Trying to end this semester on a pleasant musical note, the Spring ’02 Ghanaian drumming class and the RPI Jazz Ensemble put on a show-stopping performance for the campus on Saturday in the McNeil Room. The show, which went from 7-8:45 pm, was to be the last hoorah for both groups—it was the Ghanaian drummers final campuswide performance as well as the last concert of the semester for the jazz ensemble.
The drummers’ were up first as they brought the crowd home with rhythmic beats of a homeland. Led by a very talented adjunct professor, Yacub Addy, the group kept the audience on the edge of their seats. As I listened to the drummers all I wanted to do was get up and dance and I could tell by the delight in the eyes of my fellow audience members that they too desired to let go of their inhibitions.
Although there were a wide variety of drums and bells being played by the students, for the most part the class performed as one cohesive drum, creating a solid unit. Most of the students played at the same time and a few were given 15 to 30 second time slots where they alone displayed their artistic ability.
Viewer Eric Blakeman remarked, “It was pretty good, actually. I enjoyed it.”
At the end of the drumming portion of the concert the audience gave enthusiastic applause while the jazz ensemble prepared to give us their best.
Under the direction of an exciting Michael Craner, the jazz ensemble took the ‘A’ train straight to the heart of the audience. The ensemble played a total of six songs. In their lively rendition of “Groovin’ Hard,” the entire saxophone section filled the room with hard swing during their feature. Their final number, a sort of Latin jazz, the Chick Corea classic, “Spain,” left the audience feeling so high that they refused to allow the band to stop there. When Craner asked, “You guys want one more?” The audience resounded with a much-animated, “Yeah!”
The encore, “Moanin,” was my favorite of all the songs the band performed. Jeff Carroll, the newly elected vice-president, added much to the piece with his baritone sax. The audience seemed moved by his low-toned melody. I, for one, was really excited about his section and definitely appreciated its contribution to the piece.
At the end of the show Teya Dalton, said, “I liked it! I would have paid money to see them.”
And as we all know, if something is free and people are still willing to pay money for it, it must be golden!
