Track Listing

1. Yearnin'
2. Julie-O - Mark Summer, David Ying
3. Mara's Garden of False Delights: Sri-Jo
4. Mara's Garden of False Delights: Doughboy
5. Mara's Garden of False Delights: Snakes and Ladders
6. Création du Monde
7. Variations on an Unoriginal Theme
8. Because

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #78186 in Music
• Released on: 2005-02-22
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .21 pounds

Amazon.com
If you're looking to label this music as one sort or another--classical, jazz, bluegrass--you're bound to get into trouble. The two Quartets at work here--the Turtle Island String Quartet and the Ying Quartet--are innovators, blending absolutely classical training with a love of experimentation, improvisation, and an ear for unusual textures. The CD begins with a cool, swinging, true jazz classic ("Yearnin'") for the full octet and ends with a version of John Lennon's "Because" which captures the piece's melancholy in just the right manner. Along the way, an original work by the Turtle Island cellist, "Julie-O," discovers the darker and more virtuosic reaches of the pair of cellos. Darius Milhaud's "La Creation du Monde," a 1923 piece that explored the combination of European classical music and jazz, gets a new arrangement, and another original piece, "Variations on an Unoriginal Theme," pits one quartet against the other in a friendly competition that touches on R&B and Samba. This is a unique CD--entertaining and original. --Robert Levine

Customer Reviews

There's a giant in the room
This is a just a great album to listen to. Weird and wonderful music, executed with joy and precision. There's a lot of power in this music, but it's delivered with such frivolous confidence that you barely notice there's a giant in the room. And as an added bonus, the album is sonically extremely pleasing. This recording has fantastic presence and ambience. A definite buy.

great for dinner parties
A great album - similar to the modern music composed by the Kronos Quartet, but more jazzy and upbeat. Every piece on this album is different and interesting- yet closer listening one can hear the themes that tie them all together. I've given this album to 5 people over the holidays - to both classical music lovers and those who never owned a string-quartet CD - and all have really enjoyed it.

A cross-over hit that refuses to compromise itself!
OK, I admit I bought this CD because they were nominated for a Grammy (which they just won). It has quickly become one of my favorite discs. It's amazing what these performers can do with their instruments. I really enjoy "Yearnin'," and although I'm always skeptical about Beatles arrangements, the lush harmonies of "Because" lend themselves well to a classical/jazz interpretation. Our family is a big fan of the Yings, and we hope to hear more from this wonderful quartet!