Southern Gothic

“Southern Gothic” is exactly the kind of piece that I salivate over as a university educator. In a hair under three minutes, Jason Baker packs in an enormous amount of conceptual, technical, and interpretational growth for students who are starting to build a relationship with the field of multiple percussion. Refreshingly (and correctly), “Southern Gothic” subverts the idea that multiple percussion is just concertizing stand-up drum set by bringing things back down to our Cage- and Harrison-inspired origins of sophisticated music for unsophisticated (and therefore accessible) objects. Instead of tin cans, Baker uses a glass bottle and a mixing bowl, but the sentiment is the same: a poverty of means can still lead to a wealth of expression.

This piece seems tailor-made to address the exact concepts that should be the focus of early multiple percussion study: learning which questions to ask before playing a note, exploring and curating the sounds of nontraditional percussion instruments (e.g., those not found in the average five-piece drum set), and building an adaptable and sensitive technical touch suited to playing a set of instruments with differing responsiveness. William Kraft’s excellent and time-tested suites for percussion achieve some of these goals, but the 21st-century percussionist’s need (and really, obligation) to question everything on the page requires the kind of conceptual training that few works can provide at a relatively accessible level of technical demand. I’m delighted to point out that "Southern Gothic” is exactly that kind of piece.

On top of its educational value, “Southern Gothic” is a genuinely charming slice of solo percussion music that checks three important boxes: it’s fun to play, fun to listen to, and fits into a backpack. For all of my focus on the pedagogical side of things, the piece is also a short but impressive technical barnburner that would be equally welcome on a public concert or degree recital. I expect this solo will become a popular option for university juries, but I think it would also be an excellent addition to a school or public concert given by a traveling professional. In any event, I strongly recommend this work to anyone looking for a shorter multiple-percussion solo project that will be both technically and conceptually rewarding.

—Brian Graiser
Percussive Notes
Vol. 61, No. 2, April 2023