By Katelyn Newman
Special To The Gazette
Monday, November 03, 2014
This weekend, The Turtle Island Quartet will bring “Birth of the Cool,” its new take on jazz, to the BlackRock Center for the Arts in Germantown.
Inspired by Miles Davis and his Nonet group’s recordings from the late 1940s, cellist Mark Summer said the group is incorporating the “cool jazz” sound, known for its softer textures and lyrical tone.
“In some ways, it’s a place where jazz and classical music meet,” said Summer. “It has elements of classical music, but also keeps this back-beat groove that you find in jazz. The distinction is probably the tone of the music itself.”
Named after the Native American term for the North American continent, the Turtle Island Quartet formed in 1985. With two violinists, a cellist and one viola player, the quartet is still known for bringing a new angle to jazz and chamber music almost 30 years since its inception.
“We play music with an American accent, rather than the typical European accent you find with the usual quartet,” said Summer. “Even if you haven’t listened to lots and lots of jazz, rock and roll and other American music has a cool back beat that we incorporate.”
http://www.gazette.net/article/20141103/NEWS/141109972/1148/turtle-island-quartet-bringing-x2018-cool-jazz-x2019-to-germantown&template=gazette
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