Smoke and Mirrors Percussion Ensemble

In Music for Pieces of Wood, Joe Beribak, sitting in the center of a semicircle, begins to strike the first pattern. Joe will maintain this pattern, unflinchingly, for the entire duration of the piece. Katy, Jessica, Derek and Eddie contribute all of the sinuous and minimalist variation which they weave into filaments of sound and rhythm as if all five musicians were one person. Smoke & Mirrors takes us on many journeys in this album. These are refreshingly fully-developed works, each very different from the others, each with its own story. As a whole, these pieces illustrate the breadth of contemporary classical music written for percussionists, as well as the flexibility and virtuosity of Smoke & Mirrors. World class and sophisticated as this ensemble is, these musicians retain and communicate the sheer joy we experienced when banging pots and pans as two-, and three-year olds. Do you remember your own pleasure making a racket as a kid? Smoke & Mirrors: Katalin La Favre, Jessica Cameron, Joe Beribak, Edward Hong and Derek Tywoniuk have never forgotten it.

We captured this recording with a single AKG C 24 stereo microphone in the glorious acoustics of Zipper Hall. We recorded each piece live to tape with no editing, to create the most lifelike performance possible. Rather than worry about how they would perform without the benefit of edits to camouflage mistakes, the members of Smoke & Mirrors loved the idea, embracing our concept that this recording represent a live concert experience.