Page 16 - Florida Sentinel 2-12-16

Feature
Black Violin Performs At Straz Center
BY KENYA WOODARD Sentinel Feature Writer
There’s no clear category for the blend of classical and hip-hop music that gives Black Violin duo Kevin Sylvester (“Kev Marcus) and Wil Baptiste (“Wil B”) its unique sound.
“It’s just great music,” said Mr. Baptiste. “The fans really love it.”
Last week, the two – who met 20 years ago as students at Fort Laud- erdale’s Dillard High School of the Performing Arts – showcased their distinctive sound to a full house in the Ferguson Hall at the Straz Center of Performing Arts.
For more than an hour, with Mr. Sylvester on the violin and Mr. Baptiste playing the viola, the men thrilled the audience with selections from albums past and from their lat- est CD – aptly titled “Stereotypes” – including “Addiction” and the title track.
Accompanied by a DJ and a drum- mer, the two also weaved into their set popular songs like Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines” and Mar- vin Gaye’s “Let’s Get It On.” Jazz music and rapping and some singing from Mr. Baptiste also are part of the performance.
At one point during the show, Mr.
Sylvester encouraged everyone to get out of their seats and dance in the aisles if the music moved them to do it.
“This is a party,” he said.
While Black Violin shows definitely are designed to entertain, they’re also meant to educate, said Mr. Bap- tiste.
In a separate interview, Mr. Bap- tiste said he and Mr. Sylvester’s main goal is to shatter the old stan- dards of what the make-up of a clas- sically-trained musician should be or what constitutes a devotee of hip-hop.
Playing the viola was not the plan Mr. Baptiste had in mind when he signed up to play in the high school band. He wanted to play the saxo- phone, but was accidentally placed in the strings section.
Initially flustered, Baptiste picked up the one instrument in the class overlooked by the other stu- dents: the viola.
“I’d never seen one of those up close,” he said.
Soon, he found himself hooked on what he had thought was an “uppity instrument.”
By high school, Mr. Sylvester had already been playing the violin for some years, thanks to his mother’s insistence. When he and Mr. Bap- tiste met in band class, the two found
a connection as hip-hop heads who also had an appreciation for classical music.
Even as they attended different colleges – Mr. Baptiste at Florida State University, Mr. Sylvester at Florida International Univer- sity – the pair’s friendship and busi- ness partnership
blossomed.
Their unique
sound made them popular on the local club scene and they began collaborating with and producing other musicians.
But their careers really took off when they were ap- proached by Alicia Keys’ manager to ap- pear with her on the
Billboard Awards after winning
Showtime at the Apollo.
Three albums and hundreds of tour dates later, the two are still hav- ing fun bridging the gap between clas- sical music and hip-hop.
It’s important that young Black children – especially those who may have an interest in classical music, but shy away from it – see that it’s possible to love the two genres equally, Mr. Baptiste said.
“To see someone like me to play the way I play, it’s not so far-fetched,” he said. “When kids see us, they think it’s cool.”
During the concert, Mr. Sylvester encouraged the youngest members of the audience to not shy away from playing the violin or viola.
“We’ve traveled all over the world – with Alicia Keys, Lincoln Park, and Kanye West – with these in- struments,” he said. “And we’ve played for the President.”
BLACK VIOLIN
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