This is not your grandpa's percussion music...nor your middle aged uncle's drum circle jams. AdHoc Presents has curated a collection of stellar percussionists, DIY composers, rogue drummers, a PhD candidate and "charismatic contemporary bard" for a performance at Wonders of Nature on Thursday, June 14. The three artists presented share an interest in experimentation and exploration of new musical and percussive ideas while also merging elements of indie rock, minimalism, electronica, jazz, and the avant-garde. Always seeking new and unique sonic worlds, the groups blur the lines between traditionally "composed" music, collaboratively-created sounds, improvisation, and generative music creation.
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"A shining example of the possibilities of percussion. ensemble, et al.'s The Slow Reveal is full of virtuosic performances and detailed post-genre compositions that flow along effortlessly—consistently revealing fresh and inviting sonic ground. If you’ve never listened to a percussion-centric record, this is where to start." —Glenn Kotche (Wilco)
"The Slow Reveal is a slightly sped up film of a flower opening itself up to the sun, each petal and tendril revealing new melodies and nuance and polyrhythm." —PASTE Magazine
"New York percussion quartet ensemble, et al. refract minimalism through a postrock lens, but stake out their own turf through the corkscrewing rigor of their compositions." —Peter Margasak (Chicago Reader)
“The Kraken Quartet brings a collective sound that feels larger than life, a sonic boom of energy that shocks the system while remaining intimate with their music” —KUTX
“This band goes all-out with an arsenal of melodic percussion instruments” —WNYC, on The Kraken Quartet
ensemble, et al. is an instrumental band from Brooklyn, NY, who makes lush, sprawling songs using vibraphone, keyboards, drums, and percussion. Formed in 2010 as a new-music chamber ensemble, the years have seen the band step away from the percussion quartet format and embrace a collaborative approach to creating original music. The band employs elements of rock, modal jazz, electronica, contemporary classical, and experimental music in its longform, wordless songs.
The band’s latest album The Slow Reveal—produced and engineered by John McEntire (Tortoise, Stereolab)—was released on Imaginator Records in November 2017. The band self-released it’s first full-length album present point passed in 2014, as well as the EPs When the Tape Runs Out and Sounds of Others—a reimagining of music by Arvo Pärt and Goldmund—in 2011. Music blog I Care If You Listen praised present point passed as “sophisticated pieces reminiscent of post-rock in terms of musical progression, but without all the traditional rock instruments and the density of sounds that they bring.”
A massive force of percussion and electronics, The Kraken Quartet is a genre-crossing percussion group known for its highly energetic and engaging performances. Since their formation in 2012, the group has been featured by publications including WNYC, KUTX, The Austin Chronicle, Time Out New York, I Care If You Listen, and The Ithaca Times for merging elements of indie rock, minimalism, electronica, jazz, and the avant-garde. Currently based in Austin, TX, the group has performed as part of several festivals and concert series, including South by Southwest, Austin Instrumental Music Festival, SoundSpace, Fast Forward Austin, Brooklyn Bound, and NMASS. Advocates for local music, The Kraken Quartet has recently started a regular concert series featuring diverse acts from Austin. Their debut full-length, Separate | Migrate is available now.
Elliot Cole is a composer and "charismatic contemporary bard" (NY Times). He has performed his music with Grammy Winners Roomful of Teeth, Grammy Nominees A Far Cry and Metropolis Ensemble, as well as the Chicago Composers Orchestra, New Vintage Baroque, the Lucerne Festival Academy, and as a member of the book-club-band Oracle Hysterical. His percussion music has been performed by over 250 percussion ensembles all over the world. In 2017 he was invited by Talks at Google to share his unique approach to music through computer programming. He is on faculty at the The New School and Juilliard Evening Division, and is Program Director of Musicambia at Sing Sing, where he runs a music school for incarcerated men.
