Third Coast Percussion, Sérgio And Clarice Assad Join Forces for ARCHETYPES On Cedille Records

Grammy Award-winning Third Coast Percussion, celebrated Brazilian guitarist Sérgio Assad, and his daughter, the vibrant vocalist, composer, and multi-instrumentalist Clarice Assad, join forces for Archetypes, a collaboratively written program conjuring a dozen universal archetypes - timeless characters shared by cultures around the globe.

Available March 12, 2021, Archetypes, a world-premiere recording, depicts figures such as the Rebel, Lover, Magician, Jester, Hero, and Explorer, brought to life in 12 short works melding imaginative chamber music with Latin jazz rhythms.

The enterprising percussion ensemble's vast color palette, Sérgio Assad's guitar mastery, and Clarice Assad's diverse artistic contributions - wordless singing, vocal percussion, bass guitar, piano, and even some percussion instruments - create striking musical portraits.

"The 12 pieces in this project span an incredible range of musical styles and influences," percussionist David Skidmore said in a pre-release interview with Cedille Records. "Each is tied together by the sound world of our combined instruments, but each also required a different musical approach. There are influences of minimalism and the avant-garde, Brazilian jazz - even a little samba - 19th-and early 20th-century classical repertoire, and so much more."

Third Coast Percussion credits the Assads, fellow Chicago-based musicians, for the album's concept. They approached the percussion ensemble about collaborating on an archetype-themed program after seeing them perform at Chicago's 2016 Ear Taxi new-music festival.

The Assads each composed four pieces, while percussionists Sean Connors, Robert Dillon, Peter Martin, and Skidmore each wrote a piece based on an archetype of his own choosing.

"You really couldn't ask for better collaborators" than the Assads, Third Coast's Connors said in a Cedille Records podcast interview. "Both Sérgio and Clarice are triple threats. They're amazing performers, gifted and innovative composers, and they're also just wonderful people."

Premiere Performances, Vivid Impressions:

Third Coast Percussion and the Assads gave the world premiere of Archetypes on January 23, 2020, at Sonoma State University, Rohnert Park, California, followed by the New England premiere January 25, 2020, for the Celebrity Series of Boston.

Boston Classical Review proclaimed "each piece cast a vivid impression of its respective theme.... The performers played with verve, revealing the music's power to convey the traits underlying ancient, eternal ideas."

The artists were scheduled to perform Archetypes in Chicago, New York, Philadelphia, Iowa City, Iowa, and Orange County, California, but the concert tour was cut short due to COVID-19 restrictions and will be rescheduled.

James Ginsburg, founder and president of Cedille Records says, "The Archetypes album will surely heighten anticipation for their live, local performances.

"Third Coast Percussion aims to inspire and educate through the creation of exciting and unexpected musical experiences," Ginsburg says. "Archetypes is a great example of one of those musical experiences."

Recording Team:

Archetypes was produced and engineered by a team with multiple Grammy Awards and nominations to their credit: producer Elaine Martone and engineers Bill Maylone, Dan Nichols, and Jonathan Lackey. The album was recorded January 28-31, 2020, at Chicago Recording Company.

Third Coast Percussion on Cedille Records:

Third Coast Percussion won the Grammy Award for Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance for their 2016 Cedille label debut, Third Coast Percussion | Steve Reich, making them the first percussion ensemble to win a chamber music Grammy.

Their late-2019 Cedille album Fields, featuring classical compositions by pop star Devonté Hynes (aka Blood Orange), is nominated for two Grammys at this year's awards, to be announced March 14.

Sérgio and Clarice Assad:

Making his Cedille Records debut, Sérgio Assad of the renowned Assad Brothers guitar duo has won Latin Grammys for composition and performance. He and his brother Odair have collaborated in performances and recordings with classical artists Gidon Kremer, Yo-Yo Ma, Dawn Upshaw, Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg, and others. He has recorded for Sony, Nonesuch, and Gha.

Clarice Assad is a Grammy-nominated composer with more than 70 works to her credit. Her music appears on five Cedille albums and is also represented on Sony, Nonesuch, Telarc, Chandos, and other labels. As a performer, she has shared the stage with Bobby McFerrin, Anat Cohen, and other luminaries across musical genres. "She energetically bends music to her will and reshapes it with fascinating results" (Jazz Improv Magazine). Archetypes is her Cedille debut as performer.

Cedille Records

Launched in November 1989 by James Ginsburg, Grammy Award-winning Cedille Records (pronounced say-DEE) is dedicated to showcasing and promoting the most noteworthy classical artists in and from the Chicago area.

Cedille has recorded more than 180 Chicago artists, with more than 80 making their professional recording debuts on the label. Its catalog includes the world premieres of more than 300 classical compositions.

The audiophile-oriented label releases every new album in multiple formats - physical CD, 96 kHz, 24-bit, studio-quality FLAC download, and 320 Kbps MP3 download - and on major streaming services.

An independent nonprofit enterprise, Cedille Records is the label of Cedille Chicago, NFP. Sales of physical CDs and digital downloads and streams cover only a small percentage of the label's costs. Tax-deductible donations from individual music-lovers and grants from charitable organizations account for most of its revenue.

Cedille's headquarters are at 1205 W. Balmoral Ave., Chicago, IL 60640; call 773-989-2515; email: info@cedillerecords.org. Website: cedillerecords.org.

Cedille Records is distributed in the Western Hemisphere by Naxos of America and its distribution partners, by Naxos Music UK, and by other independent distributors in the Naxos network in classical music markets around the world.