Friday night, concert-goers filled every seat of Crowell Concert Hall as the rich jazz music of the Regina Carter Quintet charged the atmosphere. Carter and her supporting musicians created an intimate environment despite the large performance space, allowing the audience members and performers to feed off of each other’s energy.
Jay Hoggard, Adjunct Associate Professor of Music at the University and a renowned violinist himself, introduced Carter and her ensemble and primed the crowd for the laid-back performance to follow.
“We’re a mellow crowd,” Hoggard said. “But we’ll be very inspired and uplifted tonight!”
Hoggard’s statement was confirmed shortly thereafter. The four other members of the quintet came out and began to tune their instruments. As soon as Carter came on stage, the audience erupted into applause and the music began right away, setting an enthusiastic tone for the rest of the evening.
The songs performed ranged from jazz and swing to classical, showing the wide breadth of style of all the musicians. Carter’s own playing showcased her personal versatility as at times her playing was characterized by short, quick plucks and staccato notes while at other times long full notes ranged up and down the scale.
However, Carter’s violin consistently offered a unifying sound, bringing the quintet together as a whole.
“She had really excellent bow control, it makes the sound very clear so she could control the sound very well,” said Jessica Necheles ’07.
Most often, Carter stood center stage surrounded in a horseshoe shape by the remaining quintet members. Immediately on her right, David Budway played an energetic piano, tapping and dancing his feet so excitedly that at times neither foot would even be touching the ground. Next to him, Chris Lightcap, who spent a semester at Wesleyan as a visiting student during his studies at Williams College, plucked a soulful, rhythmic bass.
Two percussionists rounded out the quintet, providing not only a beat, but also often an extra dimension to the music. Alvester Garnett sat at the more traditional drum set, though there was nothing ordinary about the style and liveliness of his beats.
In addition to Garmett’s drumming, Mayra Casales played chimes, blocks, bongos and many other percussive instruments, often providing a melodic element, rather than just a beat.
“It was different from what I expected,” said Ulyana Sorokopoud ’08. “I didn’t expect it to have that much rhythm and be that dramatic with the drumming.”
The quintet’s rendition of Richard Bona’s “Mandigo Street” truly pushed each performer and instrument to their limits, exploring all possibilities of sound. Using their instruments in innovative ways, the performers evoked sounds of nature, transforming Crowell into a lively outdoor street.
The piece began with a high-pitched whistle, like birds chirping, created by the violin and complemented by chimes and other percussive instruments, creating a magical tone.
Budway stood up and appeared to be playing the piano from inside, reaching under the cover. Carter plucked the strings toward the top of her violin, creating quick, new sounds. The percussion section used what seemed like every possible instrument on stage, including short yelps from Casales, to create a wide range of sounds.
In fact, at one point, the piano and violin dropped out, leaving the bass and percussion to continue the song, which they did in a surprisingly melodic fashion. When all the instruments added back in, the quintet members began singing too, almost like an additional instrument to complement the violin. Using the instruments to echo sounds of nature such as animals, winds, and water, the quintet displayed their versatility and command of their instruments.
Such an energetic piece, like many of the others as well, Mandingo Street truly allowed the performers to get in to the piece as they all bobbed, shook, and reflected the liveliness of their music with the energy of their bodies. As the performer’s energy heightened, so did the audience’s, and vice versa, creating an intimate yet charged atmosphere. At the end of the evening, the audience gave its final mark of approval with not one, but two standing ovations.
“[The performance was] absolutely terrific,” said Professor of Art History and Anthropology Phil Wagoner at the end of the program. “They were so tight. There was electricity in the music through it all.”
The performance Friday night, part of the Crowell Concert Series, followed an afternoon master class Carter led for Wesleyan students.
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