Grammy Winning Turtle Island String Quartet in a Tribute Concert to the Music of John Coltrane
KEENE, NH 9/26/06 - The 2006 Grammy winning Turtle Island String Quartet will return to Keene State College’s Redfern Arts Center on Brickyard Pond in a special concert dedicated to the music of legendary jazz saxophonist, John Coltrane. The concert, “A Love Supreme, Turtle Island Plays the Music of John Coltrane,” will be heard, Wednesday, October 11, at 7:30 p.m.
Also, a free to the public lecture demonstration by Turtle Island will be held at 1:30 p.m. on October 11 at the Redfern Arts Center. The concert and lecture demonstration are made possible through the support of Peerless Insurance.
Turtle Island last appeared in Keene in March, 2004 in a tribute concert to the music of Miles Davis. February 8, 2006 found them winning a Grammy with the Ying Quartet for Best Classical Crossover Album for their “4 + Four” recording.
For the past 21 years Turtle Island has been at the vanguard of musical innovation and eclecticism, blending a comprehensive understanding of the classical string tradition with a virtuosic assimilation of American styles. They have developed a unique and internationally acclaimed musical voice, drawing on the diverse influences of jazz, folk, bluegrass, swing, bebop, funk, R&B;, new age, rock, hip-hop and world music and grafting them to their deep and solid European classical roots. Cellist nonpareil Yo-Yo Ma has proclaimed Turtle Island to be “a unified voice that truly breaks new ground - authentic and passionate - a reflection of some of the most creative music- making today.”
Turtle Island’s Redfern concert pays tribute to John Coltrane’s jazz epiphany in his landmark recording, A Love Supreme. Recorded four decades ago at a time when the country was deeply troubled by issues of race and war, Coltrane’s music was a personal statement of redemption and salvation that struck a chord in the hearts of millions, becoming one of the most enduring jazz recordings of all time.
In exploring John Coltrane’s musical legacy, Turtle Island continues its own tradition of employing the string quartet form to shed new light on the timeless joy and beauty contained in the greatest music of the American jazz masters. The concert program will present an in-depth look at this landmark recording in the greater context of the music that preceded and followed, a time many consider to be the last great evolutionary period of jazz.
Tickets are available through the Redfern’s box office, 603-358-2168 or on the web at www.keene.edu/racbp. Prices are $19 for the general public, $16 for seniors and KSC faculty and staff, $10 for youth 17 and younger, and $5 for KSC students with ID.
Tickets for all of the Redfern’s presenting events and for performances by the departments of Music and Theatre and Dance are also available. Patrons can still purchase 20/20 memberships that enable them to receive a 20 percent discount for all Presenting Series performances.
