Third Coast Percussion/Photo: Saverio Truglia
The first instrumental musical performances known to mankind probably involved percussion: Men pounding sticks, rocks, animal skins and other objects to create not only rhythm but also pitch and even melody. In the thousands of years since, “drums” have evolved to include hundreds of different types of instruments–everything from your “traditional” kit of snares, tom-toms and a kick drum surrounded by cymbals, to vibes, chimes, claves, crotales, maracas, marimbas and now laptop touch synths and computer pads. These are incorporated into performances as simple as drum circles to entire symphonic movements using only these instruments.
On June 28, Third Coast Percussion will celebrate the full range of them at Rhythm Fest. The all-day event is part of the group’s twentieth-anniversary celebration and features more than thirty total hours of performances by dozens of performers, from Glenn Kotche of Wilco to international tabla master Salar Nader and electronic percussion composer and Gary native Jlin. It will all take place at the Epiphany Center for the Arts at 201 South Ashland. A former Episcopal Church built in 1885, it may be the most striking indoor performance area in Chicago. Included in its over 42,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor areas is a spectacular main room featuring giant stained-glass windows, supported by solid oak beams and pillars that resemble wooden versions of the great gothic churches of Europe. It also features a second-floor oak room, gallery space, outdoor patios and a downstairs area that was formerly the church catacombs.
Sean Connors/Photo: Saverio Truglia
“We are taking over the entire complex with performances from noon to 10pm,” says Sean Connors, a member of Third Coast’s Grammy-winning quartet, which will be performing at the festival. “There will be events all day in areas including the upstairs Sanctuary, which kind of has a jazz club kind of feel, and the main floor Epiphany Hall, a big old gorgeous, converted church with woodwork and stained glass, where we will feature our bigger ensemble. Downstairs in the catacombs is an incredible vibe, with cool, enticing lighting—that’s where all the electronic musicians will be,” Connors continues. “We will have events upstairs in the Guild Room, a gallery space where visual artists will be displaying their work, including an all-day sound and video installation by Glenn Kotche, the drummer from Wilco. So we will have six or seven performance spaces, as well as the bar and patio where people can just sit and chill out.”
Among the other notable events will be a tribute to Zakir Hussain, who passed away in December of 2024. A four-time Grammy winner and recipient of the National Endowment of the Arts’ Heritage Fellowship, Hussain was recognized as the world’s greatest practitioner of the tabla and performed with artists ranging from George Harrison, Van Morrison, Bela Fleck, Pharoah Sanders and Mickey Hart of The Grateful Dead.
“The tabla are small, hand-held drums used in Hindustani music,” Connors says. “They may seem like little bongos to some, but you could spend lifetimes learning the music that is played on these instruments. There is a whole system of syllables that tabla players recite,” Connors continues. “Each syllable has a different sound on the drums. We have a fantastic tabla artist coming to Rhythm Fest—his name is Salar Nader, and he will be bringing about six tablas and playing on our evening set.”
Salar Nader/Photo: Nilesh Patel
While many people still have the image of a percussionist as a sort of wild man with long bangs pounding on a Slingerland kit, there will be many other forms of percussive musical expression at the event. This includes world and electronic music, percussive symphonic and chamber music—for which Third Coast Percussion was awarded a Grammy in 2017—as well as musicians of many other instruments that feature percussion.
“For musical omnivores, the fest will represent so many different ways of making music, from jazz musicians to electronically trained musicians who play on their laptop to electronic mediums, synth players, wind players, and even people playing objects like metal pipes and pieces of wood and glass,” Connors says. “Also, we call it Rhythm Fest, but not every group will be playing percussion,” Connors continues. “The celebration of Third Coast is through our collaborators, so there will be theatrical groups, as well as musical performances by solo pianists, string quartets, guitars, saxophones. The entire day will be very open, artistic and eclectic, and it will be very fun.”
Third Coast Percussion’s Rhythm Fest is on June 28 at Epiphany Center For the Arts, 201 South Ashland. For full festival schedule and ticketing information, visit thirdcoastpercussion.com.
