Twenty or 30 years ago, classical-leaning percussion ensembles had a more limited repertory to choose from. There was Lou Harrison, John Cage, Edgar Varese, Carlos Chavez and Steve Reich. Since then, particularly with the ascendance of the globally informed phase music that Reich made, percussion has blossomed in terms of possibilities. Generations of American percussionists have studied the polyrhythmic music of Africa, the rhythmic algebra of Indian music and the experiments of the avant-garde. A whole crop of indie-rock musicians with conservatory sensibilities have contributed to the percussive renaissance.
So Percussion is a New York-based percussion-centric quartet that frequently collaborates with contemporary performers and composers. The group also performs original music and is involved in music education as well. In recent years, the group has released recordings of percussion-based music by Bryce Dessner, from the band the National, and Glenn Kotche from Wilco. (So also did a record of Reich’s “Drumming,” and they contributed to huge multi-artist tribute to the Grateful Dead that came out last year.) If your brain and ears get tickled by shifting patterns stress and accentuation, staggering ratios taking shape in the form of sound waves, go bask in the music of So Percussion when they perform “A Gun Show,” which addressed issues of race, violence, safety and constitutional freedom through percussion.
So Percussion plays the Quick Center for the Arts at Fairfield University, 1073 North Benson Road, Fairfield, Thursday, March 2, at 8 p.m. Tickets are $5 to $45. quickcenter.fairfield.edu.
