Regardless of the heavy snow coming down on Troy Friday night, the McNeil Room had the ambience of summer islands and beaches. It’s no wonder, since the African Caribbean Students Association hosted its cultural show with the Ewabo Caribbean Steel Orchestra as the main event.
The show opened up with Johanna Carroll ’09 singing the Black National Anthem, “Lift Every Voice and Sing.” The second act showcased the Nigerian Students Association on the drums. This immediately set the tone for the rest of the evening. Afterwards, the NSA performed a few dance pieces, led by NSA’s president Ikenna Okoli ’07.
It was then time to start the main event and Ewabo emerged to perform on their instruments. Ewabo featured a trio from St. Martin, Trinidad and Tobago, and the Virgin Islands. The steel drum was the instrument of interest at the show.
Ewabo is one of the top steel orchestras in the United States, having won the National Steelband Music Festival Championships two years in a row. The group has also appeared in a wide variety of areas including the D.C. Caribbean Carnival Parade and the Annapolis Art Fest. They even performed for the likes of former president Bill Clinton.
The band played a number of tunes, starting with beats that had the audience clapping along. Ewabo also did jazzy renditions of Stevie Wonder’s “I Just Called to Say I Love You,” and Bob Marley’s “No Woman, No Cry.” A few more songs were so upbeat that even the audience participated by going on the dance floor, while others waved their hands around from their seats.
In the middle of the show, Ewabo stopped to let the audience get up and view the steel drums. A few questions were asked, and the group gave some information regarding the origin of the instrument and its value—an estimation of around $10,000 per set. To satisfy their curiosity, the band even let one or two students produce a few sounds with the steel drums.
Ewabo then played a few more songs, and for the rest of the night, people danced, clapped, and enjoyed the summer music inside, all the while the snow continued to fall all over campus.
