Big Blue
Helsinki, Finland
Thursday 16 Feb 2012
Festival City
The information age has fostered understanding, interdependence and openness between all musicians who are alive to creative possibility, and its happening in the string quartet world with groups like Amsterdam’s Zapp, London’s Basquiat Strings and our 12 Points visitors form Austria, Radio. String.Quartet.Vienna. Violinists Bernie Mallinger and Johannes Dickbauer, violist Cynthia Liao and cellist Asja Valcic first convened as a scratch band for a studio project, and the empathy and rapport of that day continues to fuel their exploratory approach, which pushes the string quartet’s dynamic range and grooves with as much brio as any orthodox jazz line up. They floored audiences at The Berlin Jazz Festival in 2006 with music from their debut on ACT, Celebrating The Mahavishnu Orchestra, where their funky, supple arrangements came with a glowing tribute from the music’s author John McLaughlin, and we think you’ll feel the same way.
