Monday, October 16, 2017

Day 240 Black Violin-Create your own path



My Blog inspiration book, “Everything I Need to Know I Learned from a Little Golden Book” reminds us to “be unique” and unique is  just what  you get with Black Violin. Classically trained violist (Wil B) and violinist (Kev Marcus)  fuse  classical music with hip hop, pop and rock. They call  their new musical genre “Classical Boom”. Their music is not just about a new sound but as Wil B  said during their show, it is about  “breaking stereotypes, thinking  outside the box and creating your own path.”


Reflection
 I have always enjoyed the symphony and even a little violin/fiddle as in the song “The Devil Went Down to Georgia” but I never really listened to hip hop. I was curious how they would  put it all together.


Black Violin  exploded with energy from the start. I definitely picked out bits and pieces of familiar classical music as they played. Then they mixed in beat boxing rhythms and song hooks by using a DJ and/or a rock beat from a phenomenal  drummer.   They added the violin and viola to pop songs from Bruno  Mars (Uptown Funk), Ed Sheeran (The Shape of You) and Marvin Gaye (Let’s get it On).  


The audience was often on their feet scything an arm through the air in time with the beat and words. I particularly enjoyed the song “Invisible” from their third released album Stereotypes,  which debuted at #1 on the Billboard Classical Crossover Chart and # 4 on Billboard R&B Chart (listen here).

Encore with students  from Hope Academy and Pittsburgh CAPA 

Black Violin’s  commitment to music outreach was evident  during the encore which was played with students from Hope Academy and Pittsburgh CAPA.  These school kids aging from 7 to 17, sounded terrific and their excitement for playing  string instruments  was infectious.

These two guys sure created their  own enjoyable musical  path and by doing so, encourage others to "think outside the box". 

(With their dedication to innovation and creativity this event and more are brought to Pittsburgh by  the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust , part of the 2017-2018 Cohen & Grigsby Trust Presents series.  I definitely will continue to see what new “outside the box” shows are next at www.trustarts.org.)

 Spiritual source
Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. (Romans 12:2)

Other sources
Black Violin http://blackviolin.net/
Stereotypes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WYerKidQGcc

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