Turtle Island String Quartet: Blue Rondo à la Turk

Track

Blue Rondo à la Turk

Group

Turtle Island String Quartet

CD

Art of the Groove (Koch International 7500)

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Musicians:

David Balakrishnan, Evan Price (violin); Danny Seidenberg (viola), Mark Summer (cello)

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Composed by Dave Brubeck

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Recorded: Los Angeles, April 1999

Albumcovertisq-artofthegroove

Rating: 95/100 (learn more)

Merely referencing Mozart's "Rondo Alla Turca" didn't make Dave Brubeck's "Blue Rondo à la Turk" (1959) Third Stream. Instead of combining jazz and classical elements, "Blue Rondo" simply wedged 4/4 blues solos between a bravura 9/8 enclosure. Recognizing that a sandwich is not a salad, the TISQ here mixes ingredients much more tastily. The piece's overall form is unchanged, but when played by string quartet instead of jazz quartet, time-signature shifts are less abrupt, more organic. Third Stream boosters have long dreamt that string players would someday learn to swing. Turtle Island à la Turk is our dream come true.

Reviewer: Alan Kurtz

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