JAZZ REVIEW : Turtle Island String Quartet Is a First at Founders Hall

Nightclubs, with their clanking glasses, buzzing blenders and cocktail chatter, can be less-than-perfect places to hear jazz, while fans often complain that in more formal concert situations they do not get to hear enough of their favorite music.

But concerts also have their downside: The larger venues put the musicians at some distance from the audience, taking away intimacy so important to this kind of music.

Saturday’s performance by the Turtle Island String Quartet in Founders Hall at the Orange County Performing Arts Center had neither of these drawbacks. This was the first jazz performance in the 300-seat ground-floor rehearsal space tucked away behind a corner from the Center’s grand facade. Because of the in-the-round arrangement, no one in the near-capacity crowd was more than a few feet from the performers.

The setup was perfect for the quartet, whose members communicate orally, as well as musically, with their audience. Turtle Island (the name comes from a poem by Gary Snyder) is best known for its sprightly string interpretations of jazz standards. Consisting of Darol Anger and David Balakrishnan, violins; Irene Sazer, violin and viola, and Mark Summer, cello, the group took advantage of excellent acoustics with versions of favorites like Dizzy Gillespie’s “Night in Tunisia,” John Coltrane’s “Naima” and Oliver Nelson’s “Stolen Moments,” and originals that spanned varied styles.

These pieces succeeded mainly because of inventive arrangements, most often by Balakrishnan, that are full of clever twists and shifting tempos, with smart, supportive staging for solo spots. Jumping back and forth between bowed and pizzicato phrases, the group showed itself willing to cruise along in sync or clash with dissonance.

Anger is the crispest of the group’s improvisers, blending bluegrass and classical influences with his jazz stylings. On Balakrishnan’s arrangement of Davis’ “Milestones,” he sprinted into his solo exactly as Cannonball Adderley did on the original.

Sazer bent notes and pulled out bottom-end overtones on her own arrangement of Lee Morgan’s funky “Sidewinder.” Summer shone on an unaccompanied number he wrote entitled “Julie-O,” in which he explored the sound capabilities of his cello with taps, strums and high-end, mosquito-like buzzes.

The group showed its range with Anger’s “Grant Wood,” a tune that reflected the somber sense of color for which the American artist is known, and an upbeat version of Robert Johnson’s “Crossroads,” played with only a hint of Eric Clapton.

The enthusiastic ovations given the group were well deserved. Here’s another for jazz in Founders Hall.