Synergy Percussion Breaks Ground With Taboo
Swap your evening dress for safari suits and revel in the exotica of seductive jungle drums, sultry vibraphone melodies and the occasional tropical birdcall, as Synergy Percussion, Australia’s premiere percussion group presents Taboo.
Taboo will transform the Australian Museum with the music of the suave soundtrack to 1950’s dinner parties and cocktail soirees.
As a musical genre, Exotica was derived from a mash-up of music from Polynesia, Africa, Hawaii, the Caribbean and even Japan, which was then bundled together on albums with titles like Cuban Fire, Pagan Festival, Ritual of the Savage and, of course Taboo by Arthur Lyman.
Other notable artists were the Baja Marimba Band, Les Baxter and Martin Denny, whose 1957 album by the same title gave Exotica music its name.
Synergy Percussion has gained an international reputation for the polished performance of some of the world’s most challenging and intricate contemporary art music and Synergy Percussion’s Artistic Director Timothy Constable says that Taboo is a rare opportunity for Sydney audiences to hear this unique music live, observing that “Most of us only ever encounter exotica on someone’s play list at a house party or in a bar in the background.”
“But it’s the kind of music you want to hear live. It’s sexy, it’s fun, it’s sophisticated and a little kinky. It’s totally different to anything else we hear today.”
Constable says that Exotica’s distinctive tribal rhythms and vibes make it the perfect programme for Synergy Percussion, as well as allowing the ensemble to pull out some of their much-loved but underutilised instruments, “We’ve got a cuica, a conch shell, and we’ve all been practising our monkey calls,” he excliams.
Along with DJ Charlie Villas, Synergy Percussion will be presenting Taboo in the Australian Museum’s main atrium, complete with bar, mood lighting, projections and palm trees.
Attire is dressy casual, but if you’ve got a kimono, a safari suit, or a Hawaiian shirt your partner would rather bury in the backyard, now is the perfect time to pull it out and show it off.
Ticket holders also get a special sneak preview to the Australian Museum’s new Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition.
Synergy Percussion boasts an international reputation for successfully tackling some of the world’s most challenging and intricate contemporary art music.
Synergy Percussion:
Timothy Constable, Bree van Reyk, Evan Mannell and Jess Ciampa + DJ Charlie Villas
Tickets: $40 and $30.
