Nova Linea Musica presented The Drum Also Sings, an hour long concert by Third Coast Percussion at the Merit School of Music on Wednesday. NLM and Third Coast Percussion are known for commissioning new work from musicians based in Chicago. The acoustically perfect Guarneri Hall is the usual location for NLM programs, but TCP has quite an array of instruments and sound-making devices that would leave no room for an audience. The Merit School of Music in the West Loop provided a perfect venue for a marimba, drums, and several other percussion instruments. The auditorium could also accommodate students from Merit, providing an inspiring experience and great enjoyment for future performers.
Having met while students at Northwestern, TCP is a quartet of percussionists Sean Connors, Robert Dillon, Peter Martin, and David Skidmore. They have been playing together for 26 years and counting. One of the featured pieces of the evening was a brand new work by JaRon Brown, and this too shall pass. The pre-concert talk hosted by Doyle Armbrust had Brown on the panel along with Sean Connors and Robert Dillon of TCP. Brown was an engaging and eloquent speaker on his process and the adjustments needed for TCP. He wrote, and this too shall pass to honor his great-uncle Robbie’s journey with dementia and their close relationship.
One of Brown’s challenges in composing for TCP was that he was limited to a single marimba. A full-size concert marimba ranges from 6 ft to 8.5 ft in length. All four members of the quartet played on one marimba, with Peter Martin having to play upside down. this too shall pass was a beautifully melodic piece with several motif phrases and swirling harmonies. It was lively and gentle like its creator.
TCP commissioned Dillon to write Scoundrel, the composition and adaption of which he and Connors discussed. Scoundrel was short, about 3 minutes, but impactful with more rhythmic phrases than melodies. I felt a sense of mischief and lightheartedness. Of course, the quartet’s skill and energetic synthesis elevated the performance.
The Drum Also Sings featured Jessie Montgomery’s Study No.1 from 2023. She is one of my favorite composers, discovered at my first concert experience with NLM at Guarneri Hall. Montgomery is a composer of grand melodies with an ecumenical mix of classical, blues, and Americana. This was her first composition for TCP, and the quartet devised a way to change the tone on the tom-tom drums. A flexible tube was attached to the drum with the other end in the player’s mouth. When the player blew into the tube, a range of sounds emerged similar to scales being played. I loved the innovation and the way it embraced Montgomery’s sound with percussion.
I have seen TCP play myriad items as instruments, from terra cotta flower pots to melamine plates, so an entire composition played on wood blocks was another fun addition. Steve Reich’s Music for Pieces of Wood from 1973 took me back to my first lesson in keeping time in 4/4. Reich’s tune and TCP were far beyond me, knocking claves and trying to keep up. Once again, Music for Pieces of Wood was a virtuosic demonstration of finding tone and color in what appears to be a simple item.
Ivan Trevino’s Watercolor Sun from 2023 was commissioned by TCP, and it was an unexpected highlight for me. The marimba sounded like water drops, with one of the more straightforward melodies, with a jazz-like hook. Watercolor Sun took me on a sonic adventure, where I could see and hear beautiful colors, reminiscent of steel drums on a tropical night. Gorgeous!
It was followed by “Derivative” from Perspective by Jlin, a brilliant composer just over the Indiana border. I am familiar with Jlin’s compositions for Chicago West Side Step dance and Memphis Jookin. I was introduced to Jlin at another TCP performance Metamorphosis, at the Harris Theater. Hearing “Derivative” from Perspective was a reminder of the commitment to the universal language of music, bringing forth its beauty, no matter the so-called genre.
The evening also featured Andrea Venet’s Bulldog from 1983. It did evoke the image of a bulldog. To be precise, it was the USMC mascot that I saw in my mind’s eye. I also imagined Uga from the University of Georgia-Athens strutting through Savannah, Georgia, with Lady Chablis in Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. Alexis Lamb’s Matter/Mind from 2021 was a lively percussion composition injected with cowbell and coffee cans. I closed my eyes and recalled the kaleidoscope I loved as a child. The simplicity of the toy and the complexity of the patterns when it was turned and held up to the light.
I highly recommend attending a Third Coast Percussion concert at the first opportunity. They opened my eyes and ears to the expanse of sound and how beauty can be heard from seemingly mundane objects. This performance was presented by Nova Linea Musica, which I also recommend for new music and brilliant resident musicians.
Check out TCP’s website and their YouTube channel. Also, check out make Nova Linea Musica.
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