Rebroadcast: Turtle Island Quartet

TURTLE ISLAND QUARTET

Alex Hargreaves, David Balakrishnan, violin • Benjamin von Gutzeit, viola • Malcom Parson, cello

Bird’s Eye View: The Legend of Charlie Parker

LEE KONITZ (1927-2020)
Subsconscious-Lee

CHARLIE PARKER (1920-1955)
Dewey Square

BENJAMIN VON GUTZEIT
Propeller

J.S. BACH / SONNY ROLLINS (1930-)
Aireginvention #9

JOHN LEWIS (1920-2001)
Django

DAVID BALAKRISHNAN (1954-)
Rebirth of the Holy Fool

— Intermission —

JOHN COLTRANE (1926-1967)
Moment’s Notice

DAVID BALAKRISHNAN (1954-)
Aeroelasticity: Harmonies of Impermanence

MILES DAVIS (1926-1991)
Miles Ahead

DIZZY GILLESPIE (1917-1993)
A Night In Tunisia

BUD POWELL (1924-1966)
Bouncin’ With Bud

OLIVER NELSON (1932-1975)
Stolen Moments

This concert is a rebroadcast from Monday, July 9, 2018 at Studzinski Recital Hall. It will be available to view on demand for 48 hours after this live rebroadcast.

PROGRAM NOTES

In this high-flying program, the two-time Grammy winning Turtle Island Quartet pays homage to the incandescent visionary brilliance of jazz saxophonist Charlie Parker. The genius of his improvisations almost single-handedly catapulted jazz from pop style into art music, indelibly altering the musical landscape of America.

Iconic Charlie Parker classics such as “A Night in Tunisia” and “Dewey Square” are juxtaposed with original responses by quartet members and intertwined with other thematic pieces from the bebop era and beyond, such as Sonny Rollins’ “Airegin,” “Miles Ahead” by Gil Evans/Miles Davis, and “Subconscious-Lee” by Lee Konitz. Grammy-nominated composer David Balakrishnan contributes his newly commissioned work, Aeroelasticity: Harmonies Of Impermanence.*

Turtle Island draws its primary focus and musical identity from the individual creative voices of the ensemble who are at home in folk, pop, and jazz. It continues to recalibrate the foundational parameters of the traditional string quartet form, in a sense coming from the other direction.

*Aeroelasticity: Harmonies Of Impermanence is made possible by the Chamber Music America Classical Commissioning Program, with generous funding provided by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the Chamber Music America Endowment Fund.

SPONSORS

This is concert is generously sponsored by: