David Balakrishnan founded a string quartet in
1985 with the idea that such groups could say much more than what
has always been held as "the tradition," meaning classical
music. The resulting Turtle Island String Quartet has extended the
form since then, incorporating strong jazz elements as well as other
American music, including rock and fiddle music. The excitement
in Balakrishnan's voice grows as he speaks about another project
the group has embarked on, this one fusing TISQ's jazz sensibilities
with those of a traditional classical string quartet. The idea?
To take the music somewhere else, to explore new possibilities.
Actually, TISQ's current work with the Ying Quartet
is not exactly brand new. The groups started touring together occasionally
a couple of years ago and still play concert dates together. The
fruit of this collaboration can be heard on the newly released CD
4+Four (Telarc).
"One of the problems that the Turtle Island
String Quartet has always had is making a clear connection with
the tradition of the string quartet, as opposed to being seen as
a departure from it," Balakrishnan says of the quartet that
has defined musical diversity for such groups since its formation
20 years ago.
By collaborating with the Ying Quartet, he and
his cohorts hope Turtle Island can demonstrate its strong ties to
that tradition, as well as its continued open-mindedness about exploring
the many facets of American music.
"In this country, the string quartet is thought
of as a serious art form . . . when you're a kid, someone makes
you go to the concert and listen to it," says TISQ cellist
Mark Summer. "In Europe, there's more of a feeling that it's
normal to enjoy going to chamber-music concerts, whereas in this
country it's seen as a little bit elitist or something. We've always
wanted the audience to understand that a string quartet can play
all these different styles and create a very, very enjoyable evening
of music."
TISQ, based in the San Francisco Bay Area, still
tours on its own, but it also has occasional dates with the New
York–based Ying, whose members serve on the faculty at the
Eastman School of Music. The first tour took place in 2002 and there
were more dates last year. A few more performances are scheduled
this year. The concert format when the quartets join forces has
each ensemble play first in its own style—the Yings in traditional
classical form and TISQ in its multidisciplinary approach. The groups
then unite for a set of music that blends the eight instruments,
bringing the Yings into the world of musical exploration that Balakrishnan
and his compatriots have known for years.
Last April, the eight musicians went into the studio
and captured what the groups have been up to for these many months.
All of the music on 4+Four is either freshly written or
arranged for the two quartets and, as is typical of TISQ, runs a
stylistic gamut. Both groups say they have been challenged and invigorated
by the collaboration.
The sparkling new CD outlines the musical possibilities,
documents the experience, and spotlights the excitement of the union.
It doesn't appear that two disparate groups are trying to present
their own styles, and it is not necessarily a straight blend of
two distinct quartets into a performance. It's more a case of eight
open minds portraying how musical styles inside and outside the
tradition can not only coexist, but also adapt and thrive, with
important statements and vibrant sounds.
Over the years, TISQ has paved the way for diversity
in string-quartet music, injecting strong elements of jazz, other
American forms, and even some Indian influences, into its writing
and arranging. With founding members that included Balakrishnan
and fiddler Darol Anger, TISQ spearheaded a unique "American
vernacular" sound for string groups usually trapped in a strictly
classical vein.
Balakrishnan and cellist Summer (another founding
member), as well as violinist Evan Price and newest member Mads
Tolling on viola, comprise the current TISQ.
The Yings are siblings Timothy, Janet, Philip,
and David Ying from Chicago. (Timothy and Janet play violin, Philip
plays the viola, and David mans the cello.) The musicians studied
classical stringed instruments growing up, and then merged into
a performing quartet, eventually ending up teaching at the prestigious
Eastman School.
The Ying Quartet, Philip explains, also is interested
in collaborations of all types. In addition to its work with the
TISQ, the group recently completed a residency at Symphony Space
in New York City, where it linked music with poetry and used a computer
program that got audience members involved in writing. "We're
always striving to do projects that connect in different ways with
other artists and with audiences," he says.
"We've always admired the Turtle Island quartet,"
he adds. "We've bought all of their recordings. We love what
they've done with the string quartet, on the one hand, respecting
that tradition and wanting to be a part of it, and yet having the
flexibility to include all of the kinds of music that they love.
We just found their pursuit of that so exciting."
All the compositions and arrangements on the new
CD are by TISQ members. The recording's center is a three-movement
piece written by Balakrishnan entitled "Mara's Garden of False
Delights," with the movements labeled "Sri-Jo," "Doughboy,"
and "Snakes and Ladders." Among the other noteworthy efforts
are "Variations on an Unoriginal Theme" from the pen of
Price, and "Julie-O" from Summer, who also arranged a
delectable version of the Beatles tune "Because."
Summer enjoyed having more voices to write for,
opening up more possibilities. In his arrangement of "Because"
he took advantage of the extra string voices to match the Beatles'
original recording, which through overdubbing actually contained
nine voices. "It created this really big sound," he says.
"I actually wish I had had one more voice to do what I wanted,
but I came up with another solution with eight voices that I was
pretty happy with. Sometimes I added another harmony and then had
the other quartet as a backing band. Sometimes I divided it up."
The octet heralded the CD release with an appearance
at the annual Chamber Music America (CMA) convention in New York
City, which Balakrishnan chaired. The convention theme was Found
in the Shuffle: Finding Your Authentic Self in Today's Marketplace,
which "really goes right to the core of this record,"
says Balakrishnan.
The blending of the two groups results
in strong musical statements, which Balakrishnan says recreates
the sound he envisioned when he formed TISQ. From the outset, he
wanted the music to include diverse elements, stylistically integrated.
He was actually composing music of that ilk while writing his master's
thesis at Antioch University West in 1983.
At the advent of the conservatory-trained TISQ,
"quickly people were attracted to the idea that we could play
jazz," he explains. "We almost became a cover band—it
was a weird thing. We could play 'Night in Tunisia' and all these
jazz things. So this project [with the Yings] became a way to create
more of a clear foundation in our deep feeling of being rooted in
the classical tradition, not just as players, but as composers as
well—and also working with a string quartet that is the epitome
of it."
The project had its beginnings when Philip Ying
and Balakrishnan were seated near each other at a 1997
CMA meeting. "Specifically, CMA was considering whether or
not they would expand to include the formal acceptance of jazz,"
says Ying. "There were some pretty passionate opinions on both
sides. On the one hand, some people said, 'How could jazz not be
chamber music? It has all of the same ideals, the same general group
size, the same aesthetics. It's American classical music.'
"Then there were those who argued, 'If we
open our doors that way, are we going to eventually have to accept
rock bands? Is that chamber music? Garage bands, is that chamber
music? What's going to happen to make sure we honor Beethoven and
Mendelssohn, Brahms and the string quartet, and the piano trio and
all that stuff?'"
Says Balakrishnan, "Phil and I had this side
conversation going—we were sitting next to each other just
looking at our two groups. Philip and the Yings were very interested
in American music in all sorts of forms and were aware of these
alternative ways of playing. They were really interested in what
we were doing and we started talking about what we could do together.
Kind of fantasizing about what a project like that would look like."
The project took wing slowly, with TISQ members
assuming the lead, creating and arranging music that would become
the repertoire. It was daunting to approach the writing aspect,
says Balakrishnan, because there were not only eight string players,
but four players who were "stylistically balanced" and
four who were classical players. The challenge was to merge the
two groups and create great music that does away with "the
external concept of the classical players and the jazzers."
The music is highly structured, yet has sections
that TISQ members use for solo improvisation. "One of the things
that appealed to us is how much we could learn from them,"
Philip Ying says. "I think we found that the way that we think
about rhythm is a topic you can approach from many angles. Our concept
of sound, of articulation, of nuance, was formed by so many different
styles of music. That was fascinating to us."
The open-mindedness and focus of the Yings,"
Balakrishnan says, was a key to the project's success. The four
Yings were "willing to let us throw them into the total chaos
of alternative styles: jazz and fiddle music and all these different
dialects of pop music that we do. It all comes out in the record.
We really had to work hard. You just don't start playing these styles
out of the gate without a certain amount of effort put into understanding
the paces of them. They were really willing to put themselves on
the line.
"It's a dangerous thing for them," he
adds, "because it can make them look foolish. Any time a player
is asked to go so far away from their strengths it's a risk. We're
totally grateful that they were willing to take such a risk."
The Yings were not thrust into roles as improvisers
in the mix, he explains, because "it's something that takes
time to learn how to do. As a jazz musician it's central. But for
making great music for string players who are classically trained,
the first step is not so much improvising as it is learning how
the phrasing works, getting the backbeat in there."
Ying says his group was excited about how much
they could learn from TISQ. Getting the right phrasing and feel
was different from straight classical playing. At times getting
the right groove took precedence over the precision of a classical
line. "For us to think about rhythm in that way was a challenge,"
Ying concludes. "What I love about the project is that this
is music for our time in the truest sense of the word, and it starts
to blur all the boundaries."
What
They Play
Among
the Turtle Island String Quartet, David Balakrishnan plays a violin
by Ansaldo Poggi, made in Bologna, Italy, in 1941. His bow is by
Victor Fetique. Evan Price plays a Eugenio Praga violin made in
Genova, Italy, in 1879, and a bow by François Lotte. Mads
Tolling plays a viola made by Joseph Grubaugh and Sigrun Seifert
in Petaluma, California, the same people who made
Mark Summer’s cello. Both instruments were made in 1997. Tolling
uses a bow by
K. Gerhard Penzel and Summer by Victor Fetique. TISQ uses Thomastik-Infeld
strings.
The members of the Ying Quartet also play both vintage and contemporary
instruments. Violinist Timothy Ying plays a Niccolo Amati instrument
made in 1642 in Cremona, Italy. He uses Dominant strings and a bow
made by Paul Simon. His sister Janet plays a Michele Deconet violin,
made in Venice, Italy, in 1765. Her strings are also Dominant and
her bow is by Joseph Henri. Philip Ying plays a viola made in 1993
by Tetsuo Matsuda in Chicago. He uses Larsen strings and a Victor
Fetique bow. Cellist David Ying performs on an instrument by Pietro
Rogeri made in Brescia, Italy, in 1695. He uses Pirastro Chromcor
and Spirocore strings, and a Eugene Sartory bow.
