LEGENDS FILL THE JAZZ REALM, but few have ascended to sainthood like John Coltrane.
No other jazz musician provokes so much mystical fervor as the pioneering tenor saxophonist, who delivered spiritual-minded masterpieces as "Om," "Meditations" and of course, "A Love Supreme."
So it's quite fitting that "A Love Supreme," his most famous suite, will be performed at Washington National Cathedral 40 years after his death. But there won't be any tenor saxes summoning Coltrane's forceful "sheets of sounds" and improvisational wizardry — or even a rhythm section, for that matter. Instead, his music will come to life thanks to the esteemed Turtle Island String Quartet.
"We've found a way to play jazz as a string quartet and still remain a string quartet," says violinist and TISQ founding member David Balakrishnan. "We've figured out how to play like a rhythm section so that we don't have to import bass and drums. We can pretty much create all the rhythms and swing."
Continue Reading "A 'Supreme' Surprise: Turtle Island String Quartet" »