4 + FOUR

 

Turtle Island String Quartet with Ying Quartet

 

Track listing:

1.         Yearnin' (original by Oliver Nelson)                                 

2.         Julie-O (original by Mark Summer)                    

Mara's Garden of False Delights  - David Balakrishnan      

3.         I. Sri-Jo                                    

4.         II. Doughboy                                        

5.         III. Snakes and Ladders                                    

6.         La Creation du Monde  (original by Darius Milhaud)                      

7.         Variations on an Unoriginal Theme – Evan Price   

8.         Because (original by John Lennon)

 

Telarc is the new home for the Turtle Island String Quartet - this traditional string quartet, (by instrument standards only), have a wonderful, commercial and diverse mix of classical and jazz music that they have successfully recorded and performed for 20 years, much of which was for the Windham Hill label (and Koch and Chandos).  For their Telarc debut entitled 4 + Four, they are joined by the internationally recognized Ying Quartet, hence the title.  The goal of combining the two groups was to explore the past, present and future of the string quartet.  The future sounds exceptionally bright on the new repertoire composed or arranged specifically for this project. 

 

The album is a diverse mix of classical and jazz by two of today’s most acclaimed ensembles. The initial idea for the project was spawned several years ago at a board meeting of Chamber Music America, where David Balakrishnan of TISQ and Phillip Ying of the Ying Quartet happened to be sitting next to one another. Deep into an intense group discussion on expanding the definition of chamber music, Balakrishnan and Ying began a side conversation of their own.

 

Telarc CD80630