Now Available on Cantaloupe Music:
Glenn Kotche’s Drumkit Quartets
with Sō Percussion
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“These quartets, which feature a battery of instruments outside the standard drum kit, tease out the different parameters that govern ensemble playing, like synchronicity, imitation, competition and symmetry. They also show off Mr. Kotche’s command of mood and texture…”
We are delighted to announce the release of our 19th studio album, Glenn Kotche’sDrumkit Quartets! We recently had a blast performing these pieces together at Carnegie Hall. Below is a more complete description of the album, as well as a free preview of one of the tracks on Bandcamp. If you’d like to listen to more, Red Bull Music has an exclusive preview of the entire record.
The album is available on all of the outlets above, including the new merch store on ourwebsite. Enjoy, and let us know what you think!
-Sō
From the multihued vision of his aptly titled Cantaloupe debut Adventureland to the drumming-without-a-net workout of John Luther Adams’ Ilimaq, Glenn Kotche is on a roll, so to speak, both as a performer and as a composer. While most music fans already know him as the powerhouse drummer behind the beloved rock band Wilco, he’s also an emerging creative force in the contemporary classical world, drawing the attention of Adams, Kronos Quartet, Missy Mazzoli, the Bang on a Can All-Stars and many more.
Sō Percussion certainly took note when the group — Eric Cha-Beach, Josh Quillen, Adam Sliwinski and Jason Treuting — approached Kotche several years ago about collaborating. “At the time, I was feeling a strong desire to get back to writing for percussion,” Kotche reveals in the CD’s liner notes, “because I think the timbral, textural, melodic and rhythmic possibilities haven’t been explored nearly enough. I try to do that through my solo performances, but I jumped at the chance to try it with such an incredible and forward-thinking group as Sō Percussion.”
The result runs the expressive gamut of percussive instrumentation, from the marimba-based “Drumkit Quartet #51” (with haiku recited by Cibo Matto’s Yuka Honda) to the hand-cranked sirens that open “Drumkit Quartet #50,” which channels the futurist manifesto of Luigi Russolo’s “art of noise,” spiced with a little John Cage and Luc Ferrari. A rich sonic tapestry of rhythmic exploration, audio collage and third-mind improv, Drumkit Quartets actually goes well beyond the drumkit — which is to be expected, given the feverishly inventive artists behind the recording.
