In anticipation of upcoming Toronto performances by renouned composer Steve Reich, Soundstreams and The Gardiner Museum put on an evening of DJ-ing, drumming, and remenicing about the influences of what the New York Times calls "our greatest living composer". I decided to catch the show after looking at Koerner Hall's nearly sold-out seating chart, and I'm glad I did because I was blown away by Professor Fingers and the TorQ Percussion Quartet. (There's still the odd seat left though if you'd like to catch Steve on Thursday night.)
ProF started out the evening with some smooth beats inspired by the cutting and splicing of Reich's early works, while we grabbed some wine and finger-food. He then pulled the crowd's attention up to the front of the room with a little hand-waving and a patient seat in the middle of the floor. Part of what made ProF's set immediately appealing was his theatrical body-moving and interaction with the sounds he was creating - something he later told me is influenced by Reich's success in pushing the envelope.
When ProF finished up his number Faders, Gliders and Sliders the four likeable guys from TorQ brought out their bongos and played Part 1 of Steve Reich's hour-long piece Drumming. The intensity of the rolling drums put much of the crowd into a head-bobbing trance and with the final and sudden drum hit, I heard more than a few shouts of "yes!" and "wow!". The guys have perfected (in my opinion) Reich's signature phasing technique where one player maintains a rapid and repetitive rhythm and another speeds up slightly until they line up again.
Though each group only played one piece, the Q&A period made up for the short show by giving the crowd a chance to suss out some of the artists' process and connections with Steve Reich. What stayed with me was the comment that Reich's work brings about a new way of listening - that through repetition and variation you start hearing melodies and new sounds in things like spoken words and drum vibrations. Thanks to Professor Fingers and the TorQ Percussion Quartet, I'm definitely hearing new things, and lets not forget Mr. Reich who, let's face it, is pushing 75 and still somehow creating mind-blowing works that continue to shape contemporary music-makers and listeners. Wow!
