The Turtle Island Quartet, along with the Kronos Quartet, has worked hard and long pioneering the evolution of "classical" music, or, perhaps, unexpected music presented in a classical format / venue / structure.... Okay, it's like this: the Turtle Island Quartet just released a disc of Jimi Hendrix music and this is what the Wall Street Journal says about it in today's newspaper:
There's no brief way to describe the Turtle Island Quartet, which was formed in 1985 as the Turtle Island String Quartet. Classical music remains a part of their repertoire, though not more so than jazz: They've reimagined compositions by Dave Brubeck, Chick Corea, Miles Davis and Thelonious Monk, among others, and in 2007 released "A Love Supreme: The Legacy of John Coltrane." On the new disc, vibraphonist Stefon Harris guests on Hendrix's "Gypsy Eyes."
The quartet first tackled Hendrix and "Gypsy Eyes" in 1994 on their "Who Do We Think We Are" album, but Hendrix's influence has been with them since their first recording. On the group's eponymous debut album, Mr. Balakrishnan opened his "Balopadem" suite with the same dominant chord that Hendrix used in his compositions to add tension and color to his blues—it's featured in "Purple Haze," for example. Musicians today refer to it as the "Hendrix chord." [more]
I didn't know we refered to it as the Hendrix chord. Please read.
