Hip-hop violin duo Black Violin will perform at Concord’s Capitol Center for the Arts on Thursday, February 16th, at 7:30pm in the Spotlight Café. Tickets are on sale now for $15 (students) and $25 (adults)
About the performers: "Kev Marcus and Wil B use a neo-classical, urban style of violin mixtures, vocals and funk. They gained notoriety when they accompanied Alicia Keys at the 2004 Billboard Awards. Black Violin has shared the bill with such artists as Aerosmith, Linkin Park's Mike Shioda, the Eagles, Stevie Nicks, 50 Cent, Nas, Fabolous, Wu-Tang Clan, and Ciara. The classically trained duo has appeared at the NFL Kickoff Party and on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Jimmy Kimmel Live, Last Call with Carson Daly and Fox News in the Morning. They are winners of the 2005 Apollo Legend title."
"Beyond all the glitz and glamour, the members of Black Violin just want to give children the same opportunities that they had. With school music programs being culled all across the country, Kev and Wil are concerned that urban youth will not have the benefit of music as a positive alternative to other, more destructive pursuits. With this in mind, they have embarked upon a campaign of social change-using youth orchestras and reinvigorated music programs to show children and teens that they are capable of expressing themselves in ways they have never dreamed."
"Combining a daunting array of musical styles and influences to produce a Signature Sound that is not quite maestro, not quite emcee, this group of two classically trained violinists and their DJ is redefining the music world-one string at a time. With influences ranging from Shostakovich and Bach to Nas and Jay-Z, Black Violin breaks all the rules, blending the classical with the modern to create something rare-a sound that nobody has ever heard, but that everybody wants to feel."
"When the members of Black Violin first learned to play their signature instruments-Wil B at the viola 14 years old and Kev Marcus the violin at the tender age of 9-neither could have foreseen that it would become their livelihood, though it was already becoming their passion. The two Florida natives first met while attending the Dillard High School of Performing Arts in Fort Lauderdale, a school whose exceptional music programs served to nurture their already budding talents."
"But it was not until the two were exposed to the work of legendary violinist Stuff Smith that the seeds that would one day become Black Violin were truly planted. Smith, born in Portsmouth, Ohio in 1909, was one of preeminent jazz violinists of the swing era, who went onto perform with names like Alphonse Trent, Coleman Hawkins, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie and Sun Ra throughout a long and storied career. His final album and most soulful, entitled "Black Violin," so inspired and influenced the young Kev Marcus and Wil B that they would eventually name their band in honor of the man who had shown them that there were no limits to what the violin could do."
Tickets are available now by calling 603-255-1111, online at www.ccanh.com , and at the Capitol Center Box Office Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
