So Percussion : Press : Alliance Artist Management

Classical week in review: From Steve Reich to Catacoustic Consort

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 00:00:00 -0400

"So Percussion also performed Reich’s later 'Mallet Quartet' (featuring inventive harmonic movement and color, with a section in slow motion), 'Nagoya Marimbas' (a pentatonic fantasy for dueling marimbas) and 'Drumming Part 1' — just a 20-minute segment of Reich’s epic Drumming. It was all performed with breathtaking technical precision and flair, as well as endurance." -- Janelle Gelfand, Cincinnati Enquirer

A Bunch of Drummers and Friends, Thinking About Home and John Cage

Thu, 20 Dec 2012 00:00:00 -0500

"So do the singing and electric- guitar playing of Grey Mcmurray, whose contributions amplify a progressive-rock spin already implicit in hypnotic, vibraphone-led passages. Those elements, Mr. Mcmurray’s reedy croon in particular, lend a relatable aspect to an otherwise pleasurably inscrutable evening of ambient washes and elemental bashes, and emphasize the theme of communal interaction intrinsic to this ambitious, beguiling show." -- Steve Smith, New York Times

'Where (we) Live' Creates a Transporting Theatrical Soundscape

Thu, 20 Dec 2012 00:00:00 -0500

"Collaborating with songwriter Grey Mcmurray, who supplies vocals and guitar, the gentlemen of So have woven together a hypnotic tapestry of beats, blips, and tinkles." -- Mitch Montgomery, Backstage

Improvisation, With Prompting to Set the Mood

Tue, 18 Dec 2012 00:00:00 -0500

"In 'Where (we) Live' the members of So Percussion, who all make their homes in Brooklyn, embrace the notion of community within the act of making music. Friends from other disciplines — a blacksmith, a potter, a painter, a cabinetmaker — join the musicians onstage and perform the tasks of their trades, acting as both muses and collaborators. A certain amount of trust is inherently part of any ensemble’s playing, but here So Percussion deepens it to explore how a sense of community enriches the creative process and the resultant work of art." -- Corinna da Fonseca-Wollheim, New York Times

So Percussion, ACME and yMusic showcase new sounds

Mon, 03 Dec 2012 00:00:00 -0500

"... this group plays with an irresistible vitality.... This was a concert rare in its delightful excellence." -- Anne Midgette, Washington Post

Maximum minimalism

Tue, 23 Oct 2012 00:00:00 -0400

"The members of S? Percussion have friendly, down-to-earth personas and were captivating to watch perform, especially during more physical pieces." -- Kristin Shafel Omiccioli, KCMetropolis.org

So Percussion and the Rise of Rhythm

Wed, 03 Oct 2012 00:00:00 -0400

"Just now, the leader of the movement is probably the So Percussion, whose new album with the guitarist Greg McMurray, Where (we) Live features a dramatized ode to Brooklyn. The quartet’s members — Eric Beach, Josh Quillen, Adam Sliwinski and Jason Treuting — are improvisers, composers, producers and musical entrepreneurs. They have teamed up with the DJ and composer Dan Deacon, commissioned pieces from Pulitzer-winners like Steve Reich and David Lang, and developed programs that are more theatrical extravaganzas than mere concerts. The reason for their success is simple: staggering ensemble virtuosity, which allows them to exhale the most complex scores like a single, multi-malleted organism." -- Justin Davidson, eMusic

Album Review: Where (we) Live

Mon, 03 Sep 2012 00:00:00 -0400

"With the album Where (we) Live, a distillation of an evening-length show that So Percussion premiered and toured in the fall 2012, the group continues to push the conventions of what a percussion ensemble sounds like, or even what it is." -- Stephen Eddins, AllMusic

Festival Review: CoS at Crossing Brooklyn Ferry 2012

Fri, 11 May 2012 00:00:00 -0400

"Eight tuned bongos in a straight line meant one thing: Part One of Steve Reich's Drumming, his epic 1971 percussion opus. The iconic piece has become something of a signature work for So Percussion, partially because they are just so damn good at playing it." -- Jake Cohen, Consequence of Sound

Cage 100 Bootleg Series Sampler

Tue, 17 Apr 2012 00:00:00 -0400

"The inventiveness of the entire enterprise and the unpredictability of the ultimate product (the downloads) beautifully embody the open-endedness of Cage's aesthetic. By taking his ideas in directions he could never have imagined, So Percussion has realized and given new life to Cage's generous intent to divest his compositions of ego and to empower performers. One can't help imagining his infectious smile and laugh if he were on hand to experience this project." -- Stephen Eddins, AllMusic

Joyful Noise

Mon, 16 Apr 2012 00:00:00 -0400

"The evening was an exhilarating blend of precision and anarchy, rigor and bedlam -- Cage punkishly reinvented for a new generation, without nostalgia for the old downtown scene." -- Alex Ross, The New Yorker

American Mavericks, Part 1

Sat, 07 Apr 2012 00:00:00 -0400

"A hugely entertaining John Cage Centennial Celebration by So Percussion and friends performing on assorted electronics at Zankel Hall (3/26) led off the first night of American Mavericks." -- Sedgwick Clark, Musical America

So Percussion - Cage 100: The Bootleg Series

Thu, 05 Apr 2012 00:00:00 -0400

"On tracks such as 'Third Construction,' perhaps Cage's best-known percussion piece, cymbal rolls hiss on the edge of the aural precipice, as cowbells expertly hocket with bongos in an asphyxiating conversation. The important lesson here, which So Percussion proves so well, is that indeterminacy does not negate the necessity of talent and preparation." -- Doyle Armbrust, Time Out Chicago

Q2 Music Album of the Week: So Percussion Dances with John Cage

Mon, 02 Apr 2012 00:00:00 -0400

"Spending an evening listening to So Percussion's Cage 100 Bootleg Series is somewhat akin to sitting up all night in college, drinking red table wine, smoking Parliaments and discussing what it all means: Very few concrete answers result, but you still walk away feeling buzzed and charged." -- Olivia Giovetti, WQXR

The Rest Is Noise

Tue, 27 Mar 2012 00:00:00 -0400

"Last night, I attended a John Cage tribute by So Percussion and Matmos - one of the more entertaining and fulfilling evenings I've had in recent years, not least because Dan Deacon's conceptual piece Take a Deep Breath required me, along with the rest of the audience, to make a hooting, hollering, singing, stamping, and ringtone-playing Carnegie debut." -- Alex Ross, The Rest Is Noise

Bring Out Your Ringtones, and Other Requests for Accompaniment

Tue, 27 Mar 2012 00:00:00 -0400

"That was not the concert's oddest moment, but it would be hard to find a consensus on what was. Maybe it was seeing these four imaginative percussionists (Eric Beach, Josh Quillen, Adam Sliwinski and Jason Treuting), along with the members of Matmos, an equally innovative electronica duo (Drew Daniel and M. C. Schmidt), playing their alternately tactile and thunderously crunchy collaborative work, 'Needles' (2010), on an amplified cactus. Or it could have been a random visual gag: a musician's suddenly stopping to do push-ups or slice celery stalks or shave off a long, thick beard." -- Allan Kozinn, New York Times

Bang a Soda Bottle, Amplify a Cactus

Mon, 26 Mar 2012 00:00:00 -0400

"'The guy wrote a piece for turntables in 1939-he was way ahead of the curve,' said Adam Sliwinski, a member of the contemporary-music quartet So Percussion. Mr. Sliwinski and his bandmates feel a special kinship with Cage, whose centennial inspired the outfit's new recording project, 'Cage 100: The Bootleg Series,' as well as a tribute concert Monday at Zankel Hall." -- Steve Dollar, Wall Street Journal

New York Times

Thu, 22 Mar 2012 00:00:00 -0400

"One of the most colorful ensembles around, and lately one of the engines that drives New York's new music world, So Percussion and guest artists (including Matmos, the electronica group) pay tribute to John Cage and his legacy in a program called 'We Are All Going in Different Directions.'" -- Allan Kozinn, New York Times

Works by and inspired by John Cage

Sat, 03 Mar 2012 00:00:00 -0500

"The raucous party atmosphere continued in the lobby afterward. " -- Michael Johnson, ConcertoNet.com

So Percussion: It Is Time

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 00:00:00 -0500

"Here's hoping that So Percussion remains with us for a long time to come and that the group keeps expanding our horizons as it relates to composition and percussion, whether banging out the new or banging in the old." -- Jedd Beaudoin, PopMatters

Notable in 2011: So Percussion and Lisa Moore play Bresnick

Thu, 29 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0500

"So Percussion and pianist Lisa Moore inhabit the music with a persuasive, commanding, and detailed performance on record: one can only imagine its powerful impact coupled with Goya's artworks in a live setting.

"Not only was chutzpah an ingredient of this project, but so was a seamless collaborative spirit. Meet the Composer commissioned this piece for So Percussion and Moore, and it is a truly inspired partnership. One hopes that it is merely the beginning of a long musical relationship."

-- Christian Carey, Sequenza21

CD picks for the classical music adventurer

Sun, 11 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0500

"The So Percussion ensemble plays with fire and drive, and what is wrought is painterly music that grows on you with every listen." -- Edward Ortiz, Sacremento Bee

NPR Classical's 10 Favorite Albums Of 2011

Thu, 08 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0500

"Written in 2009 and performed here by one of the piece's co-commissioners, New York's superb So Percussion, the Mallet Quartet possesses a quiet beauty that, almost despite its subtleties, demands to be heard." -- Anastasia Tsioulcas, NPR Music

The Year in Classical Music: Top Ten of 2011

Sun, 04 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0500

"During the Ecstatic Music Festival, So Percussion teamed up with the swami of dance-party electronica, Dan Deacon. Ghostbuster turned out to be a loose, ornate symphony for soda bottles, marimbas, and one loud laptop. The piece does for the rave what Bartók did for Hungarian folk music: sublimate the urge to dance into a visceral concert experience." -- Justin Davidson, New York Magazine

Martin Bresnick: Caprichos Enf

Thu, 01 Dec 2011 00:00:00 -0500

"Moore and So Percussion perform the music with energy and commitment. Canteloupe Music's sound is clear and appropriately resonant." -- Stephen Eddins, AllMusic

Martin Bresnick New Music

Sun, 20 Nov 2011 00:00:00 -0500

"But the force and inventiveness of the music carries the day, and the performance, by the extraordinary pianist Lisa Moore and the splendid So Percussion, is first-rate." -- Joshua Kosman, San Francisco Chronicle

So Percussion and Calder Quartet lively and compelling combo at Kutztown

Sat, 12 Nov 2011 00:00:00 -0500

"Just like going to the desert and complaining about the lack of vegetation, or visiting the California redwoods and being disappointed that the trees block the view, miss the point, so does coming to a program like this and listening with traditional ears. The trick is to find the music's expectations, and that's a rewarding experience in itself." -- Philip A. Metzger, Allentown Morning Call

Steve Reich: WTC 9/11; Mallet Quartet; Dance Patterns

Fri, 11 Nov 2011 00:00:00 -0500

"The Kronos Quartet, So Percussion, and the six players in Dance Patterns deliver topnotch performances, and Nonesuch's sound is immaculate." -- Stephen Eddins, AllMusic

So Percussion is wild fun (review)

Wed, 26 Oct 2011 00:00:00 -0400

"Percussion ensembles generally play new music, because that's generally what there is for percussion ensembles to play. But Monday night at Kaul Auditorium, So Percussion -- who appeared courtesy of Friends of Chamber Music's Not So Classic Series -- dipped into the classic repertoire going all the way back to the dawn of percussion-ensemble time in the early 1940s. Perhaps surprisingly, alongside newer works it all came across as seamless, not to mention electrically experimental and wildly fun." -- James McQuillen, The Oregonian

Steve Mackey: It Is Time

Thu, 06 Oct 2011 00:00:00 -0400

"Steve Mackey is a composer who can be counted on to produce music that crosses genres without inhibition and that's immediately appealing, and So Percussion's performances are consistently imaginative in their choice of repertoire and their eagerness to stretch the parameters of traditional concert music. The result of their collaboration, It Is Time, is everything that this combination of talents promises to be: a dynamic and unconventional but thoroughly engaging new work that doesn't sound quite like anything else." -- Stephen Eddins, AllMusic