Tuesday Musical Series Off To Lighthearted Start

Akron Beacon Journal - September 28, 2005

by Elaine Gureglan

Vibrant young players in Imani Winds can't be mistaken for backups.

Laughter spilled out from backstage before Paquito D'Rivera even made his first entrance on Tuesday night at E.J. Thomas Hall. More was soon to follow, this time from the audience. The wise-cracking jazz clarinetist/composer was in the mood to joke with the audience and his much younger colleagues in the Imani Winds.

"I don't read music. This is just to impress you." he quipped to the audience, holding up his score to Kites Over Havana. D'Rivera had written the piece on commission for the woodwind quintet. Now he and pianist Hector Martignon are on a national tour, performing it in concerts with the group.

Hearing them play, no one could mistake these vibrant, expert young players for a backup band. Valerie Coleman, the ensemble's flutist, also wrote a composition on themes of racial justice in which the group played on Tuesday.

Jeff Scott, the French hornist, composed the lithe,blusey Titilayo, which opened the concert. With Toyin Spellman-Diaz (oboe), Mariam Adam (clarinet) and Monica Ellis (bassoon), these musicians are making a name for themselves as musicians of color (African-American ans Hispanic) who put traditional classical music (such as a transcription of Maurice Ravel's Le Tombeau de Couperin) on programs that welcome non-Western cultures, too.

Expert musicianship and lighthearted introductions to the pieces made this a festive and substantial opening concert for the Tuesday Musical series.

D'Rivera participated in person in the second half, playing in an arrangement by Jeff Scott of Piazzolla's Libertango. Here, the woodwind quintet, D'Rivera and pianist Martignon recreated the pumping energy of an accordion or bandoneon in one of Piazzolla's tangos. D'Rivera's presence was also felt in the first half, which included a performance by the Imani Winds of his Aires Tropicales. This is sultry, sophisticated music of which the payers gave a subtle reading.

Jerry Davidson, Tuesday Musical's vice president, spoke before the concert to dedicate this season's concerts to the late pianist Margaret Baxtresser, who championed Tuesday Musical at every turn.