TURTLE ISLAND QUARTET; "A Love Supreme: The Legacy of John Coltrane" (Telarc)***

The Claremont Trio is a relatively new chamber ensemble on the classical-music scene. But based on the performance on this CD, "Shostakovich and Arensky Trios," it seems to be headed for success.

One of the appeals is the selection of pieces: one piano trio by Anton Arensky and two by Shostakovich. The Arensky is a lesser-known gem worthy of performance and interest, and it makes a good companion to the two Shostakovich trios.

When it comes to Shostakovich, they're able to dive in with gritty emotional intensity while still maintaining a sense of delicacy. And the Arensky trio is handled with ebullient romanticism without being oversentimental.

The energy of the Claremont Trio leaps out of the CD. It may be a recording, but it's very much alive, able to hold one's attention without having to actually be in the concert hall.

The group has solid jazz sensibilities and "fire in their bellies" when it comes to delivering an energetic performance. And, of course, choosing to interpret the music of Coltrane is a great choice, since there's so much richness and depth to mine from the material. The instrumentation has a huge effect on the music.

On the one hand, it's amazing that the quartet can pull it off with two violins, viola and cello. But in spite of the group's ability to sometimes evoke and sometimes imitate the percussive, rhythmic nature of jazz instrumentation, it is still a string ensemble.

Putting Coltrane's music in this context brings out its legitimacy: the central work, in particular in a classical frame, really illustrates that the counterpoint, development, texture and other musical elements can hold their own with the other greats of traditional, classical string-quartet writing.

Somebody coming at this from a classical angle will probably find it fascinating, hip and perhaps refreshing. This material would especially work well in a live concert.

Somebody coming at this from a purist-jazz angle would definitely find it interesting, but perhaps not as satisfying because the instrumentation really softens the effect.

E-mail: rcline@desnews.com