American Patchwork Quartet
Grades 5-12
About
American Patchwork Quartet (APQ) is on a mission to reclaim the immigrant soul of American roots music. Comprised of four highly acclaimed artists, APQ showcases the dynamic diversity of contemporary culture by reimagining timeless songs from America's past. American Patchwork Quartet (APQ), led by multi-Grammy award-winning guitarist/vocalist Clay Ross, binds timeless American folk songs with jazz sophistication, country twang, West African hypnotics, and East Asian ornamentation. APQ’s sound is a masterful confluence of tradition and innovation, transcending culture, politics, and ideology. In APQ, Ross intertwines with other Grammy-winning artists: Falguni Shah, an eleventh-generation Hindustani classical vocalist; Yasushi Nakamura, an internationally acclaimed Issei jazz bassist; and Clarence Penn, a drumming protégée of Ellis Marsalis, whose fibers were honed by African American church traditions. APQ resonates as a potent symbol of unity in diversity; it stands testament to the notion that, from a collage of varied backgrounds, a coherent and beautiful whole can be fashioned.
