.
It’s
About Time
Masterclass
formats to fit every type of string program
Various
lengths and formats; preferably groups of 25 or less; Junior High – College
level
How
often is it that young string students lose interest in playing simply because
the musical options that are given have little relevance to their lives?
The chance to improvise can be pure gold for such students.
Turtle Island is fiercely dedicated to spreading the word that the bowed
string instrument is one of the most versatile on the planet, and there should
be no limit to what is possible to play and play well, be it Bach or the
Beatles. To that end, the quartet
offers masterclasses that fit every need, from one-hour sessions for beginners
to week-long intensive jazz string seminars at educational institutions
worldwide. Much of TI’s music
is available in sheet music form for both string quartet and string orchestra,
and Turtle Island also has study aids that they bring especially for teaching.
However, because the printed page can distract students from using their
ears and intuition in creating these new sounds, TI avoids relying too heavily
on written materials. Ultimately, this experience can leave the student with a much
deeper appreciation of the storehouse of European classical literature that we
all treasure and wish to preserve.
Blue
In Green
The
legacy of Miles Davis
Length:
60 minutes; classroom size; High School – College level
In
this lecture/demonstration, TI pays homage to the great jazz trumpeter and
relentless iconoclast, Miles Davis. The
presentation will focus on selections from the best-selling jazz recording of
all time, Miles’ legendary “Kind Of Blue.”
Interspersed will be related materials that exemplify the deep roots from
which this masterpiece grew, as well as the subsequent blossoming of American
musical genres that followed. With "Boplicity," from the recording
"Birth Of The Cool," TI examines the relationship between Miles and
the ‘beatnik’ movement that his new musical aesthetic came to be associated
with. His piece "Milestones" was the first to use modal material as
its harmonic basis, a reflection of Miles' interest in African and East Indian
music which was generated by his strong desire to escape the tyranny of the
European harmonic model that so dominated the Bebop era. With "Green
Dolphin Street," the quartet touches on Miles' revival of the show tune as
a medium for the highest level of artistic expression in modern jazz. And of
course the group takes a long look at the phenomenon of "Kind Of
Blue," using classic compositions from the recording such as "Blue and
Green" and "So What" to establish a strong correlation to chamber
music, and maybe help to explain why this recording appeals to such a wide
audience. Davis’ legendary reputation for ignoring the entertainment aspects
of jazz in favor of forcing the audience to focus on the music is examined in
the context of the powerful influence of the civil rights movement on all
aspects of society in his lifetime, especially in comparison with the extreme
formality of classical music presentation that was typical of that era. This
brings us full-circle to what we feel makes us unique in the world of classical
music, and how wonderfully that corresponds with the life and work of Miles
Davis.
Note:
the Quartet always reserves time for questions. The question period is built into projected show times.
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Winter Solstice IV
Collaborations:
HBO comedy series,
Sex and the City, 3rd season
Laments & Dances,
Newman & Oltman Guitar Duo with Turtle Island String Quartet, BMG
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Please
contact Baylin Artists for technical information.
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