"So Percussion is no novelty act, though. The members of this New York-based quartet are brilliant all-around musicians whose artistry inspires some of today's most respected living composers to write for them. The group's name is a Japanese word with dual meanings: the playing of music, and the act of offering a gift."

"The other truly awesome aspect of these pieces was from having So Percussion serving as the percussion section. Usually when you hear Varèse, no matter how great the group, there's one cymbal-player or gong-beater who's out in left field and not getting it. These guys were entirely on the same page, and worked as a real unit. This was real instrumental section-playing of the kind we usually reserve for talking about the brass or the strings. Really, really superb."

" ... the two groups have made it work, first at the Bleeding Edge Festival in San Francisco, and most recently on Treasure State, a sublime, inspired collaboration, with unusual sound sources (cacti, ceramic dishes, beer cans) and a cornucopia of expertly played percussion instruments all digitally mushed together into music that represents both groups wonderfully."

"This has always been Matmos' mission, and they have found marvelous partners in So Percussion, who add unprecedented levels of warmth and dimension to Matmos' busily crawling textures. Together, they make music of such heightened awareness to detail that it makes you almost hear your own pulse."

"On Treasure State, a recording for the Cantaloupe imprint, they create a patchwork quilt of found object percussion, glitchtronica beats, synthetic signatures, and complex rhythmic structures. Despite the multifaceted nature of the proceedings, the underlying groove remains eminently danceable."

"So Percussion's pedigree is evident in their dazzling technique and intricate interplay, but the music on Treasure State-all of it written by members of the two groups-covers a much wider range than what most people are used to calling classical. 'Treasure,' the lead track, collides Martin Denny exotica and gamelan music, bombarding a simmering froth of tuned drums and gongs with soothing bell-like cascades, prerecorded animal sounds, and squealing electronic tones. The perverse influence of Matmos, aka M.C. Schmidt and Drew Daniel, seems to be encouraging So Percussion to look in stranger places than usual for their sounds, and here they make instruments of beer cans, cactus, and bits of ceramic, among other things-though their tones are so heavily processed it's hard to tell."

"The substance of this alluringly dreamy work was etched in a slowly unfolding, soft-hued chord progression on the organ, the tolling of a small bell and a gentle, expanding xylophone line."

"Mr. Reich's work was well-played by Brooklyn-based So Percussion in the Thursday evening concert at the Southern Theater. This quartet plays an enormous range of instruments, including every species of hand or mallet-struck implement known to man-they obviously drive a truck from gig to gig."

"The evening was an invigorating evocation of the thoroughfares and byways possible in new music, delivered with an inclusive sense of play that effectively bridged the gap between the audience and the stage." Read More...

"Time and again during the concert that So Percussion presented at Zankel Hall on Thursday night, you found yourself smiling in a quiet amazement that could verge on disbelief. Sometimes this had to do with a sound whose origin you simply could not determine. In other instances the response had more to do with the extremes of imagination and resourcefulness demonstrated by Dan Trueman and Steven Mackey, the composers of two new pieces on the program.

"Usually, though, the sensation was prompted simply by trying to process the beguiling mastery with which the players - Eric Beach, Josh Quillen, Adam Sliwinski and Jason Treuting - went about their work."

"It - the entire night of music - was expertly performed, and it was a pleasure to behold... If the future is now, as the saying goes, then the future of percussion will likely make it So." Read More...

"'Nancy, we have played a cactus numerous times. We have played flower pots, tea cups and beer cans. We have a strange perspective on strange. What is a strange instrument? Once we used bouquets of roses as drumsticks, they worked a bit like brushes, and the petals fell as we played. It was lovely.'" Read More...

"So Percussion handled each mathematically complex piece with jaw-dropping precision." Read More...

"And in Saturday's crisply sensitive performances, the quartet - which comprises percussionists Jason Treuting, Josh Quillen, Adam Sliwinski and Eric Beach - that language remained as magical and arresting as ever." Read More...

"If percussionists are, as proclaimed elsewhere, the new princes of the realm of virtuosity, then these four young, steel-wristed, Brooklyn-based Yale graduates wear the crown with panache." Read More...

"The principal draw was the U.S. premiere of Reich's 'Mallet Quartet'.... So Percussion's performance made it sound irresistible." Read More...

"Sliwinski credits Reich, along with John Cage and a handful of other composers, for having expanded percussionists' roles in concert music, so that now they can be 'up front, driving the bus' instead of relegated to background effects." Read More...

"Ultimately, So Percussion put a fresh spin on these pieces from the 1970s. Furthermore, by coupling a few of Reich's older pieces with his new Mallet Quartet, this program showed that even Reich's oeuvre as a whole can seem deceptively simple. It is easy to characterize all his work in terms of certain techniques, including repetition, canon, and phasing. While such techniques do endure, they also - at least in the hands of So Percussion - always sound exciting and new." Read More...

"Ten years removed from their days as Yale graduate students, the four-man Brooklyn-based So Percussion ensemble retains the ebullient, serendipitous spirit of friends who have pulled off the feat of making a living by making lots of noise and having tons of fun doing it." Read More...

"If you think about it, drums are the new violins." Read More...

"In virtually no time at all, it has become evident that the term percussion quartet fits So Percussion about as well as string quartet serves to describe the Kronos Quartet-which is to say practically not at all." Read More...

"In both pieces the group taps into Cage's whimsical spirit: any sound heard on the stage - or shouted from the audience (at the group's behest) - is part of the score. As fanciful sonic snapshots of city life go, you cannot get much more real than that." Read More...

"... NYC experimental powerhouse So Percussion."

"There's no separating trains from the sounds they make. Engines chug up steep grades, cars clickety-clack on jointed tracks, and brakes screech when a conductor pulls into town, announcing the arrival with a cheery choo-choo, or - depending on the listener's mood - a mournful whistle.

"Now those sounds have inspired the members of So Percussion, a Brooklyn-based contemporary classical ensemble known for the art of making music out of everyday objects."

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"There are two ways to listen to this music: marvel at its ingenuity and structural intelligence, or simply close your eyes and let the hypnotically colorful sound envelop you. This work is so refreshing, optimistic and therapeutic (especially in Friday’s stellar performance) that it could put overpriced Manhattan therapists out of business. But don’t close your eyes for too long because part of the fun is watching the performers (here consisting of So Percussion and 15 guest musicians) come and go onstage, switching instruments like shamans conducting an intricate ritual."

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"The work opens with an astonishingly loud unison section and ends with the ornately patterned plinking of the tea cups and flower pots. In between is a tour de force of minutely scripted anarchy and glorious noise, rendered by So Percussion with amazing force and precision." Read More...

" ... So Percussion prove that they can really play. Not just play their instruments -- which they do with expertise -- but play with the genuine freshness and wonder of kids with their favorite toys." Read More...