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Kansas City's Online Journal of the Performing Arts

As a person with a December birthday, I typically try to avoid standard holiday music until the last two weeks of the month. For me, it is easy to feel inundated before I am quite ready to celebrate. However the Turtle Island Quartet’s natural blend of compelling diversity and fresh, idiomatic arrangements was a welcome and gentle introduction to the season—delightfully opposite the usual force-fed holiday cheer. The ensemble members took turns addressing the audience, introducing each piece with warmth, humor, and often a personal anecdote. Their amiable natures easily engaged the audience and the intimate setting of Polsky Theatre made for a charming and comfortable evening.

Opening with a rockin’ rendition of Jimi Hendrix’s version of Dylan’s “All Along the Watchtower,” TIQ quickly proved they are not an ordinary string quartet and this was not a typical holiday concert. With the use of amplification and creative techniques, the group was able to emulate the sound of electric guitars and percussion (such as brushes on cymbals), with just the right touch of reverberation. “Song to John” from their Grammy Award-winning John Coltrane tribute album A Love Supreme and Dizzy Gillespie’s “A Night in Tunisia” were also excellent and unexpected arrangements of popular music on the program.

TIQ did not play any holiday music without unique and often jazz-influenced treatment, including “Thin Ice” (an arrangement of variations on Vivaldi’s Winter Concerto), selections from Vince Guaraldi’s A Charlie Brown Christmas, “Silent Night” (the melody and lyrics superimposed over the changes for Miles Davis’s “All Blues”), and “Winter in Cairo,” an interpretation of Tchaikovsky’s “Arabian Dance” from his Nutcracker Suite.

An octet from local group Te Deum Chamber Choir joined TIQ on the Charlie Brown Christmas medley, the “Silent Night”/”All Blues” mash-up, and “Bringing in the Sheaves,” an original gospel tune by Horace Boyer. Te Deum was energetic and well balanced, sounding especially strong on “O Christmas Tree” from Charlie Brown. Soprano Becky Roper’s feature on “Bringing in the Sheaves” was clear, bright, and spirited.

TIQ also featured songs from different cultures all with their own special twists. Honoring two separate Festival of Lights celebrations, they played “Chanukah, Oh Chanukah” redone as a Latin tune and a solemn arrangement of “Jot Se Jot Jagake Chalo.” Normally acting as an anchor and allowing his formidable teammates shine, TIQ founder David Balakrishnan took the lead on this traditional song from Diwali (the Hindu holiday this time of year), explaining its ancestral significance and soulfully presenting the melody and subsequent jazz-tinged improvisations on violin.

Violinist Mads Tolling recalled a tradition from his childhood Christmases in Denmark before performing a confident, emotive solo of jazzy variations on “Beautiful Savior,” and introduced cellist Mark Summer’s resonant solo piece, the English tune “Lo, How a Rose e’er Blooming.” Jokingly introduced as “cello, bass, and drums,” Summer’s instrumental-crossover technique was outstanding, imitating strummed guitar, percussion, and impressive jazz bass lines throughout the concert.

Of the many highlights through the evening, violist Jeremy Kittel’s feature on a medley of traditional sixteenth-century Scottish reels was particularly exciting. Performing this work on violin, Kittel’s spry fiddle technique, crisp rhythms, and lively energy on the folk dance tunes captivated the audience and had many toes tapping along.

The concert was not entirely without bells jingling, red-nosed reindeer, and roasting chestnuts, though. Balakrishnan and Tolling closed the performance on an amusing note with an extended “dueling violins” section cleverly peppered with holiday melodies on the tail-end of Gillespie’s “A Night in Tunisia,” which garnered several cheerful chuckles and a standing ovation from the crowd.

REVIEW:
Performing Arts Series at Johnson County Community College
Turtle Island Quartet
Saturday, December 3, 2011
Polsky Theatre, Carlsen Center, JCCC Campus
12345 College Blvd, Overland Park, KS
For more information, visit http://www.jccc.edu/theseries

Top Photo: Turtle Island Quartet (Photo by Jay Blakesberg)

By Kristin Shafel Omiccioli

Editorial Assignments Executive Editor; Traditional and New Classical Contributor

Kristin Shafel Omiccioli, a native of Madison, WI, holds composition degrees (M.M., B.M.) from the UMKC Conservatory of Music and Dance. Kristin's compositions have been performed at national and regional new music festivals and conferences throughout the United States. During her time at UMKC, Kristin also focused on double bass performance and arts administration. She was a student leader and performer in many of the Conservatory's student organizations and ensembles, including Musica Nova, Composers' Guild, the Conservatory Student Association, the orchestras, and Wind Symphony. Her composition instructors were James Mobberley, Paul Rudy, Zhou Long, and Chen Yi, and her bass instructor was Sue Stubbs. Formerly a guitarist, Kristin performed with big bands and her own jazz combo in Madison, WI, having studied jazz guitar and theory with Roger Brotherhood in Madison and jazz voice and theory with Hal Melia in Kansas City at UMKC.

Kristin enjoys being active in the performing arts community. She has volunteered with the Chamber Music Society of Kansas City and Charlotte Street Foundation, and has played in the bass section of the Northland Symphony Orchestra, among other bass gigs around the metro. Kristin currently serves as principal bass for the Kansas City Civic Orchestra and Heritage Philharmonic, and is a section bassist for Kinnor Philharmonic. She joined the writing staff of KCMetropolis.org in February 2010 and has been KCM’s executive editor since July 2011. Read her blog at mylittleheartmelodies.com.