Percussion music represents an important strand in the output of minimalist composer
Steve Reich, and this release by the ensemble
Third Coast Percussion, whose members cheerfully admit they weren't even born when
Reich first came on the scene, shows how the genre has continued to interest him. The works involved span several decades, from Music for Pieces of Wood (1973) to 2009's Mallet Quartet. It's notable that
Reich's language, unlike those of his minimalist-pioneer compatriots, hasn't fundamentally changed during this period. Instead, he explores percussion-defined spaces and processes in different ways. The Nagoya Marimbas (1996) receives a performance that, in the words of the players, "blends the characteristic
Reich marimba sound with an expressive, nuanced approach to dynamic shaping"; the upshot seems to be a reading that lands toward the communicative end of the spectrum of
Reich performances. Music for Pieces of Wood, one of the original works in which
Reich transferred his electronic phase-process discoveries to the realm of live musicians, remains as entrancing as it was 43 years before this album was released. With crack modern players who have new wrinkles to contribute, this is a fine survey of
Reich's percussion music, released in 2016 and a fitting tribute in the composer's 80th-birthday year. ~ James Manheim