1. My office today: set up to play #Xenakis’ #Persephassa in #Waterloo Park for the #Random #Walks festival with #TorQ #Percussion, Ben Duinker and Aiyun Huang. Would be the perfect day for it except for the 30kph wind.

    My office today: set up to play #Xenakis’ #Persephassa in #Waterloo Park for the #Random #Walks festival with #TorQ #Percussion, Ben Duinker and Aiyun Huang. Would be the perfect day for it except for the 30kph wind.

  2. …TorQ quartet gave the singers a break with a mesmerizing all-percussion arrangement (by Jamie Drake) of “Jerusalem” that had been inspired by hearing the Soweto Gospel Choir.

    — An excerpt from a nice review by John Terauds of MusicalToronto.org on TorQ’s concert with the Larkin Singers earlier this month.  Read the whole review here.

  3. A partial view of the setup for James Rolfe’s new piece “Why Will You”. 34 drums, 12 cymbals, three hihats, 20 temple blocks, 8 wood blocks, 10 cowbells, three triangles, and one crowded studio.  Looking forward to seeing the wicked choreography of Jacob Niedzwiecki that goes with this!

    A partial view of the setup for James Rolfe’s new piece “Why Will You”. 34 drums, 12 cymbals, three hihats, 20 temple blocks, 8 wood blocks, 10 cowbells, three triangles, and one crowded studio.  Looking forward to seeing the wicked choreography of Jacob Niedzwiecki that goes with this!

  4. The poster for TorQ’s upcoming Toronto show.  Super excited about this one as it’s the first time that we’ve put on a show involving dancers.  There is some amazing new choreography that will be presented here - I’ve seen snippets of it and there is some incredible work happening!  Seating is limited for each performance, so probably best to get your tickets ahead of time at TorQ’s website. 

    The poster for TorQ’s upcoming Toronto show.  Super excited about this one as it’s the first time that we’ve put on a show involving dancers.  There is some amazing new choreography that will be presented here - I’ve seen snippets of it and there is some incredible work happening!  Seating is limited for each performance, so probably best to get your tickets ahead of time at TorQ’s website. 

  5. Live recording for TorQ Percussion Quartet's "Off the Page" Improv Concert →

    This is a live recording from our recent show at Gallery 345 in Toronto.  Entitled “Off the Page”, the concert was about improv in various forms.  This particular track features my good friend (and former Muskox saxophonist), “Handsome” Mark Laver on saxophone.  As with most of our improv stuff, we didn’t discuss this at all beforehand, just started playing and went from there.

    Huge thanks as always to the incomparable Ray Dillard, who recorded this concert for us.

  6. A video of “Malandragem”, a Mark Duggan composition that he arranged for himself and TorQ for our “Notes from Brazil” concert.  Featuring (from left to right) Mark on marimba, Dan on xylophone and drums, Jamie on vibes and drums, Adam on marimba and glock, and Rich on percussion.