Friday, June 12, 2009

Monkey chant! Wow!

I have been playing and listening to a lot of music lately, so in keeping with this theme...

Glenn Kotche is the drummer for Wilco, a band I have followed and loved for many years now. I saw them live once. But I didn't know until a few days ago just what a virtuoso their drummer is. He has a percussion performance degree from University of Kentucky... and it shows.

It's long, but this performance is worth checking out to see the just what amazing things a master percussionist can do. You will notice that his kit is heavily modified, with all manner of springs, boxes, soundmakers, a thumb piano, bells and other odd little devices... with which he makes some astounding music!

The piece is not just a drum solo, but composed the whole way through with (I think) a few improvisatory sections. You will notice he returns to the same melodic theme on the thumb piano and bells multiple times.

No, the crickets aren't real... but I have no idea what the heck is up with them! Ask Kotche.

Hat tip to Will for enlightening me with this a few days ago. Turn it up loud.

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