Reviews
Concert Performances
Dirty Linen
Starting with John Cage, there have been quite a few composers who have worked with junk and found objects to create their music. However, nobody does it with quite as much finesse as Donald Knaack.
Conan O'Brien, Late Night with Conan O'Brien (NBC)
A mind-blowing experience!
The New York Times
...a virtuoso percussionist.
Lincoln Center Out-of-Doors
It really cooked!
The Village Voice
...the legendary percussion virtuoso.
In Madrid - Madrid, Spain - Feb '03
This guy is mad and very popular!
Guia del Gocio, Feb '03, Madrid, Spain
The Junkman's music and his instruments are provocative and entirely innovative.
Amazon.com Customer
It's Stomp on acid!
Down Beat
...virtuoso playing worth hearing.
Option
Music of tremendous power and wide-ranging temperaments.
Jazz Ambassadors Magazine
The Junkman totally captivated the Kansas City International Jazz Festival audience...
BRAT Magazine
...unusual, completely independent and wholly cool!
Education
Kulturhuset, Stockholm, Sweden
We can all learn something from this wonderful presentation.
Stratton Arts Festival
The workshops are stimulating and unique. Exposing students to the recycling message that a discarded object can be reborn into a completely new function and using this method to create music is an educational approach that is worthwhile.
Michael J. Peterides School, Staten Island, NY
Our teachers say this was the best assembly we have ever had!
Sea Cliff Elementary School
It was really great! People loved how the kids were so responsive and for many the Junkjam was their favorite part. The music felt very powerful when the whole audience was playing together. Thanks for a great show!
Dorset Elementary School
You are a very gifted teacher!
Mark Skinner Library, Manchester, VT
Children and grown-ups alike were fascinated!
Greensboro Wonder and Wisdom, Greensboro, VT
Some people come into our lives and quickly go, but they move our souls to dance. They awaken us to new understanding with the passing whisper of their wisdom. Some people make the sky more beautiful to gaze upon. They stay in our lives for a while, leave footprints on our hearts and we are never, ever the same.
Snug Harbor Cultural Center, Staten Island, NY
Not only does Knaack bring out the music in an object, he does the same with people. With his friendly support and cooperation, this event was planned by the Cultural Center and Knaack as a Family Day of conservation-related crafts and music workshops. The Junkman's unpretentious humanitarianism, talents, and simple love for playing percussion provided all at once a great concert, a musically educational experience and a happy day for our Staten Island community.