The Turtle Island Quartet performs the music of John Coltrane February 27, 2010

The Lakewood Cultural Center

presents

Turtle Island Quartet - A Love Supreme: The Legacy of John Coltrane

The Turtle Island Quartet performs the music of John Coltrane at the Lakewood Cultural Center at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, February 27. Tickets are $28 and are available by calling 303-987-7845, online at www.Lakewood.org/CulturalCenter or at the Lakewood Cultural Center Box Office, 470 S. Allison Parkway (Wadsworth Boulevard and West Alameda Avenue). Senior, student and group discounts available. Ample, free on-site parking available.

Winner of the 2006 and the 2008 Grammy Award for Best Classical Crossover Album, Turtle Island Quartet offers a glorious fusion of jazz and chamber music. John Coltrane’s jazz epiphany, “A Love Supreme,” was recorded four decades ago at a time when the country was deeply troubled by issues of race and war. In exploring John Coltrane’s musical legacy from stages around the globe to the international airwaves, 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 Turtle Island Quartet derived its name from creation mythology found in Native American folklore. Since its inception in 1985, the quartet has been a singular force in the creation of bold, new trends in chamber music for strings. Turtle Island fuses the classical quartet aesthetic with contemporary American musical styles, and by devising a performance practice that honors both, the state of the art has inevitably been redefined.

The Turtle Island Quartet includes David Balakrishnan (violin, baritone violin). The Turtle Island founder developed a revolutionary compositional style that has earned him two Grammy nominations (in the instrumental arrangement category for his string quartet adaptations of Dizzy Gillespie’s “A Night In Tunisia” and the jazz ballad “You’ve Changed,” featuring clarinetist Paquito D’Rivera). Mark Summer (cello) is a founding member of Turtle Island and is widely regarded, thanks in part to his phenomenal percussion and pizzicato techniques, as one of the outstanding cellists of our time. Mads Tolling (violin) regularly tours and records with the acclaimed bassist Stanley Clarke and has performed with Joe Lovano, Al DiMeola, Lenny White and Gerry Brown. He studied under violinist Matt Glaser, and he graduated summa cum laude from Berklee College of Music in Boston in 2003. Jeremy Kittel, (viola) newest member of Turtle Island, is rapidly earning a reputation as one of the nation’s most creative young musicians. In 2003, he competed in the first ASTA Alternative Styles Competition, winning the Alfred Award for Best Improvisation, the Mark O’Connor Award of Merit, and IAJE Award for Best Jazz Performance. His most recent recording, “Jazz Violin,” won the 2006 Detroit Music Award for Outstanding Jazz Recording. For more information, visit www.turtleislandquartet.com.

The Lakewood Cultural Center 2009 - 2010 Performing Arts Season is generously supported by the Scientific and Cultural Facilities District (SCFD) –with appreciation to the citizens of the Scientific and Cultural Facilities District – Aura Spa and Wellness Center at the Sheraton Denver West and The Denver Post. Additional funding for this program is provided by the Western States Arts Federation (WESTAF) and the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA).