Spare Times for Children for Nov. 16-22
By LAUREL GRAEBER
BLACK VIOLIN
Partway through a set on Sunday, Wilner Baptiste, who performs as Wil B, announced, “I’m going to introduce my lady,” calling her “the baddest thing since sliced bread.” Then he proudly showed her off, asking, “Isn’t she gorgeous?”
Well, yes: classical elegance, shapely curves, lovely voice. An exquisite viola.
Wil B and Kevin Marcus Sylvester, a k a Kev Marcus, the duo known as Black Violin, love to play with audience expectations. Having worked with Kanye West and 50 Cent, they have plenty of hip-hop attitude, yet they’re classically trained. (Kev Marcus, above left, with Wil B, plays violin.) And since they were at the family-oriented New Victory Theater, many of Sunday’s listeners were children, who may have believed that Black Violin would introduce them to the classical canon. Wrong again.
“You probably thought that you were coming to a violin show,” Kev Marcus said after a few numbers. He quickly shouted, “Rule No. 1: This is a party!” Another rule: “You’re going to get up and dance.”
The kids caught on fast. Black Violin is neither hip-hop nor classical: it’s both. Onstage with David Gotay, a cellist; Dwayne Dayal, known as DJ TK, who busily works turntables; and Jermaine McQueen, or Beatdown, a percussionist, Wil B and Kev Marcus offer original compositions that can evoke styles as disparate as klezmer, Latin and rock. Sometimes they play with the intense seriousness of orchestral soloists; at others they fiddle as if at a hoedown; at still others they strum the violin and viola like guitars.
Since its last appearance at the New Victory in 2009 Black Violin has capitalized on another instrument: Wil B’s voice. Some numbers are actually songs, like “Tiffany,” a plaintive ballad, and the dreamy “End of the World.” Wil B, who has a smooth, R&B sound, puts down his viola to sing, but the other strings continue, taking these works beyond ordinary pop.
“The true point of the show is to get everybody here to think outside the box,” Kev Marcus said, as in “Brandenburg,” based on Bach’s “Brandenburg” Concertos, spiced with what Wil B calls “salt and vinegar.” But while you have to be original to succeed, Kev Marcus told the audience, you also have to “outwork everybody.” Black Violin works hard but makes it all look like play.
(Through Nov. 25. Friday at 7 p.m.; Saturday at 2 and 7 p.m.; Sunday at noon and 5 p.m.; 209 West 42nd Street, Manhattan, 646-223-3010, newvictory.org; $14 to $38; $9 to $25 for members.) LAUREL GRAEBER
Original Story at NYTIMES.com
