Turtle Island String Quartet

Biography

The Turtle Island Quartet (known as the "Turtle Island String Quartet" before the 2007 release of A Love Supreme: The Legacy of John Coltrane) is a San Francisco Bay Area based jazz string quartet formed in 1985 and still actively touring worldwide and recording as of 2011. They take the classical string quartet experiments of Béla Bartók and rack them up a notch, while occasionally revealing their bluegrass swing roots. They were the first string quartet to achieve artistic and commercial succe...

The Turtle Island Quartet (known as the "Turtle Island String Quartet" before the 2007 release of A Love Supreme: The Legacy of John Coltrane) is a San Francisco Bay Area based jazz string quartet formed in 1985 and still actively touring worldwide and recording as of 2011. They take the classical string quartet experiments of Béla Bartók and rack them up a notch, while occasionally revealing their bluegrass swing roots. 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.

Current members include David Balakrishnan (violin), Mark Summer (cello), Mads Tolling (violin), and Jeremy Kittel (viola).

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