Biography
[LOOP 2.4.3]
From edgy to impressionistic, classical to avante garde, the percussion music of performers/composers Thomas Kozumplik and Lorne Watson takes the audience on “a really focussed and thrilling percussive ride,” creating vibrant contemporary music that is “enrapturing and truly alive indeed.” (NewNoise.net)
Loop 2.4.3 employs the gamut of percussion instruments, from marimba and steel drum to tom-toms, bongos and snare drums, temple bowls and wood blocks, opera gongs and electronics. Their music has been described as “transportive percussion odysseys,” (The Boston Phoenix) “taut compositions with a stunning improvisational sense,” (TimeOut Chicago) and as containing of both “action adventures and reveries... all sound[ing] like part of a well-thought-out tradition, only the tradition has never existed until now.” (NPR Fresh Air)
Based in Brooklyn’s Bed-Stuy neighborhood, Loop 2.4.3 has toured throughout North America, Europe, Scandinavia, South Korea, and Australia, and has performed for radio, film, and television, including footage for The Learning Channel and MTV. The group has given concerts, conducted master classes, and held residencies at Cornell University, Okalahoma City University, and Michigan State University amongst others. As active figures in a cross-world of musical genres, Kozumplik and Watson have played for The London Jazz Festival, Merkin Hall, The Sydney Festival, Music Works Northwest, Pacific College and the Harry Partch Institute and many others. The duo has received awards and support from the National Endowment for the Arts, The Connecticut Council on the Arts, Chamber Music America, Analog Arts, the UK Arts Council, Yale University, and the International Association of Jazz Educators.
The group’s debut recording, “Batterie” released in 2007 (Music Starts from Silence) features 6 extended tracks that have been touted as “a feast of gorgeous sounds,” (Lansing State Journal) “Unusually clever stuff... delivered with precision and style [rating: 5+],” (LMNOP.com) and “accessible to everyone.” (Downtown Express)
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