For many, it was a refreshing surprise and to others they just could not wait to hear live and in living color the musical geniuses who were the talk of the town in anticipation of their performance in Palo Alto, CA. That would be Kevin Sylvester and Wil Baptiste, nationally and internationally known as Black Violin.
Black Violin rocked the roof at Stanford Bing Concert Hall on January 28, 2017 giving life in the Bay Area as part of their UNITY tour. This concert bridged so many gaps including those that stemmed from generation to economic class. The crowd of attendees ranged in age from 10 to 80 and the body movement of everyone in the house was a true sentiment of Stevie Wonder's phrase that music speaks to every culture, gender, ethnicity, class and beyond. While I did my research about Black Violin, still when reading the performance program I was in amazement and reminded of their many high profile performances from collaborating with super star Jay Z to performing at the White House for President Barack Obama's Inauguration, it goes without saying that the Violin and Viola will quickly become the most sought after instrument of choice to learn among children, youth and young adults. Why? Because these gentlemen have mastered the art of blending their trained classical music skills with their love of hip hop music to break society's stereotypes, and it's only the beginning.
Wil Baptiste, who plays the Viola in the duo group, gave the crowd hope in his lyrics as he sang the hook, 'you cannot change your past, but you can control your future', which was just the message we needed to hear given the very uncertain times we're living right now. I will not be remiss in mentioning how Wil then slayed on the keyboard during the performance as well. The diversity in Wil's musical talents was a WOW for the teens and youth in the audience. And all this was done so very effortlessly.
You could tell that Kevin and Wil were 'in love' and 'in relationship' with their instruments during the performance. Their body language spoke volumes of the closeness they had with their instruments as took us from a love romance atmosphere to dropping it low and shaking what your 'mama' gave you all in one set. From Beethoven or Mozart to hip hop's finest tunes, the SOLD OUT crowd wanted more by the time Black Violin had to leave the stage and continue the UNITY tour, a tour that had so many more stops to go nationally.
It was especially endearing to see how families enjoyed the performance and watching young children dance with their parents, aunts, uncles and grandparents was simply the best ever! It's only the beginning for the dynamic duo, Black Violin, as they are truly breaking stereotypes that have been hard for so many others to even crack. It is truly 'done and done' with it comes to what Black Violin has mastered in the music world.
#~L� Bu�Z?