Go behind the scenes of Island Prayers — the new recording from Turtle Island Quartet. Watch exclusive interviews with the quartet and composers Terence Blanchard and David Balakrishnan as they share the stories behind the music.

Two-time GRAMMY® Award–winning Turtle Island Quartet returns with Island Prayers, a deeply expressive new album released February 20 on Azica Records. The recording marks a renewed artistic statement for the quartet, bringing together world-premiere commissioned works by founder and artistic director David Balakrishnan, Terence Blanchard, Rhiannon Giddens, and Jerod Impichchaachaaha’ Tate—four voices that together reflect the evolving landscape of American music.

I. Dialogue
II. Atonement
III. Redemption

Touring the iconic Louvre Museum, afterwards, stumbling upon Moreno, a guitarist, performing in a small tent directly across from the Louvre. Here was a taste of the thriving Paris jazz scene of the 1930’s in a modern day surrounding. It was a glorious juxtaposition of worlds.

The melodic and harmonic material of Darkness Dreaming is derived from an Indian scale known as the “Todi Raga,” believed to have originated in Rajasthan, a region of Northern India also known as the ancestral homeland of the European Gypsies (Roma). The Rajasthani culture is renowned for their artistic tradition of miniatures, in which they give the ragas human form and character–in this case the raga is depicted as “Ragini Todi,” a “lovesick woman who attracts the deer.” An Indian audience listening to a successful performance of this raga would experience a mood of “delighted adoration in a gentle, loving sentiment.”

High energy multi camera video shoot from our October 14 2022 concert at Orchestra Hall in Detroit with Terence Blanchard and the E-Collective, was a special night--thanks to the DSO for their incredible skill and steadfast commitment to superb quality!