Categories: Music

200 Points Just for Having a Marimba

Last night we saw the LAGQ (Los Angeles Guitar Quartet) perform with an excellent percussionist (Colin Currie). The concert was good—but let’s face it, when you have a marimba and/or a vibraphone, it’s hard to go wrong.

The program:

  • Djembe (Andrew York)
  • Music 4 Guitars and Marimba (Peter Erskine)
  • Freaky Dancer (Joe Duddell)
  • Nagoya Marimbas (Steve Reich)
  • Cumba-Quin (Carlos Rivera)
  • Hungarian Rhapsody #2 (Franz Liszt)
  • Three “Guitar Heroes”
    • Blue Echo/Country Gentleman (Chet Atkins)
    • Letter from Home (Pat Meheny)
    • Icarus (Ralph Towner)
  • Jango (Steve Mackey)
  • Night Furniture (Andrew York)
  • Spain (Chick Corea)
  • Tarantella

Suprisingly, the Reich piece was among my favorites. Go figure.

Ron

https://www.ronrothman.com/public/about+me.shtml

View Comments

  • yes, i imagine that many mental wards around the country are populated with marimbists who were practicing that piece.

    (for the record, in the performance we saw, colin currie played along with a prerecorded tape.)

    hey, next time we're in SF, maybe we'll come see you play.

    thanks for writing!!

    p.s., you look a lot like a guy i work with (who lives in SF). =)

  • I'm a marimbist in San Francisco. I have played Nagoya Marimbas before. While it is entrancing to listen to, I can guarantee you that the two poor souls on stage are nearing what the textbooks refer to as "a psychotic break"! The patterns are repeated so many times that you must be on alert at all times. If one of the players is off for even a second, you have to be ready to pop the cyanide pills. But really, it's a great piece and rewarding to play. Cheers!

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