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
												
			JACK DEJONETTE AND BILL FRISELL
The Elephant Sleeps But Still Remembers
							
			JAMBALAYA BRASS BAND
IT'S A JUNGLE OUT THERE
												
			SHAWN LEE'S PING PONG ORCHESTRA
Reel To Reel
												
			THE CHARLES MINGUS SEXTET
Charles Mingus Sextet with Eric Dolphy - Cornell 1964
												
			VINCENT HERRING
The Uptown Shuffle
												
			THE JAMES TAYLOR QUARTET
New World
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