Turkuaz was an American

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the ...

band based in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, New York.

History

Turkuaz originally formed out of Boston's

Berklee College of Music Berklee College of Music () is a Private university, private music college in Boston, Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern Music of the United ...

scene in 2008, releasing the ''Dollar Store'' demo album while many of its members were still attending Berklee. After relocating to New York City, they released their self-titled debut album in 2011. Within the same year, they also released their

sophomore In the United States, a sophomore ( or ) is a person in the second year at an educational institution; usually at a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of Post-secondary school, post-secondary educatio ...

album, ''Zerbert''. Their third studio album, ''Digitonium,'' a concept album composed to synchronize with Disney's The Sword in the Stone, was released in 2015. The band did three performances of the music of

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained global fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and the piano, and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John ...

and

Wings A wing is a type of fin that produces both lift and drag while moving through air. Wings are defined by two shape characteristics, an airfoil section and a planform. Wing efficiency is expressed as lift-to-drag ratio, which compares the bene ...

with original band member

Denny Laine Brian Frederick Hines (29 October 1944 – 5 December 2023), known professionally as Denny Laine, was an English musician who co-founded two major rock bands: the Moody Blues and Wings. Laine played guitar in the Moody Blues from 1964 to 1966 ...

in 2018. Turkuaz's fourth studio album, ''Life in the City'', was released in 2018. In 2020, Turkuaz released their first live concert film entitled ''None's a Ton'', along with an audio soundtrack. After collaborating with

Jerry Harrison Jeremiah Griffin Harrison (born February 21, 1949) is an American musician, songwriter, producer, and entrepreneur. He began his professional music career as a member of the band the Modern Lovers, before becoming keyboardist and guitarist for ...

Talking Heads Talking Heads were an American Rock music, rock band formed in New York City in 1975.Talking Heads

in the studio, Turkuaz was asked to participate in a 40th anniversary tour celebrating ''

Remain in Light ''Remain in Light'' is the fourth studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cass ...

'' with Harrison and Talking Head's session guitarist

Adrian Belew Robert Steven "Adrian" Belew (born December 23, 1949) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. A multi-instrumentalist primarily known as a guitarist and singer, he is noted for his unusual approach to the instrument, his ...

. The tour had been postponed due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

and was originally set to resume in 2021. On November 2, 2021, seven band members announced via social media that they were leaving the band to focus on other projects. Over the next year, all former band members became involved in several different projects. In March 2022, Ghost Light announced former Turkuaz bassist Taylor Shell would be joining their band. In July 2022, the seven members that left Turkuaz formed a new band, Cool Cool Cool. They played their first show at the

Brooklyn Bowl Brooklyn Bowl is a music venue, bowling alley and restaurant in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. Founded in 2009, it is located in the former Hecla Iron Works Building at 61 Wythe Avenue. It is known for its high-tech green con ...

on September 17, 2022. In September 2022, Turkuaz released two final studio albums, ''Paradiso'' and ''Apollyon''. The albums were recorded prior to the band's dissolution, with founding members Dave Brandwein and Taylor Shell deciding to release the albums after the departure of the rest of the band. In November 2022,

and

announced a

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

n tour celebrating the

Talking Heads Talking Heads were an American Rock music, rock band formed in New York City in 1975.Talking Heads

album

, with the members of Cool Cool Cool comprising most of the band, as well as being the supporting act. In December 2022, Dave Brandwein released his debut solo album, ''Sleeping Sun, Waking Moon'', under the

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true meaning ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individual's o ...

Band For Sale.

Members

Turkuaz went through several lineup changes, with Dave Brandwein and Taylor Shell being the only members consistently in the band from 2008 to 2022. The band remained with a consistent studio and touring lineup from 2014 through 2021, with members Dave Brandwein, Taylor Shell, Sammi Garrett, Shira Elias, Craig Brodhead, Josh Schwartz, Greg Sanderson, Chris Brouwers, and Michelangelo Carubba. Former members * Dave Brandwein – vocals, guitar (2008-2021) * Taylor Shell - bass guitar (2008-2021) * Mike Haziza - guitar (2008-2011) * Craig Brodhead - guitar, keyboards (2011-2021) * Josh Schwartz - tenor sax (2011-2021) * Greg Sanderson - alto sax (2011-2021) * Chris Brouwers - trumpet (2011-2021) * Michelangelo Carubba - drums, percussion (2011-2021) * Geneva Williams - vocals, percussion (2011-2014) * Chris St. Hilaire - organ (2011-2012) * Nicky Egan - vocals (2011-2012) * Sammi Garett - vocals, percussion (2012-2021) * Shira Elias - vocals, percussion (2014-2021)

Discography

Albums * 2011: ''Turkuaz'' * 2011: ''Zerbert'' * 2013: ''Covers Vol. 1'' * 2014: ''Future 86'' * 2015: ''Digitonium'' * 2018: ''Life in the City'' * 2020: ''Covers Vol. 2'' * 2022: ''Paradiso'' * 2022: ''Apollyon'' Singles & EPs * 2008: ''Dollar Store'' (EP) * 2015: ''Stereochrome'' (EP) * 2016: "The Rules"/"On the Border" (7” Split EP with

The New Mastersounds The New Mastersounds are a British four-piece jazz fusion and blues/funk band from Leeds, England. Over the last 16 years, they have issued ten studio albums, two live dates, two remix collections, and a compilation album. History In the late ...

) * 2017: "On the Run" (Single) * 2019: ''Afterlife Vol. 1'' (EP) * 2019: ''Afterlife Vol. 2'' (EP) * 2019: ''Kuadrochrome'' (EP) * 2020: "Ophidiophobia" (Single) * 2021: "Shakin' in my Sheets" (Single) * 2022: "Strange People (Strange Times)"/"Feel No Pain" (Single) * 2022: "Knock, Knock"/"Take a Little Look Around" (Single) Live Releases * 2012: ''Live at Southpaw 6.1.10'' * 2013: ''A Live Affair'' * 2017: ''040717'' * 2019: ''Turkuaz Live at Sugarshack Sessions - EP'' * 2020: ''None’s a Ton: A Turkuaz Live Concert Film Soundtrack''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Turkuaz American funk musical groups