Although their inclination to improvise and their occasional tendency to cover jazz standards seemed to mark them as a jazz outfit,
the Turtle Island String Quartet usually got classified as a new age group, if only because they recorded for Windham Hill and, after all, they were a string quartet. As of the self-released
Art of the Groove, however, the group currently consisting of violinist David Balakrishnan, violinist
Evan Price, violist Danny Seidenberg, and cellist Mark Summer are no longer with the venerable new age label, and they have upped the number of jazz works in their repertoire. Titles by
Michael Brecker,
Chick Corea,
Jean-Luc Ponty, and
Dave Brubeck can be found here, as well as swinging versions of
Leonard Bernstein's "Cool" from West Side Story and
Leo Kottke's "Oddball." Especially effective in a quartet arrangement are
Brubeck's "Blue Rondo a La Turk," its vibrant theme, once carried by
Brubeck's piano, now handled by sharply bowed strings, and "Cool," which retains its edgy sound. If such selections make it seem that
the Turtle Island String Quartet is showing a special fondness for 1950s music, that's true, though they mix in enough later material and originals to create a satisfying balance. The title
Art of the Groove suggests a somewhat funkier record than this turns out to be; what you really get are strings that know how to swing. ~ William Ruhlmann