From concert and album reviews to feature articles, Third Coast Percussion is in the news.
We are fortunate to have garnered critical acclaim and recognition for so many of our performances and projects. See for yourself what the buzz is all about by reading what the press has to say! Browse reviews, articles, and much more below.
Album review: “Perspectives”
November 15, 2022, by Take Effect
The Grammy Award winning outfit Third Coast Percussion bring us a set of world premiere recordings of works either penned for the quartet or arranged by the Chicago luminaries. “Percussion Quartet”, by Danny Elfman, opens the listen with playful and mesmerizing vibes that are complemented by serene moments as well as busy bursts of the cinematic song craft that Elfman is known for, and it even recruits African balofon, Indonesian gamelan, and Shostakovich nods. Phillip Glass’ “Metamorphosis No. 1” follows with a calm spirit that showcases intimacy between the marimba, vibraphone, glockenspiel, and melodica, which is a far cry from the solo piano of the original, while Jlin’s “Perspective” flows across 7 movements of dreamy, adventurous songwriting that was originally composed as electronic tracks. Flutronix & Third Coast Percussion collaborate for the record ending “Rubix”, where the duo flutes from Flutronix add much charm and allure to the very precise…
Concert Review: Third Coast Percussion Impresses at Kimball Hall on Wednesday
, by L. Kent Wolgamott
Third Coast Percussion had an impressive Lincoln debut at Kimball Hall on Wednesday, presenting a program of contemporary classical pieces played on a vast array of instruments, from marimbas and water-filled bowls to chimes, drums and shakers. The first event in the Lied Center for Performing Arts’ Danny Elfman Week, the 75-minute concert was highlighted by a performance of Eflman’s Percussion Quartet. Written for Third Coast, the piece took full advantage of the range of instruments, bringing in hand drums and cymbals on the warm, gentle second movement before delivering the rhythm of the third “dance” movement on the way to the exuberant conclusion. The program was drawn from the Chicago-based quartet’s new album “Perspective” and concluded with five of the seven movements of it’s title cut, a piece written for the ensemble by electronic dance music composer JLin, who sent them computer created tracks to transform in their distinctive…
Review: An Evening of Amazonian Beauty with Third Coast Percussion
September 22, 2022, by Kathy D. Hey
Philip Glass is considered one of the greatest living composers of the 20th and 21st centuries. His spare and layered compositions can be interpreted in many ways other than as written, and that is the beauty of his music. Third Coast Percussion brings even more layers to Glass’ Aguas de Amazonia-Waters of the Amazon suite. The quartet consists of Sean Connors, Robert Dillon, Peter Martin, and David Skidmore, all percussionists who call Chicago home. Each of these musicians brought an exquisite sense of joy to their performance of a concert of Philip Glass music. Third Coast Review has covered TCP extensively in the past but this performance was done in conjunction with a department of the Field Museum. A presentation and discussion with scientists from the Field’s Keller Science Action Center took place before the music. These scientists have been studying the Amazon River, which, while mainly in Brazil, flows through many countries in…
Third Coast Percussion’s respun Glass makes a captivating Amazon journey
September 14, 2022, by Lawrence A. Johnson
Third Coast Percussion opened its 15th season Tuesday night, not at a concert hall, but at the Field Museum. With the main work on the agenda being Philip Glass’s Aguas da Amazonia (Waters of the Amazon), the museum provided a wholly apt venue. In addition to the fine acoustic of the James Simpson Theatre proving a receptive space for the group’s kaleidoscopic brilliance, the Field Museum made an ideal philosophical partner for this environmentally minded work. Charles Katzenmeyer, the museum’s vice president of institutional advancement, explained in an introductory speech that the Field has devoted a great deal of time and resources to studying the Amazon and working to protect and preserve it for future generations. As the audience filed in, photos by museum personnel were projected on an overhead screen of Amazonian inhabitants, creatures and flora and fauna. The origins of this music date to a Glass piano work…
Album review: Perspectives (Textura)
August 11, 2022, by Textura
The performances on Perspectives by Grammy Award-winning Third Coast Percussion (Sean Connors, Robert Dillon, Peter Martin, and David Skidmore) are dynamic, but it's the programme that recommends the recording most. While the group's re-imagining of Philip Glass's solo piano setting Metamorphosis No. 1 is memorable, the other works are powerful too. Danny Elfman engages with his four-movement Percussion Quartet, flute duo Flutronix collaborates with the Chicago-based quartet for the three-movement Rubix, and electronic musician and composer Jlin (Jerrilynn Patton) adds a funky dance music dimension to the album through her seven-part Perspective. The four works speak to Third Coast Percussion's open-minded sensibility and the daring with which it's expanding the percussion repertoire. Adding to the project's appeal, all are world premiere recordings. Though some might identify Elfman as the one-time frontman for Oingo Boingo, even more recognize him now for his work as the composer of film soundtracks for Edward Scissorhands, The Nightmare Before Christmas, and others. In titling…
Album review: Perspectives (Classical Candor)
, by John J. Puccio
To say there isn’t an abundance of purely classical percussion recordings around might be an understatement. Perhaps it seems odd, given that every classical orchestra has a percussion section, that the percussion should not have as much day in the sun as the violin and the piano have enjoyed. Maybe it’s because percussive instruments don’t make as persuasively plush, mellifluous sounds as violins and pianos. I mean, you can’t really wax too very lyrical on a drum. Anyway, such paucity of percussive recordings makes this new album from Third Coast Percussion all the more appealing. The players are quite good, and the four selections they chose for the program are all world-premiere recordings. ... So, the first selection on the program is the Percussion Quartet by American composer Danny Elfman (b. 1953). Although Elfman is primarily known these days as a film composer (Batman, Darkman, Spider-Man, Men in Black, and the like), he has also…
Album review: Perspectives (WRTI)
, by John T. K. Scherch
Maybe music that is entirely comprised of percussion isn’t what one would consider “classical music” (feel free to write me about my own expansive definition of the term), but whatever you want to call it, Third Coast Percussion’s newest record is a great listen, featuring music from more familiar names like Danny Elfman and Philip Glass to electronic musician Jlin and Flutronix, who are flutists and composers Allison Loggins-Hull and Nathalie Joachim, both of whose work I would recommend as well. Also recommended: Augusta Read Thomas: Bell Illuminations (Various artists/Wyastone) Click here to read the original article.
Album review: Perspectives
July 29, 2022, by Laurence Vittes
It was only six years ago that Chicago-based Third Coast Percussion became the first percussion group to win a Grammy in the chamber music category, with an all-Steve Reich CD celebrating the composer’s 80th birthday. Since then percussion groups have become increasingly popular, and this new recital of four premiere recordings demonstrates the kind of high-quality repertoire that is emerging through new compositions and collaborations. In Danny Elfman’s entertaining, finely structured Percussion Quartet there are moments of poetry and, in the last movement, a spectral haunting with chimes. The electronic musician known as Jlin has created in her Perspective a series of stunning études that originated as electronic tracks, from which Third Coast created this performing version, with the painful beauty of ‘Obscure’ and the exquisite chrysalis of ‘Duality’ among the highlights. Third Coast’s arrangement of Glass’s Metamorphosis No 1, inspired by the recording made by Uakti, is dazzling. After all of this…
Album Review: Perspectives (BBC Music Magazine)
July 13, 2022, by Michael Beck
Third Coast Percussion and Danny Elfman are a match made in heaven. The American composer's scintillating approach to rhythm and orchestral colour is showcased in a dazzling percussion quartet, while Chicago's finest breathe thrilling new life into Glass' Metamorphosis No. 1.
Review: Third Coast Percussion Bangs Out a Quartet of Premieres
June 30, 2022, by Richard S. Ginell
Always on the prowl for new music, the four members of Chicago’s Third Coast Percussion came up with a quartet of world-premiere recordings on their latest album, Perspectives (Cedille). Well, three of the four if you want to get technical about it, since one of the premieres is a transcription for percussion of an existing piece. Onetime rockstar, now full-time film composer Danny Elfman has been making inroads into the concert hall with variable success, and his rather pleasing new Percussion Quartet marks the first time that he has written for this configuration. He goes about it in the timeworn format that Haydn and Beethoven would have recognized — a four-movement (fast, slow, scherzo, finale) structure lasting 20 minutes. The movements launch with what sound like homages to Philip Glass or Steve Reich — repeated minimalist patterns in their styles — yet they all find their way out of the initial repetition machine with a firm grip…
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