Lounge Lizards (1994) was commissioned by the Minnesota Orchestra Association. This tour de force for two pianos and two percussion is a musical recollection of Daugherty’s student years when he supported studies in music composition with György Ligeti by playing jazz piano in lounges, bars and nightclubs across America and Europe. Pulsating, syncopated piano and xylophone riffs are punctuated by pulsating triangles, sizzling cymbals and beatnick bongos. As the music accelerates, it becomes increasingly polytonal and polyrhythmic.