PASA in the Park presents New York quartet So Percussion. By Dege Legg
Music is everywhere and in all things constantly swirling around us. According to the aesthetic creed of Brooklyn drum ensemble So Percussion, you don't necessarily need loud guitars, pianos or even drum kits to create good music - whatever is around will do just fine, whether it is pots, pans, cardboard or a garbage can; it is all a source of sound and inspiration. In the case of So Percussion, that sound is drumming...
Sept. 22, 2010
PASA in the Park presents New York quartet So Percussion. By Dege Legg
Music is everywhere and in all things constantly swirling around us. According to the aesthetic creed of Brooklyn drum ensemble So Percussion, you don't necessarily need loud guitars, pianos or even drum kits to create good music - whatever is around will do just fine, whether it is pots, pans, cardboard or a garbage can; it is all a source of sound and inspiration. In the case of So Percussion, that sound is drumming, and from the time of ancient cavemen to the bombast of Keith Moon, people have been beating on the objects found around them.
The members of So Percussion - Eric Beach, Josh Quillen, Adam Sliwinski and Jason Treuting - are the kind of people who hear rhythm, music and song in everything. The quartet formed in 1999 while students at the Yale School of Music. After a cold call to David Lang, the Pulitzer Prize-winning composer and co-founder of New York's Bang on a Can Festival, the group began collaborating with a bevy of contemporary music composers like Steve Reich, Evan Ziporyn and Fred Frith. In addition, it began performing the works of avant-garde composers such as John Cage and Iannis Xenakis.
So Percussion's blend of classical chops mixed with non-traditional instrumentation - prepared pipes, metals, duct tape and even an amplified cactus - combined with their openness to experimentation have brought the release of six records and numerous tours. In 2005, they released Drumming, followed the next year by Amid the Noise. Music from So Percussion's Amid the Noise was set to filmmaker Jenise Treuting's films of street scenes in Brooklyn and Kyoto. This collaboration resulted in So Percussion's Imaginary City, a sonic meditation on urban soundscapes commissioned by the Brooklyn Academy of Music's 2009 Next Wave Festival.
Since 2005, So Percussion has performed at Carnegie Hall, the Lincoln Center Festival, The Brooklyn Academy, the Andy Warhol Museum and many more venues across the U.S. During its stay in Lafayette, So Percussion is conducting a number of free workshops at UL, Lafayette High School and Edgar Martin Middle. "We are friends who love making crazy music together. We all play percussion, basically anything we can find to make an interesting sound on with sticks, or sometimes without sticks," says founding member Jason Treuting. "We bring out all kinds of funky, everyday sounds to use along with our drums and vibraphones, like the sound of a pencil sharpener, the turning on and off of desk lamps, the sound of markers writing on a writing board, pipes being cut and lots more quirky stuff."
So Percussion makes its Acadiana debut at Parc International at 7 p.m. today, Sept. 22, for PASA's annual free (donations are encouraged) PASA in the Park event. Gates open at 6 p.m., and limited bleacher seating will be available. PASA in the Park-goers are encouraged to bring blankets or lawn chairs. Venders will be selling popcorn and soft drinks, but not alcohol, so if you feel like drinking, go on and BYOB, but leave the bottles at home as open container laws will apply.
For a complete list of activities related to So Percussion, visit www.pasaonline.org or call the PASA office at 237-2787.