TorQ is all about percussion, and the many different things that means. The quartet, which consists of Jamie Drake, Richard Burrows, Adam Campbell and Daniel Morphy, will be in Yorkton on January 21 at the Anne Portnuff Theatre, and will bring with them a large spectrum of different percussion instruments and sounds.
Drake says the only thing that defines the group is the use of percussion instruments, and the fact that the group's musical style crosses genres and definitions, including influences from classical, world music, jazz, rock and others.
"It's a whole variety of styles and genres, and in terms of instruments it can be anything that is a percussion instrument. Obviously there are lots of drums, which people expect, but something people don't expect is that we play a lot of instruments that use melody and harmony," he explains.
The group has recently released their second album, Two + Two. While the first album was about introducing the group and had a little bit of everything, Drake says the new work is a bit more focused, with four pieces from Jason Stanford, Nebojsa Zivkovic, Christos Hatzis and John Cage.
"They're pieces which have become very special to all four of us, in terms of a repertoire that we really love to play, and a lot of the things which TorQ is about. They're works that combine the best elements of making beautiful music but also a whole range of sounds. It has a groove and energy to it that really represents the group.
"People say to us, 'you look like you were really enjoying yourselves on stage. It's not because we're grinning like idiots, although sometimes we do that too, but we really love playing music together as a group, and because of that we strive to choose music that we all feel connected to. There's tons of other great percussion pieces out there, but these four pieces really spoke to us individually and as a group," Drake says.
This performance will be a new experience for the group, Drake explains, as they're taking a different approach from what they normally do. He explains that there are quite a few instruments on stage, with their tour van being packed to the rafters with equipment. This concert will begin mallet instruments, with marimbas and vibraphones. In the second half, it opens up, with more drums and instruments people might not expect.
"For example, we all have a set of five cans. A couple of us just use normal paint cans, one guy uses five tin gongs instead and Adam actually uses five mini-beer kegs. We also have one non-percussion instrument, where Rich blows into a conch shell... The second half is when all the small, really unique instruments start flooding the stage and we start doing a bunch of really interesting things with those," Drake describes.
This will be the first time the group is doing a tour in the prairies, and Drake says they're excited to be traveling to places where they've never been before.
Prairie Debut presents TorQ at the Anne Portnuff Theatre on January 21 as part of the Stars for Saskatchewan series. Tickets are $30 and available at the Arts Council office or at Welcome Home Floral and Gift Shop. The performance begins at 8:00 p.m.
