STARKVILLE, Miss.--An African jembe will join a vibraphone, drum set and marimba as the percussion instruments featured in an Oct. 30 Lyceum Faculty Chamber Series performance at Mississippi State.
Robert J. Damm of the university's music education department will headline the 3 p.m. concert in the Bettersworth Auditorium of Giles Hall. General admission tickets are $5 at the door; Lyceum season ticket holders and MSU students with identification are admitted free.
Titled "A Recital of Rhythm and Percussion of an Eclectic Nature," the musical event also features departmental colleagues Lana Johns on flute and Jason Baker on conga drums.
The program begins with "Tiriba Kan," a jembe solo based on "Tiriba," a traditional welcome rhythm of the Baga people of coastal Guinea, West Africa. A goblet-shaped drum, the internationally popular instrument originated in what now are the nations of Mali and Guinea.
Damm will be joined by Johns for movements from "How Sweet the Moonlight Sleeps," a suite composed for Damm by Johns and former MSU faculty composer Duncan McMillan. The suite conveys the intimacy and reflective communion that parent and baby share through lullabies.
Baker and Damm will collaborate on a conga-drum duet. Their piece was written in honor of Dizzy Gillespie, whose collaboration with Cuban conga drummer Chano Pozo brought about the rise of a new style now known as Afro-Cuban jazz.
Concluding the program will be an original piece, "Ghana Blue Skies," recorded by Damm and guitarist Edwin Daniel; and "Classic-African," a two-part timpani solo, one in classical symphonic style and the other in West African drumming.
For more information, telephone the music education department at (662) 325-3070.
