The Turtle Island Quartet is a string quartet that plays hybrids of jazz, classical, and rock music. The group was formed in 1985 by

David Balakrishnan David Balakrishnan (born 1954, Los Angeles, California) is the founder of the Turtle Island Quartet. Life After graduating from UCLA in 1976 with a B.A. in music composition and violin, he moved to the San Francisco Bay Area, where he quickly est ...

Darol Anger Darol Robert Anger is an American violinist and founding member of The David Grisman Quintet. Career Darol Anger entered popular music at the age of 21 as a founding member of The David Grisman Quintet. Anger played fiddle to David Grisman' ...

, and Mark Summer in San Francisco. They released their first album on

Windham Hill Records Windham Hill Records was an independent record label that specialized in instrumental acoustic music. It was founded by guitarist William Ackerman and Anne Robinson (née McGilvray) in 1976 and was popular in the 1980s and 1990s. The label was ...

in 1988 with Irene Sazer.

History

The group plays jazz standards and original compositions that cross several styles, including blues, classical, jazz, and

world music "World music" is an English phrase for styles of music from non-English speaking countries, including quasi-traditional, Cross-cultural communication, intercultural, and traditional music. World music's broad nature and elasticity as a musical ...

. Violinist

got the idea for a jazz

string quartet The term string quartet refers to either a type of musical composition or a group of four people who play them. Many composers from the mid-18th century onwards wrote string quartets. The associated musical ensemble consists of two Violin, violini ...

in 1985. He invited cellist Mark Summer, who had been working for three years as a member of a Canadian orchestra. One of the first pieces they played was Balakrishnan's arrangement of " Stolen Moments" by

Oliver Nelson Oliver Edward Nelson (June 4, 1932 – October 28, 1975) was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, arranger, composer, and bandleader. His 1961 Impulse! album '' The Blues and the Abstract Truth'' (1961) is regarded as one of the most signi ...

which was released on their first album in 1987. The group's members have included violinist Evan Price and Danish violist

Mads Tolling Mads Tolling (born July 5, 1980) is a Danish-American violinist, violist, composer and two-time Grammy Award-Winner. As a former member of the Turtle Island Quartet and bassist Stanley Clarke’s band, Tolling is today leading his own projects ...

. Price and Tolling are both alumni of

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 ...

. As a child, Balakrishnan was inspired by

Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential guitarists of all time. Inducted ...

. Then he discovered jazz and the music of the

David Grisman David Jay Grisman (born March 23, 1945) is an American mandolinist. His music combines bluegrass, folk, and jazz in a genre he calls "Dawg music". He founded the record label Acoustic Disc, which issues his recordings and those of other acousti ...

Quartet. Balakrishnan's arrangement of "

A Night in Tunisia "A Night in Tunisia" is a musical composition written by American trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie in 1942. He wrote it while he was playing with the Benny Carter band. It has become a jazz standard. It is also known as "Interlude", and with lyrics by R ...

" by

Dizzy Gillespie John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie ( ; October 21, 1917 – January 6, 1993) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, composer, educator and singer. He was a trumpet virtuoso and improvisation, improviser, building on the virtuosic style of Roy El ...

was nominated for a Grammy Award. The group won a Grammy Award for its version of ''

A Love Supreme ''A Love Supreme'' is an album by the jazz saxophonist and composer John Coltrane. He recorded it in one session on December 9, 1964, at Van Gelder Studio in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, leading a quartet featuring pianist McCoy Tyner, bassist J ...

'' by

John Coltrane John William Coltrane (September 23, 1926 – July 17, 1967) was an American jazz saxophonist, bandleader and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the Jazz#Post-war jazz, history of jazz and 20th-century musi ...

. The quartet has worked with

Paquito D'Rivera Francisco de Jesús Rivera Figueras (born 4 June 1948), known as Paquito D'Rivera, is a Cuban-American alto saxophonist, clarinetist and composer. He was a member of the Cuban songo band Irakere and, since the 1980s, he has established him ...

Ying Quartet The Ying Quartet is an American string quartet. The Ying siblings, from Winnetka, Illinois,Allan KozinnMusic in Review ''New York Times'' May 21, 1991R. M. Campbell," ''Seattle PI,'' Nov 10 2008 formed the quartet in 1988 while studying at the U ...

Edgar Meyer Edgar Meyer (born November 24, 1960) is an American bassist and composer. His styles include classical, bluegrass, newgrass, and jazz. He has won seven Grammy Awards and been nominated ten times. Meyer is a member of the Telluride Bluegrass ...

the Manhattan Transfer The Manhattan Transfer was an American vocal group founded in 1969 in New York City, performing music genres like a cappella, Brazilian jazz, Swing music, swing, vocalese, rhythm and blues, Pop music, pop, and standards. They have won eleven G ...

Modern Jazz Quartet The Modern Jazz Quartet (MJQ) was a jazz combo established in 1952 that played music influenced by classical music, classical, cool jazz, blues and bebop. The Quartet consisted of John Lewis (pianist), John Lewis (piano), Milt Jackson (vibraphon ...

, and the

Detroit Symphony Orchestra The Detroit Symphony Orchestra (DSO) is an American orchestra based in Detroit, Detroit, Michigan. Its primary performance venue is Orchestra Hall (Detroit, Michigan), Orchestra Hall at the Max M. Fisher Music Center in Detroit's Midtown, Detroit, ...

Members

Current *

– violin and

baritone violin A Baritone violin is a member of the violin family and has two specific meanings: * a violin tuned an octave below conventional violin tuning (G2–D3–A3–E4). This is commonly accomplished by stringing a standard violin with heavy gauge stri ...

(original member) (1985–1993, 1997–present) * Benjamin von Gutzeit – viola (2012–present) * Naseem Alatrash – cello (2021–present) * Gabriel Terracciano – violin (2018–present) Past * Mark Summer – cello (original member) (1985–2015) *

– violin and baritone violin (original member) (1985–1997) * Laurie Moore – viola (original member) (1985–1987) * Irene Sazer – viola (1987–1990) * Katrina Wreede – viola (1990–1992) * Jeremy Cohen – viola (1992) * Danny Seidenberg – viola (1992–2004) *

Tracy Silverman Tracy Silverman (born April 7, 1960) is an American violinist, composer, and producer. Biography Born in Peekskill, New York and raised in Beloit, Wisconsin, Tracy Silverman made his professional debut at the age of 13 with the Chicago Symphon ...

– violin (1993–1997) * Evan Price – violin (1997–2007) *

– viola (2004–2007), violin (2007–2012) *

Jeremy Kittel Jeremy Kittel is an American musician and composer. His primary instruments are the violin / fiddle and viola and he has worked in a number of genres including Celtic, Jazz, Pop, Classical, Bluegrass, Folk music, and more. He leads his na ...

– viola (2008–2012) * Mateusz Smoczynski – violin (2012–2015) * Alex Hargreaves – violin (2016–2018) * Malcolm Parson – cello (2016–2021)

Awards

Grammy Award for Best Classical Crossover Album The Grammy Award for Best Classical Crossover Album was awarded from 1999 to 2011. The award was discontinued from 2012 in a major overhaul of Grammy categories. In the present day, if a classical crossover release is a non-classical artist making ...

, ''4 + Four'', 2005 * Grammy Award for Best Classical Crossover Album, ''A Love Supreme: The Legacy of John Coltrane'', 2007

Discography

* ''Turtle Island String Quartet'' (

Windham Hill Windham Hill Records was an independent record label that specialized in instrumental acoustic music. It was founded by guitarist William Ackerman and Anne Robinson (née McGilvray) in 1976 and was popular in the 1980s and 1990s. The label was ...

, 1988) * ''Metropolis'' (Windham Hill, 1989) * ''Skylife'' (Windham Hill, 1990) * ''A Shock to the System'' (Windham Hill, 1990) * ''On the Town'' (Windham Hill, 1991) * ''Spider Dreams'' (Windham Hill, 1992) * ''Who Do We Think We Are?'' (Windham Hill, 1994) * ''A Night in Tunisia, A Week in Detroit'' (Chandos, 1994) * ''By the Fireside'' (Windham Hill, 1995) * ''The Hamburg Concert'' (CCn'C Records, 1997) * ''Art of the Groove'' (

Koch Koch may refer to: People * Koch (surname), people with this surname * Koch dynasty, a dynasty in Assam and Bengal, north east India * Koch family * Koch people (or Koche), an ethnic group originally from the ancient Koch kingdom in north east In ...

, 2000) * ''Danzon'' (Koch, 2002) * ''4 + Four'' with the

(

Telarc Telarc International Corporation is an American audiophile independent record label founded in 1977 by two classically trained musicians and former teachers, Jack Renner and Robert Woods. Based in Cleveland, Ohio, the label has had a long assoc ...

, 2005) * ''A Love Supreme: The Legacy of John Coltrane'' (Telarc, 2007) * ''Have You Ever Been..?: The Music of Jimi Hendrix and David Balakrishnan'' (Telarc, 2010) * ''Mike Marshall and the Turtle Island Quartet'' (Adventure, 2014) * ''Confetti Man'' (Azica, 2014) * ''Bird's Eye View'' (Azica, 2018) * '' Absence'' with

Terence Blanchard Terence Oliver Blanchard (born March 13, 1962) is an American jazz trumpeter and composer. He has also written two operas and more than 80 film and television scores. Blanchard has been nominated for two Academy Awards for Original Score for ''B ...

(Blue Note, 2021)

References

External links

Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Turtle Island Quartet Musical groups established in 1985 Jazz ensembles from California American string quartets Windham Hill Records artists 1985 establishments in California