#third coast percussion

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Third Coast Percussion — Standard Stoppages (Cedille)

Nominated for two Grammys, Third Coast Percussion’s recording Standard Stoppages was part of the group’s twentieth anniversary celebrations. The group has long advocated for contemporary classical music, commissioning projects that have done a great deal to expand the repertoire for percussion ensembles. Standard Stoppages consists entirely of new works made by collaborators old and new to TCP.

Jlin is best known for her footwork output, but recently she has been working with artists in other genres. Please Be Still is a brief, charming work that translates footwork into percussion ensemble music, moving electronica signatures into the realm of acoustic instruments.

Tigran Hamasayan fully embraces mallet instruments in his Sonata for Percussion, with patterning of folk melodies creating vibrant shimmering timbres. Cast in three movements, “Memories From Childhood,” “Hymn,” and “23 for TCP,” the sonata was clearly tailor made for the group, and their assured performance underscores this spirit of collaboration.

Zakir Hussain wrote Murmurs in Time, his only piece for classical percussion ensemble, for TCP. Tabla playing is featured prominently on the recording. Hussain recently passed away, and the work honors his legacy as a virtuoso performer and creative artist and gives the listener a poignant glimpse at what could have been a more extended, fruitful collaboration with TCP.

Jessie Montgomery’s Study No. 1 uses a diverse range of instruments, successively foregrounding different subsections. There is a sense of inquisitiveness in this heterogenous deployment. Montgomery focuses more on melodic and harmonic details than textural variety in In Color Suite.

Musekiwa Chingodza’s buoyant singing voice is featured on his piece Dzoka Kumba Referencing Zimbabwean traditional music, Chingodza’s mbira (thumb piano) playing is underlaid with syncopated polyrhythms from a drum set, mallets, and metallophone instruments. It is a stirring close to a multifaceted, eminently satisfying recording.

Christian Carey

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Playing

Third Coast Percussion PERSPECTIVES

Works by Danny Elfman, Philip Glass, Jlin, Flutronix

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Third Coast Percussion - Standard Stoppages - celebrating their 20th anniversary with new commissioned works by Jlin, Tigran Hamasyan, Zakir Hussain, Jessie Montgomery, & Musekiwa Chingodza

Percussionists are in the time-keeping business. Other musicians often look to us to create a rhythmic framework, a steady beat within which the music unfolds. One of the joys of being a band of four percussionists is that we often explore how time can be stretched, manipulated, played with, and reimagined. Our collaborators on this album helped us to do just that. But this album is also about the passage of time on a larger scale. We are celebrating the 20th anniversary of our ensemble this year, and this album is one major way we are marking this milestone. We began by approaching some of our favorite past collaborators about creating new work with us (Jlin and Musekiwa), as well as reaching out to musicians who we have dreamed of collaborating with for years (Jessie, Tigran, and Zakir). Each composer dealt with time in their own way for these pieces. Jlin drew inspiration from a 275-year old work from a favorite composer from her youth, J.S. Bach. Tigran bends and stretches time with his fantastically complicated rhythmic language, and harkens back to his own past with movement titles like “Memories from Childhood.” Jessie’s works move in and out of perceivable metered time, stretching not just rhythm, but pitch and timbre as well. Musekiwa’s piece title, Dzoka Kumba, translates to “Come Back Home” — a universal sentiment that reminds us not just of the places in which but also the people with whom each of our stories is rooted. Zakir Hussain was known as one of the greatest performers of our time, and while his instrument was the tabla, time was his canvas, and he was able to find extraordinary beauty in the complexities of rhythm, as he does in this new work, Murmurs in Time. His piece also includes rhythmic themes his father taught him when he was a child in Mumbai, 60 years ago. We never imagined that Zakir’s brilliant, joyful, inspiring life would come to a close while this album was being prepared for release. We were actually listening to the final audio of his piece moments before we learned of his passing — his voice was speaking to us through this recorded audio as his time on this Earth was reaching its end. So time was on our minds in ways we couldn’t have imagined when we began putting this album together. We’re sad not to have had more time with Zakir, but we will be forever grateful for the year we spent working with this absolutely extraordinary musician. His mind-blowing talent and musicality were matched only by his generosity as a collaborator and the infectious joy he brought to his work and to his life. We’re fortunate that the past 20 years have been full of inspiration and joy for our ensemble. We’ve seen extraordinary moments and met extraordinary challenges. We are so thankful for the time we have had together, and we are reminded never to take it for granted. We feel very fortunate to be able to spend our time making music with each other. 

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Third Coast Percussion Performance

Wednesday, June 4 at 5:00pm Jennings Landing, Albany Feel the rhythm of the Hudson River at Albany’s Historic Lock 1 – Jennings Landing wi

Albany Symphony hosted Third Coast Percussion at the start of the Erie Canal

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Playing

Sergio and Clarice Assad ARCHETYPES

Third Coast Percussion

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album stream: Third Coast Percussion - Glass: Aguas da Amazonia (Rockwell Records,2025)

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Art & Design - Sonnenzimmer Photography - Stephanie Bassos + Timothy, Burkhart of People Vs. Places © 2019 Cedille Records/Cedille Chicago

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Composed by Devonté Hynes and arranged by Third Coast Percussion.