Who said a string quartet has to play nothing but stuffy chamber music? The San Francisco-based Turtle Island Quartet has made its bones interpreting other genres, especially jazz, and liberally incorporating improvisation. While the group — violin, cello and two violas — has released 14 CDs over 10 years, its most celebrated is last year's A Love Supreme: The Legacy of John Coltrane (Telarc), a loving and largely delightful musical overview of the legendary saxophonist. While the TIQ can't replicate the profound spirituality that was a hallmark of Trane's music, they do succeed in making the music their own via swirling ensemble parts and sinewy solos. The TIQ performs its Trane tribute, and we're assuming some other material, in the kind of concert that's a rare happening in Tampa Bay. The show not only promises cultural nourishment but entertainment, too.
The Turtle Island Quartet performs A Love Supreme: The Legacy of John Coltrane, Sat., April 26, 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $15.50 to $35.50, tbpac.org.
