OK, ok .... so he's not actually a bassist. However, this guy can lay down some seriously good lines, IMHO. I was recently reintroduced to his work on Turtle Island String Quartet's incredible eponymous first disc, and I couldn't believe how good a bassist this 'cellist can be!

Some personal TISQ highlights:
*Debut album - Stolen Moments, Night in Tunisia, Tempus Fugit (WOW!), Milestones - all amazing
*Skyline - it's just good.
*Spider Dreams - Edgar Meyer sitting in for some wicked new works - very, very cool.

Anybody else heard of this fellow? Questions, comments, snide remarks?

The Turtle Island String Quartet were a bunch of great players. But I don't think they've recorded anything for a while. What happened to them?

I don't know what their status is. For a while, it seemed that they had a revolving door on two of the seats in that group (I think vio**n 2 and viola), so perhaps Mark and David (the more permanent members) are a challenge to deal with or simply like to rotate players.

Either way, their existing body of work is plenty impressive, IMHO.

I went to the Illinois, All-State festival last weekend, and they held a concert one of the nights. However, I didn't get a chance to check them out. I just thought I'd let you know thry're still playing.