Music Is Music

You may have heard of the band Wilco. Maybe fewer of you have heard of the band's drummer, Glenn Kotche. And probably fewer still, know that Kotche is a classically trained percussionist and composer. In this installment of Music is Music, we're taking a trip into Kotche's world through a piece called Wild Sound. The members in Chicago-based Third Coast Percussion approached Kotche back in 2008 to see if he'd be interested in collaboration. The vibe was there from the beginning, but concert performances and world tours with a rock band kind of got in the way. Cut to 2014, when Third Coast Percussion landed an ensemble-in-residence honor at the University Notre Dame. Stars aligned and the scheduling gods carved out time for Kotche and Co. to collaborate, dream up and refine the pieces of Wild Sound. Kotche had the idea to use some of the found sounds he's gathered through years of touring and taking walks in cities all over the world. The skeletal structure of the piece takes us on a journey from nature to cit

Roberto Lange grew up in South Florida, or as he calls it, "the capital of Latin America." It's a landing place for so many Spanish-speaking cultures -- think Columbia, Trinidad, Ecuador, and of course Cuba. Lange ingested the flavors of these cultures, then mixed them with the inescapable sounds of Miami bass music. The result is a project he calls Helado Negro. Until recently concocting Helado Negro songs was largely the job of Lange programing beats, playing keyboards and crooning (in English and Spanish). Occasionally he'd have a friend or two help out and give input and add an instrument or two, but it was mostly a solo affair. He recently decided to pull out all the stops and orchestrate a one-night-only Helado Negro performance as part of the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra's Liquid Music series. 17 musicians gathered on stage to reinterpret Lange's compositions. Guest singers and acoustic instruments brought out new textures, some of which were remixed and reprocessed live, onstage. Lange called the event

Nils Frahm's hands began gracing a keyboard at an early age. He learned the classics as a kid. Everything changed when he discovered Keith Jarrett. It took a while, but Frahm realized he couldn't get through life being a Jarrett clone, so he eventually moved on... and out. Electronic music and Berlin's club scene floated into the picture before Frahm turned back to his roots and the piano. By this time, however, Frahm was busy blending a stew all his own. A blend of piano, electric keyboards and effects processors give Nils Frahm the palette on which he draws from. He's continually trying to explore and create new sounds in a way that is uniquely his own. On this installment of music is music, we're going to hear a version of a piece called, "Hammers." It's a piano-only piece that flies out of his fingers and usually leaves him exhausted by the time it's over. This version is from his 2013 release, Spaces.