The quartet, in all its variations, from standard rock line-up to its jazz parallel to the formidable string arrangement to the saxophone mode, has long been a cornerstone of my understanding of how music functions. The group Sō Percussion is another permutation of the quartet, featuring members Josh Quillen, Adam Sliwinski, Jason Treuting, and Eric Cha-Beach. The quartet, regardless of instrumentation, is a malleable form, one rich enough to stand on its own, and mobile and agile enough to collaborate fruitfully while maintain its own discipline and flavor.
A distinction of for many non-rock modern quartets is the implicit engagement with a fifth party: the composer. Classical and new music quartets, for example, often have composers in their midst, yet also engage with “external” composers as a kind of momentary fifth member. In this piece, “Oblique Music for Four Plus (blank),” group member Treuting has furthered the quartet’s modularity by, per the work’s title, aligning Sō Percussion with another unit, a foursome, in this live recording the Bergamot Quartet (Ledah Finck, violin; Sarah Thomas, violin; Amy Huimei Tan, viola; and Irène Han, cello). The short-term autonomous octet provides just enough musicians to allow for all manner of pairings and echos, rivalries and symbiosis — and yes, the title is a nod to Brian Eno.