Violin duo creates master musical mix

 

Every so often in the music world, a visionary will come along and meld together two or three different genres whose spheres have never been known to touch. When done well, it can be almost magical.

People often think that all modern genres have been tapped and explored as much as possible. One group, Black Violin, is trying to prove the naysayers wrong.

The genres of hip-hop, funk, jazz and classical are hardly what would normally be hailed as a musical love connection. The idea is made even stranger by considering that the genres are meeting on the strings of a violin.

Black Violin uses this sort of music as its legacy. 

“It’s something new,” Ebony O’ Neal, a senior theatre education student from Deerfield Beach, Fla., and Lyceum Series box office employee, said.

“It’s taking something classical and making it more modern within terms of what the genre is.”

The members of Black Violin are two classically trained violinists, Kev Marcus and Wil B, and their DJ, DJTK. The group is homegrown from Fort Lauderdale, but began receiving national recognition in 2004.

    They have toured with performed with Alicia Keys, Fort Minor, P. Diddy, Kanye West, Aerosmith, Aretha Franklin and many others.

“People should really come out,” O’ Neal said. “It’s a way to be exposed to something different…mixing it with what most people our age listen to which is basically hip-hop and things of that nature but it puts a twist on it.”

The group will perform at 7:30 p.m. tonight in Lee Hall Auditorium, but the doors will open at 6:30 p.m.

Admission is free to up to 300 Florida A&M students with a valid student I.D on a first come first serve basis.

General admission will be $35 for Section A, $25 for Section B, and $15 for Section C. Tickets will be available at the FAMU box office or online at www.famu.edu/lyceum.