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While the Kronos Quartet cracked open the field of jazz for the once-exclusively classical string quartet, the Turtle Island String Quartet is the first whose members can actually improvise, thus giving the foursome much credibility in the jazz world. Their repertoire extends from bebop standards like "A Night in Tunisia" to Third Stream material to rock & roll treatments of Robert Johnson's Delta blues ("Crossroads"), throwing in bluegrass, South Indian ragas, and any other influences that they can latch onto -- all without the crutch of a rhythm section. Violinist/cofounder Darol Anger spent nine years (1975-1984) as a founding member of the David Grisman Quintet, which helped to open up the possibilities of jazz improvisation for stringed instruments. Just before leaving Grisman, Anger played with violinist David Balakrishnan in a four-violin group called Saheeb. Soon thereafter, the two recorded an album with jazz violinist Matt Glaser -- and together with cellist Mark Summer of t...