2013-10-28
Previously nominated for Grammys for its last three albums and winner of the 2004 International Tango competition, Quartet San Francisco excels in multiple musical styles. This string quartet has become adept at crossing classical music with all sorts of other styles, from tango to funk to blues to bluegrass. Now the quartet mixes it up with jazz on latest release,Pacific Premieres. Pacific Premieres features jazz written for string quartet. The songs range from quiet and pretty ("Carmel"and"Contemplation") to swing ("Venice"..I call it string-swing!), to upbeat orchestral grooves ("Oakland" "Maurice White"). This ensemble really has it together when it comes to combining jazz and classical techniques. The last track, "Guamba" blew me away with the string players' percussive use of their instruments. All in all, this is nice stuff. Rebecca Ruth
Laurence Hobgood Trio
Honor Thy Fathers
Travis Sullivan's Bjorkestra
Enjoy
HAPPY APPLE
The Peace Between Our Companies
Ariel Pocock
Living In Twilight
ERIC FRAZIER
In Your Own Time
THE SOUL REBELS
Unlock Your Mind
The opinions expressed in these reviews are those of the individual volunteers that submitted the article and do not necessarily reflect the views of WYCE or GRCMC; nor its staff, donors, or affiliates.