Steve Turre's Sanctified Shells

Trombonist Steve Turre's second instruments are shells, and they're just that--large conch shells with minimal modifications to turn them into musical instruments. He first played them publicly with Roland Kirk's band in the 1970s, and they represent a deep spiritual connection for him, reaching to the origins of music making and tapping into a universal connection. Their sound is at once unearthly and deeply rooted in human experience, hollow yet full, and their special resonance is explored to telling effect by Turre and his company of doubling trombonists, as they shift back and forth between familiar and exotic idioms. The music ranges from the heady funk of "Gumbo" to the raga of "Beautiful India" and the sizzling rhythms of the Afro-Cuban powerhouse "Macho."

Sanctified Shells utilizes the seashell in a larger context, transforming the horn section into a "shell choir". Turre's Spring 1999 Verve release, Lotus Flower, showcases his Sextet With Strings. The recording explores many great standards and original compositions arranged by Turre for a unique instrumentation of trombone and shells, violin, cello, piano, bass and drums. Turre's quartet and quintet provide a setting based in tradition and stretching the limits conceptually and stylistically. In the Summer of 2000, Telarc released In The Spur of the Moment. This recording features Steve with three different quartets, each with a different and distinct master pianist: Ray Charles, Chucho Valdes, and Stephen Scott.

The 13 piece ensemble is comprised of world music, with 6 brass players also doubling on shells with a 5 piece rhythm section - piano, bass, drums, congas, african percussion, and a saxiphone soloist. The scope of the music is jazz, Latin, traditional African, and other forms of world music.

Steve Turre, has consistently won both the Readers' and Critics' polls in JazzTimes, Downbeat, and Jazziz for Best Trombone and Best Miscellaneous Instrumentalist (shells). Turre was born to Mexican-American parents and grew up in the San Francisco Bay area where he absorbed daily doses of mariachi, blues and jazz. While attending Sacramento State University, he joined the Escovedo Brothers salsa band, which began his career-long involvement with that genre.