Touch the Sound on AllMovie

Evelyn Glennie is one of the world's most celebrated percussionists, and has produced acclaimed work in the classical, pop, and avant-garde fields. Glennie's collaborators include Icelandic avant-pop darling Björk, bluegrass-turned-jazz virtuoso Béla Fleck, the traditional Japanese ensemble Kodo, and pianist Murray Perahia. What makes Glennie's accomplishments all the more remarkable is the fact she is "profoundly deaf" -- a neurological disorder that surfaced in her childhood robbed her of most of her hearing, and while she can still pick up certain sounds, she primarily relies on feeling vibrations through her feet and her body to stay in communication with her musical partners. But Glennie has not only refused to see her hearing loss as a drawback, she generally doesn't acknowledge it in interviews or press releases, and has said she believes hearing is simply another form of touch. Touch the Sound is a documentary that looks at Glennie's life and career as she follows her passion for music, including her never-ending search for new instruments and percussive objects, her work with other hearing-impaired musicians, and a collaborative improvisational session with guitarist Fred Frith.