Turtle Island Quartet

How to go

What: The Turtle Island Quartet presents “Birth of Cool”

Where: Clark State Performing Arts Center, Kuss Auditorium, 300 S. Fountain Ave., Springfield

When: 7:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 20

Admission: $35

More info: 937-328-3874 or http://pac.clarkstate.edu

Classical music and jazz aren’t music forms many would link together. Turtle Island Quartet wants to take you to places you wouldn’t normally expect to go through music.

Classical tradition and jazz improvisation come together when the Grammy Award-winning Turtle Island Quartet takes on the cool jazz movement with its concert, “Birth of Cool,” 7:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 20, to the Clark State Performing Arts Center.

Presented by the Clark State Performing Arts Center, this is the opening show of the Club Kuss series.

Celebrating its 30th anniversary in 2015, Turtle Island Quartet has been about what a classically trained group can do for several genres of music through stringed instruments, said David Balakrishnan, the group’s co-founder and violinist.

“I had this flash of vision about a string quarter and what I was meant to do,” said Balakrishnan, whose group has covered musicians as diverse as John Coltrane to Jimi Hendrix.

He’ll be joined by fellow violinist Mateusz Smoczynski, violist Benjamin von Gutzeit and cellist Mark Summer as they give an all-string tribute to jazz.

“Birth of Cool” will cover classics from Miles Davis and Dave Brubeck to Jon Carisi.

“There is a connection with cool jazz and classical,” Balakrishnan said. “We’re all improvisers. But even (Joseph) Haydn would recognize what we do.”

It’s what’s earned Turtle Island Quartet Best Classical Crossover Album Grammy Awards in 2006 and 2008.

Jazz is just one of the genres Turtle Island Quartet likes to tackle. Balakrishnan also likes bluegrass and Indian music, which will be fused into an original new work by Balakrishnan called “Rebirth of the Holy Fool.”

“There’s no end to what direction you can go in,” he said.

Also included will be songs from Turtle Island Quartet’s latest album, “Confetti Man.”