Biography
Emerging in the mid-1980s, the Turtle Island String Quartet, also known as the Turtle Island Quartet, took shape as an adventurous chamber ensemble devoted to fusing classical string traditions with modern jazz arrangements and improvisation. Their first contract came from Windham Hill, where they earned recognition through inventive treatments of bebop pieces such as "A Night in Tunisia" on the 1988 debut and equally daring versions of material drawn from bluegrass, rock, R&B, and assorted ethnic sources beyond jazz and classical spheres. Despite repeated changes in personnel across the years, the ensemble continued to collect honors, among them the 2006 and 2008 Grammy Awards for Best Classical Crossover Album awarded to 4 + Four, their collaboration with Iowa's Ying Quartet, and A Love Supreme: The Legacy of John Coltrane. They have also sustained a commitment to wide-ranging repertoire extending from Jimi Hendrix on 2010's Have You Ever Been...?, to blues legend Robert Johnson via 2013's Mike Marshall & the Turtle Island Quartet, and Charlie Parker on 2018's Bird's Eye View.
The Turtle Island String Quartet originated in 1985 in San Francisco as the vision of violinist David Balakrishnan and violist Darol Anger. Before their meeting, Balakrishnan had completed a master's degree at Antioch University West, where he wrote music for string players trained in both classical and jazz idioms and submitted a thesis on cross-pollinated styles titled "Transcending Style." Anger, whose father came from India, had likewise studied with noted composer W.A. Mathieu, whose guidance deepened Anger's interest in linking classical, jazz, and world-music traditions. Anger had already spent nine years with the innovative David Grisman Quintet, an experience that informed his approach to expanding jazz improvisation within string ensembles. The pair first collaborated while performing in a four-violin ensemble called Saheeb and, in 1985, recorded Jazz Violin Celebration with violinist Matt Glaser. Their performances drew the notice of cellist Mark Summer, who had recently arrived in San Francisco after resigning from the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra. After Summer joined Balakrishnan and Anger for several numbers at one concert, the three resolved to establish their own quartet, adding former Balakrishnan student Laurie Moore on cello.
Taking their name from a Native American creation myth, the Turtle Island String Quartet began performing live. Moore departed in 1986 and was succeeded by violinist/violist Irene Sazer. This configuration became widely identified as the founding lineup and recorded the ensemble's self-titled Windham Hill Jazz debut, 1988's Turtle Island String Quartet. The album contained their reading of Dizzy Gillespie's "A Night in Tunisia," which brought Balakrishnan a Grammy nomination for Best Arrangement on an Instrumental. The group followed in 1989 with Metropolis, another ambitious set presenting arrangements of works by John Coltrane, Horace Silver, Lee Morgan, and others.
Further personnel shifts occurred during the 1990s when violist Katrina Wreede replaced Sazer, who exited to launch a solo career. Wreede first appeared on 1990's Sky Life, the quartet's third Windham Hill release. Additional albums for the label included the 1990 soundtrack to the Michael Caine thriller A Shock to the System, 1991's On the Town featuring pianist Billy Taylor, and the 1992 soundtrack to the film Spider Dreams, which coincided with Wreede's departure and her temporary replacement by Jeremy Cohen. Also in 1992, Juilliard-trained violinist Danny Seidenberg joined and made his recorded debut on 1994's Who Do We Think We Are??.
Co-founding member Balakrishnan stepped away in 1993 to attend to family matters and was succeeded by another Juilliard graduate, violinist Tracy Silverman. In the ensuing years the group secured further visibility through high-profile appearances alongside Manhattan Transfer, Ray Charles, and Shirley Horn. Balakrishnan rejoined in 1997 following Silverman's exit, just as Anger departed to begin a solo career; he was succeeded by violinist Evan Price.
The quartet switched from Windham Hill to Koch in 2000 with Art of the Groove, which mixed jazz compositions by Michael Brecker, Chick Corea, and Dave Brubeck with a swinging treatment of Leonard Bernstein's "Cool" from West Side Story. During the same period Seidenberg left and was replaced by Mads Tolling. Two years later the ensemble released the Latin-infused Danzon, which featured clarinetist Paquito D'Rivera on several tracks, including the standard "You've Changed," earning Balakrishnan another Grammy nomination for Best Instrumental Arrangement. 4 + Four, the collaboration with Iowa's Ying Quartet, appeared in 2005 and captured the Grammy for Best Classical Crossover Album. The same award went to 2007's A Love Supreme: The Legacy of John Coltrane; that release also introduced the shortened name Turtle Island Quartet and marked the final recording with Evan Price. After Price's departure Tolling shifted to violin and Jeremy Kittel assumed the viola position.
In 2010 Turtle Island paid tribute to guitarist Jimi Hendrix with Have You Ever Been...?. The group also received a Grammy nomination together with mandolinist Mike Marshall for 2013's Mike Marshall & the Turtle Island Quartet. Around the same time Kittel and Tolling departed, succeeded by Polish violinist Mateusz Smoczynski and German-born violist Benjamin von Gutzeit. This lineup made its debut on 2014's Confetti Man, which included a guest appearance by singer Nellie McKay and brought Balakrishnan a Grammy nomination for Best Instrumental Composition for the title track. In 2016 both Summer and Smoczynski exited, replaced by Carolina Chocolate Drops cellist Malcolm Parson and violinist Alex Hargreaves. Over the following years the ensemble remained active, performing with pianist Cyrus Chestnut in presentations of Jelly Roll Morton's music and headlining their own "Birth of the Cool" tour devoted to works by Miles Davis, Gerry Mulligan, Lenny Tristano, and others. They issued the Charlie Parker-themed Bird's Eye View in 2018.
The Turtle Island String Quartet originated in 1985 in San Francisco as the vision of violinist David Balakrishnan and violist Darol Anger. Before their meeting, Balakrishnan had completed a master's degree at Antioch University West, where he wrote music for string players trained in both classical and jazz idioms and submitted a thesis on cross-pollinated styles titled "Transcending Style." Anger, whose father came from India, had likewise studied with noted composer W.A. Mathieu, whose guidance deepened Anger's interest in linking classical, jazz, and world-music traditions. Anger had already spent nine years with the innovative David Grisman Quintet, an experience that informed his approach to expanding jazz improvisation within string ensembles. The pair first collaborated while performing in a four-violin ensemble called Saheeb and, in 1985, recorded Jazz Violin Celebration with violinist Matt Glaser. Their performances drew the notice of cellist Mark Summer, who had recently arrived in San Francisco after resigning from the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra. After Summer joined Balakrishnan and Anger for several numbers at one concert, the three resolved to establish their own quartet, adding former Balakrishnan student Laurie Moore on cello.
Taking their name from a Native American creation myth, the Turtle Island String Quartet began performing live. Moore departed in 1986 and was succeeded by violinist/violist Irene Sazer. This configuration became widely identified as the founding lineup and recorded the ensemble's self-titled Windham Hill Jazz debut, 1988's Turtle Island String Quartet. The album contained their reading of Dizzy Gillespie's "A Night in Tunisia," which brought Balakrishnan a Grammy nomination for Best Arrangement on an Instrumental. The group followed in 1989 with Metropolis, another ambitious set presenting arrangements of works by John Coltrane, Horace Silver, Lee Morgan, and others.
Further personnel shifts occurred during the 1990s when violist Katrina Wreede replaced Sazer, who exited to launch a solo career. Wreede first appeared on 1990's Sky Life, the quartet's third Windham Hill release. Additional albums for the label included the 1990 soundtrack to the Michael Caine thriller A Shock to the System, 1991's On the Town featuring pianist Billy Taylor, and the 1992 soundtrack to the film Spider Dreams, which coincided with Wreede's departure and her temporary replacement by Jeremy Cohen. Also in 1992, Juilliard-trained violinist Danny Seidenberg joined and made his recorded debut on 1994's Who Do We Think We Are??.
Co-founding member Balakrishnan stepped away in 1993 to attend to family matters and was succeeded by another Juilliard graduate, violinist Tracy Silverman. In the ensuing years the group secured further visibility through high-profile appearances alongside Manhattan Transfer, Ray Charles, and Shirley Horn. Balakrishnan rejoined in 1997 following Silverman's exit, just as Anger departed to begin a solo career; he was succeeded by violinist Evan Price.
The quartet switched from Windham Hill to Koch in 2000 with Art of the Groove, which mixed jazz compositions by Michael Brecker, Chick Corea, and Dave Brubeck with a swinging treatment of Leonard Bernstein's "Cool" from West Side Story. During the same period Seidenberg left and was replaced by Mads Tolling. Two years later the ensemble released the Latin-infused Danzon, which featured clarinetist Paquito D'Rivera on several tracks, including the standard "You've Changed," earning Balakrishnan another Grammy nomination for Best Instrumental Arrangement. 4 + Four, the collaboration with Iowa's Ying Quartet, appeared in 2005 and captured the Grammy for Best Classical Crossover Album. The same award went to 2007's A Love Supreme: The Legacy of John Coltrane; that release also introduced the shortened name Turtle Island Quartet and marked the final recording with Evan Price. After Price's departure Tolling shifted to violin and Jeremy Kittel assumed the viola position.
In 2010 Turtle Island paid tribute to guitarist Jimi Hendrix with Have You Ever Been...?. The group also received a Grammy nomination together with mandolinist Mike Marshall for 2013's Mike Marshall & the Turtle Island Quartet. Around the same time Kittel and Tolling departed, succeeded by Polish violinist Mateusz Smoczynski and German-born violist Benjamin von Gutzeit. This lineup made its debut on 2014's Confetti Man, which included a guest appearance by singer Nellie McKay and brought Balakrishnan a Grammy nomination for Best Instrumental Composition for the title track. In 2016 both Summer and Smoczynski exited, replaced by Carolina Chocolate Drops cellist Malcolm Parson and violinist Alex Hargreaves. Over the following years the ensemble remained active, performing with pianist Cyrus Chestnut in presentations of Jelly Roll Morton's music and headlining their own "Birth of the Cool" tour devoted to works by Miles Davis, Gerry Mulligan, Lenny Tristano, and others. They issued the Charlie Parker-themed Bird's Eye View in 2018.
Albums
