They don’t look it, but Turtle Island Quartet has been pushing an agenda of cool jazz for 30 years.
The genre-bending, Grammy Award-winning ensemble comes to the McAninch Arts Center at the College of DuPage for two shows Feb. 26 and 27. The performances will be at 8 p.m. in Club Mac, which is the Mac’s Playhouse Theatre transformed into an intimate cabaret setting with cafe tables and a full bar.
Glen Ellyn is one stop of Turtle Island Quartet’s Birth of the Cool tour, which features new arrangements of cool jazz standards that blur the line between classical and jazz, said David Balakrishnan, the group’s founder and violinist/composer.
Turtle Island takes the classical quartet aesthetic and fuses it with contemporary American musical styles; including folk, bluegrass, swing, be-bop, funk, R&B, rock and hip-hop, as well as the music of Latin America and India.
The idea for Turtle Island Quartet grew out of Balakrishnan’s brainstorming while completing his master’s degree program at Antioch University West. He is the last original member of the group, which now includes younger musicians that breathe new life and perspective into the group, he said.
“The quartet was formed with the idea of bringing together string players who were equally versed in classical technique and jazz improvisation,” he said. “There was no string quartet like that at all.
“You’re now starting to see more quartets with a cross-genre background, but it’s still pretty rare. You can imagine the personalities that would be oriented toward playing the violin and deciding to play rock ‘n’ roll or jazz or folk music — especially my generation. You were going up against the establishment pretty hard, which of course made it pretty fun.
“It meant you were kind of a maverick of sorts. So quickly, the story of the group has been membership turnover, because the people who would want to play in this would find themselves wanting to do something else rather quickly. When new members would come in, it would bring in the new voices and ideas that would keep the group vibrant and alive.”
He likes playing with the “young folks” because not only do they have youthful energy and enthusiasm, they are open to new ideas and easy to collaborate with, he said. Additionally, he found that Turtle Island is named among their influences.
“A group that stood for the idea of what you could do on these instruments if you expanded beyond the classical tradition,” he said. “And yet they bring such a new perspective that I totally feed off of. It’s a great combination.”
Balakrishnan was nominated for a Grammy Award this year in the Best Instrumental Composition category for his two-movement work “Confetti Man,” the title track from Turtle Island Quartet’s latest release.
The band is no stranger to Glen Ellyn, having played the College of DuPage a few times in the past, he said. Audiences will once again be treated to the ensemble’s mash-up of styles, he said.
“You’ll experience a string quartet just as intended — two violins, viola and cello and the way those instruments blend as a family, and yet, your foot will be tapping,” he said. “And you don’t usually tap your foot to Mozart, let’s face it.”
This engagement will features Turtle Island covers of works by Miles Davis, Gerry Mulligan, Lenny Tristano and other cool jazz performers.
“Bottom line, it gives us a (platform) to do what we love to do, and there’s enough freedom in it that we can cover a lot of ground and talk about who we are,” he said. “And it’s a cool title for the show.”
Additionally, the quartet will premiere Balakrishnan’s new work called “Rebirth of the Holy Fool.” Selections from “Confetti Man” will round out the evening.
“It still really moves me that I’m part of this group that still resonates with people,” he said.
Annie Alleman is a freelance writer.
Turtle Island Quartet
When: Feb. 26-27
Where: Club Mac at McAninch Arts Center at the College of DuPage, 425 Fawell Blvd., Glen Ellyn
Tickets: $45-$48
Information: 630-942-4000; AtTheMac.org
