Turtle Island, Leo Kottke Journey Through World Holiday Music

Media Contact:

Kristen Gleason
Director of Marketing
The Paramount Theater
215 East Main Street
Charlottesville, VA 22902
434.979.1922 ext. 103
kristen@theparamount.net

For Immediate Release

November 20, 2007

Exploring the timeless music that’s marked the winter holidays for centuries with a hip, modern, original twist, the Grammy-winning Turtle Island Quartet will join forces with iconic, acoustic finger-style guitarist Leo Kottke for A Solstice Celebration -- The Festival of Lights. This joyous voyage through world holiday music comes to Charlottesville’s Paramount Theater on Tuesday, December 4 at 8 pm.

Special Media Sponsor for this event is WMRA Radio Network.

A Solstice Celebration showcases music associated with what is referred to in both Jewish and Hindu cultures as The Festival of Lights. From songs of Chanukah to the music of India's Dewali, to old English carols and Scottish reels, this evening will delve into the musical traditions that have been an integral part of seasonal celebrations for centuries. Also featured will be pieces that have touched Americans' hearts for almost 40 years, such as pianist and composer Vince Guaraldi's beloved music from A Charlie Brown Christmas.

Since its inception in 1985, the Turtle Island Quartet has been a singular force in the creation of bold, new trends in string chamber music, defying genres and boundaries.  Proclaimed by cellist Yo-Yo Ma as “a unified voice that truly breaks new ground -- authentic and passionate -- a reflection of some of the most creative music-making today,” Turtle Island fuses the classical quartet esthetic with contemporary American musical styles.

With forays into folk, bluegrass, swing, be-bop, funk, R&B, new age, rock, and hip-hop as well as music of Latin America and India, the ensemble’s repertoire consists of hundreds of ingenious arrangements and original works. 4+Four, Turtle Island’s 2005 recording with the Ying Quartet, scored a Grammy Award in the category of Best Classical Crossover Album. The follow-up recording, 2007’s A Love Supreme: The Legacy of John Coltrane, is a celebration of the music of the revered jazz master whose genius also transcends stylistic boundaries.

Turtle Island's work includes over a dozen recordings on labels such as Windham Hill, Chandos, Koch, and Telarc; soundtracks for major motion pictures; TV and radio credits such as the Today Show, All Things Considered, and A Prairie Home Companion; feature articles in People and Newsweek magazines, and collaborations with famed artists such as clarinetist Paquito D’Rivera, The Manhattan Transfer, pianists Billy Taylor and Kenny Barron, saxophonist Branford Marsalis, the Ying Quartet and the Parsons Dance Company.

Profoundly original and unexpected, Leo Kottke is a deep-talking Midwestern raconteur whose quick wit is matched by his astounding virtuosity on the six and 12 string guitars. For the past three decades, Kottke has been indefatigable in his pursuit of a unique musical vision that has placed him among the foremost acoustic guitar stylists of our time. Kottke’s ability to embrace folk idioms and pop melodies as readily as he assimilates jazz and classical influences makes him unique among guitar virtuosi.

For all its technical brilliance, wicked syncopation, and harmonic sophistication, Kottke’s music is eminently accessible. At heart, he is a populist -- a fact abundantly clear ever since his 1969 debut, 12 String Blues, which was recorded live at a Minneapolis folk club. Kottke’s 1971 major label debut, Mudlark, and seminal Six and 12-String Guitar (1972) announced the arrival of a major new voice in acoustic guitar instrumental music.

Classic Kottke albums like Chewing Pine (1975), Balance (1979), Time Step (1983), My Father’s Face (1989), Great Big Boy (1991), Peculiaroso (1993) and One Guitar, No Vocals (1999) have consistently won over new fans while continuing to surprise and delight longtime aficionados. Over the years, Kottke has worked in the studio and shared concert stages with everyone from Lyle Lovett, John Fahey, T-Bone Burnett, and Rickie Lee Jones to Paco de Lucia, Pepe Romero, John Williams, John McLaughlin, and Joe Pass.

“My music is maybe hard to categorize,” Kottke allows. "It doesn’t fit conveniently into the bins at record stores. That works for me, though ... I don’t rise and fall with trends. Most listeners seem to have room for this stuff. It’s been great that way.”

The Turtle Island Quartet with Leo Kottke will present A Solstice Celebration -- The Festival of Lights at The Paramount on Tuesday, December 4 at 8 pm. Tickets are $42.50, $45.50, $48.50, and $53.50. Half-price student rush seats and group discounts are also available.

Tickets and further details may be found online or through The Paramount’s Box Office at 434.979.1333.

For more about the Turtle Island Quartet and Leo Kottke, please visit www.tisq.com and www.leokottke.com.