Turtle Island String Quartet

Most of Turtle Island String Quartet's records have come out on the Windham Hill label, but they are not a new age group. Rather, they fall somewhere in between the worlds of jazz and classical, as suggested by a repertoire that includes arrangements of Monk and Metheny as well as Debussy and Bach. Likewise, their collaborators have ranged from Hard Bop pianist Billy Taylor (On the Town) to the Detroit Symphony Orchestra (A Night in Tunisia, a Week in Detroit). Their calling card and biggest asset, though, has been their ability to make the idea of an improvising, jazz-playing string quartet into a reality, and one that transcends mere novelty status.