"Pacific Premieres:
New Works by California Composers,"
New CD by Grammy-Nominated
Quartet San Francisco,
Features Music of Gordon Goodwin,
Vince Mendoza, Patrick Williams, &
Jeremy Cohen
New Works by California Composers,"
New CD by Grammy-Nominated
Quartet San Francisco,
Features Music of Gordon Goodwin,
Vince Mendoza, Patrick Williams, &
Jeremy Cohen
Disc Is Due for Release 9/24
By ViolinJazz Recordings
By ViolinJazz Recordings
CD Release Concert at Yoshi's Oakland 9/26
Quartet San Francisco, the acclaimed cross-genre string quartet, received Grammy nominations for their 2006 Látigo, 2007 Whirled Chamber Music, and 2009 QSF Plays Brubeck. Now they are preparing to release a dazzling new CD, Pacific Premieres: New Works by California Composers, on ViolinJazz Recordings.
will premiere the music of Pacific Premieres at Yoshi's Oakland on Thursday 9/26 at 8:00 pm.
Since QSF's last release, the band has undergone some personnel shifts,
resulting in a prodigious new lineup. Through the group's work in the
San Francisco Symphony's Adventures In Music program, the quartet shared
some 170 performances before heading into the studio.
Quartet San Francisco will premiere the music of Pacific Premieres at Yoshi's Oakland on Thursday 9/26 at 8:00 pm.
Photography: Josh Madson
The disc, due out September 24, delivers a program featuring two swinging new suites by noted jazz big band leader, composer, and arranger Gordon Goodwin; a breathtaking three-movement string quartet by conductor, arranger, and composer Vince Mendoza; and a gorgeous new work by legendary Hollywood composer Patrick Williams. QSF's founder and first violinist Jeremy Cohen closes the album with a brilliant piece of his own, "Guamba."
Well versed in the
violin's deep jazz roots, Cohen combines his love of jazz and classical
music in QSF. "As both a classically trained and improvising jazz
violinist," he says, "I began to write and arrange music that had the
sounds of my generation in it -- Santana, Earth, Wind & Fire, Tower
of Power, and so many more. Combine this modern musical era with the
chamber music tradition inside of a developing young musician, and you
have the seeds of QSF's DNA. The creation of Quartet San Francisco in
2001 was a clear move to encourage, create, and perform works from this
modern age of chamber music."
L. to r.: Kelley Maulbetsch, Jeremy Cohen, Matthew Szemela, Chad Kaltinger.
Recorded at Skywalker Sound in Nicasio, CA by the Grammy Award-winning engineer Leslie Ann Jones, and mixed by Judy Kirschner, Pacific Premieres
rivets from beginning to end, offering an experience unlike anything
else on the scene. Employing the subtle dynamics, textural acuity, and
technical prowess of a top-flight string quartet, QSF maintains the
improvisational imperative and emotional intensity of a hard-bop combo.
Whether you call it chamber jazz, third stream, or simply new American
music, the ensemble has honed a singular sound that has inspired some of
the era's most celebrated composers.
"The ability to swing
began to steal into the ranks of classical strings players a few years
ago," critic Doug Ramsey wrote in his review of QSF Plays Brubeck.
"Although they may not discuss it in the polite company of their
easily-shocked older colleagues, some of them are also improvising with
proficiency and joy. There is convincing evidence of both phenomena in
the QSF's CD of 10 pieces by Dave Brubeck, and Paul Desmond's 'Take
Five.'"
Since QSF's last release, the band has undergone some personnel shifts,
resulting in a prodigious new lineup. Through the group's work in the
San Francisco Symphony's Adventures In Music program, the quartet shared
some 170 performances before heading into the studio.
Joining Cohen on violin is Matthew Szemela,
a Mannes College graduate who has performed widely in pop, jazz,
chamber, and symphonic settings, including collaborations with tap
master Savion Glover, vocalist Cassandra Wilson, and rapper Jay-Z; Santa
Cruz-based Chad Kaltinger, an active freelancer around
the Bay Area who performs widely in an array of settings and is the
principal violist for Opera San Jose and the Santa Cruz Symphony; and
cellist Kelley Maulbetsch, a member of the Marin, Santa
Rosa, Fresno, Monterey, and Modesto Symphonies (and assistant principal
cello of the Sarasota Opera Festival) who also freelances extensively
and performs in the bands of major San Francisco stage productions.
Photography: Josh Madson
Web Site:
www.quartetsanfrancisco.com
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Media Contact:Terri Hinte
510-234-8781
hudba@sbcglobal.net
www.terrihinte.com
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