While Davis and I thoroughly enjoy venturing off-campus to various musical venues, we have also begun discovering the wonders of music within the Penn community.  Penn Masala is an all-male a capella group that was formed in 1996 by four juniors who thoroughly enjoyed Bollywood music.  Since there were no culturally-based a capella groups on campus, these students strove to create the first.  Now celebrating their 15^th anniversary, Penn Masala is not only the world’s first Hindi a capella group, but its acclaim has reached beyond the city of Philadelphia all the way to the White House, where they performed for President Obama.

Knowing that the Penn Masala concert is one of the highlights of musical life at Penn, Davis and I had the fortune to interview the current music director of Penn Masala, UPenn senior Manoj Racherla, to discuss the concert as well as the new album, “Panoramic.”  Manoj explained that the mission of the group is to metaphorically fuse together their Asian and Western backgrounds through music.  This “metaphorical” fusing often takes place in a mash-up of a Hindi song with an English song.  Varying between pop, rock and roll, R&B, and jazz songs from the western front, Masala also sings popular Bollywood hits, Arabic songs, and classic Indian songs.  In addition to combining these genres, the group has composed nine original songs throughout the years, two of which were released on “Panoramic” on March 19^th, 2011.  Manoj explained how though usually one member leads the writing of a song, it is a collaborative effort between the all of the members.

Recording and releasing seven independent albums requires a lot of initiative and determination, and each CD takes approximately two years to complete.  Masala records at Studio Crash in Philadelphia, and they strive to record their songs in one take, without the use of editing.  According to Manoj, the group wants their music to feel organic, because that is the beauty of a capella.

The Penn Masala Spring Concert, “Penn Masala Presents: ESPM,” is both a parody of various sports topics as well as a celebratory concert commemorating their 15 year anniversary.  Mainly promoting their new album, the concert featured songs such as “Ajab Si/Here Comes the Sun,” and the two originals, “Is Pal Mein,” and “Kaash.”  The performance was dynamic and unique, and played to a sold-out auditorium of over 1200 people.  The ability of the singers to adapt to the lyricism of each soloist truly amazed us, as the beatboxer slowed the background singers to adjust to the vocalist’s rhythm.  The group’s transitions between Hindi and English songs sounded natural and easy, and the crowds were going wild for the duration of the concert.  There were many English speakers in the audience singing along to the Hindi lyrics, illustrating one of the main goals of Penn Masala: to integrate their two heritages and bring appreciation for Hindi music to Penn.  Personally, I believe that they have more than accomplished this goal—they have shared this appreciation and love of their music with people across the country.

-        Jennie

Art lives here

Last week was not only my time to wind up my fall classes. (Yes!)  It was also a great time to get out on the town and enjoy an eclectic mix of wintertime musicking in Philly.  Although one hears many laments about what the music scene here (and everywhere, it seems) lacks, if you’re persistent and consistent, there’s always something to take in.  You just have to get out of the box.

Jamaaladeen Tacuma, Wadud Ahmad, Terry Adkins, and Webb Thomas. Not Pictured, Yoichi Uzeki

First, there was another installment of J. Michael Harrison’s live music series at the Vivant Art Gallery.  Featuring Jamaaladeen Tacuma, a local bass-thumping hero, this CD release event played to a packed house full of enthusiasm and good vibes.  Tacuma’s new music is the virgin voyage for his label JAM-ALL.  Yoichi Uzeki, Webb Thomas, Terry Adkins, and Wadud Ahmad filled out the roster with verve.  Tacuma’s new music spans and combines the wide range of his compositional signature: avant-garde modernism, funky grooves framed in disjunctive, though infectious ositnato patterns all overlaid with tricky melodic statements that flirt on the edges of “catchy.”

Visual artist and Penn colleague Terry Adkins performed admirably on alto sax

The ultimate Afro-futurist, Tacuma is actively pursuing the twin tracks of pushy creativity and pushier entrepreneurialism with verve.  Dug the crowd, and the feeling.  Mr. Ahmad opened the set admirably with a cerebral spoken word performance that was set as a call-response with the pre-recorded voice of Ornette Coleman, Mr. Tacuma’s mentor.  An inspired “art” move.

At the Annenberg Theater, U of Penn,

Preservation Hall Jazz Band sound checking at Annenberg

the Preservation Hall Jazz Band was back for a sold out engagement.  Philly digs this group, and here’s the reason.  During a public pre-concert interview that I conducted with the group’s musical director, Ben Jaffe, he stressed the underlying spirituality of the band’s philosophy.  Jaffe, whose parents started the band in the 1960s, made a point that PHJB is not a repertory ensemble. They don’t’ transcribe and play, verbatim, old recordings. (Glad to hear that one).  They believe music heals, as they are exporting a holistic attitude about the power of music making and its connection to life from their native New Orleans.  The repertory is delivered with an earnestness that sweeps one up not into nostalgia, but into a spirit of “let’s enjoy our present” together. Musicianship is at a premium in this band as members move easily between virtuoso instrumentality and molasses-dipped vocals, often in one song.

The legend and lore of Dave Holland, bassist supreme, was confirmed during his recent performance at the Painted Bride Arts Center.  The venue was perfect for his big band project, which was formed in 2000 and has since been nominated for a Grammy.

The quiet before Dave Holland's storm at the Painted Bride

It was a special treat to hear many of today’s brightest stars—Chris Potter, Josh Roseman, Craig Taborn, Nate Smith, and Antonio Hart, to name a few—on this set of inspired music.  Holland’s compositional palette combines the typical scoring techniques of big band—interlocking interplay between solos, soli, and tutti practice. (If this makes no sense to you, take my history of jazz course, LOL: trust me, he’s doing it).

Dave Holland, jazz legend who's still innovating and educating

But he also has a very singular way of combining certain timbres that make you sit up and listen.  I was particularly struck by his beautiful use of alto sax and muted trumpet in some of the lines.  Another key factor driving the concept of this ensemble, of course, is how one can experience the different soloing styles of, say, Chris Potter’s hyper-modernism with emotion and Antonio Hart’s emotion-charged, blues-drenched modernism in a single song.  And Holland’s looping exploration of cyclic patterns with constantly shifting harmonic centers provides a challenging terrain for his soloists.

Instead of a 15-page paper, double-spaced, 12-point font, (with a bibliography), as their capstone experience in my History of American music class, my students made music.  The course surveys American music life from the colonial period to the present.  If you ever wondered what the 19^th century Swedish soprano Jenny Lind and Lady Gaga have in common, take this class.  Or if you ever think about the connection between Master P and PT Barnum—you got it.  We put on a benefit concert for the Penn Music Mentoring Program, a community service group dedicated to providing West Philadelphia with

Final Exam: Ramsey and students Joshua and Alex play some 1970s-style fusion. The young boys were into it.

music lessons and education.  The concert featured William Billings chorale music from 1770, a late 19^th-century string quartet, Gershwin songs, jazz, solo piano music, a guest Glee Club appearance, and more.  I participated as well, performing Jean-Luc Ponty’s “Question with No Answer,” with Josh Levy (violin) and Alex Utay (guitar).  I’ve wanted to perform that piece since the late 197os.  Life is good.  Sarah Van Sciver, a sophomore, gave us a sneak peak at her original musical based on Hamlet—definitely a high point—gotta’ love living composers.  And I’d be remiss not to mention that a student performed 4’33’’ by John Cage.  If you don’t know that piece, youtube it and turn your speakers up.  Way up.

Composer/pianist Sarah Van Sciver, a Carole King for our time, performs a work-in-progress

I left that concert and headed twenty blocks up Walnut into West Philly to a Sunday night event: the 35^th Pastoral Anniversary and 81^st birthday celebration of Bishop Audrey F. Bronson.

The doors of the church are open, and Jerry ThompSon's B-3 was bumpin'

My friend, producer, engineer, and music master Jerry ThompSon was “subbing” on the Hammond B-3 for the regular organist at the Sanctuary Church of the Open Door.  We know that there’s no such thing as a good African American Pentecostal service without the filtering sounds of a B-3 through some well-oiled Leslie speakers.  The Spirit don’t like that.  So JT was holding it down in the beautiful world of what my sister-in-law, writer Lisa Jones, calls “black pageantry.”  I was late (are you ever really  late for such celebrations?) and heard the last of the preaching, some exhortation, some good ole, impromptu, sanctified church songs, and the

This usher board is never bored moving to the beat

offering.  Yes, I said it: I “heard” the offering, always a good excuse for some soul stirring, down home, Up South musicking from the rhythm section.  Led by JT, the soul brothers did not disappoint the listener in this re-purposed sanctuary, once a huge and high cathedral designed acoustically for chant and hymn, now tailored for reprise and stomp . The female ushers were rocking and directing traffic, as JT was working the drawbars for varying timbres, riffing off of melodies in the upper register like Chick Corea, working over the inner voices with upper extensions of chords, and driving the songs forward, ahead of the beat. Yeah, and Amen, as they say.

And I was back home in time to catch the last half of Sunday Night Football.  Who says you can’t have it all in Philly?

Dr. Guy

Spelman and Morehouse singers between history and the future

You gotta appreciate a tradition that combines African drumming and the pipe organ. Where else?

Last weekend I visited Atlanta to hear the 84th annual Christmas Concert of the Spelman Glee Club.  Presented in collaboration with Morehouse College, the event is a popular destination for graduates of each school, providing them with one of many opportunities to remember the good times of their undergraduate days.

One of the activities connected with the concert is the Alumnae Brunch, which gives parents of seniors such as myself, seniors in the group, and alumnae an opportunity to mix, mingle, and remember.

Ms. Inge's presidential table listening to the keynote address

Proud owner of a coloratura. (I think you can go higher, frankly, lol)

Waiting for tradition

Observing the poised and polished Glee Club president Brittney Inge (C’2011) in action and listening to the equally so keynote speaker Kerstin Roper (C’2005), now employed by the U.S. State Department, speak of her time in the group, it was clear that there’s certainly more than the music that draws students into this unique circle of fellowship.

It’s also the weight and forces of history that one can sense on the campus–the very idea that the institution has thrived, against all odds great and small.  The shine and confidence that these young women exude, the beauty of their rich bel canto blending as they concluded the afternoon’s program with a moving rendition

of “Lord,Thou has been our Dwelling Place,” allow one to glimpse the degree to which these women are connected–how they are linked not only to the long history of the group’s strivings in the past but also to the lofty aspirations toward their futures.

Capturing the moments, remembering old times

As Ms. Roper said so poignantly, what made her undergraduate experience so special is that “it had a soundtrack.”  Indeed, music meets history and the future in this form of Glee.  As a proud parent of one of the seniors, I couldn’t help but get swept up into significance of it all.  And, of course, being in the Atlanta, the grits were good, too. (Gotta love the South).

Kerstin Roper, keynote speaker

Say, "Seniors"!

The joint concert that night held in the historic Sisters Chapel was a compressed program of holiday music for a delighted crowd of listeners, many of whom return year after year to participate in this honored tradition.  I asked a young woman sitting next to me what was her affiliation,

and she said that although she had never joined the Glee Club, she attends annually out of the sheer enjoyment of “tradition.”

A little impromptu conducting duty

From my bird’s eye view as a parent experiencing my last months as a $pelman Dad (Lol),

these young women–particularly the music majors–work very hard to maintain the traditional standards set by generations of their foremothers.  Long nights, meticulous organizing for tours, fund raising, wardrobe maintenance, demanding administrative duties, sectional rehearsals, and scores and scores of freelance gigs spreading sistah love and song across the region that challenges their schedules as full time students, are just a few of the activities that constitute membership. Yet, the dedication that these young women demonstrate is a wonder to behold. It is, as I see it, out of their love for song and sorority that they press on.  Particularly striking here is the apprenticeship model of mentoring in which the underclass(wo)men learn both dedication and decorum, by observing their older sisters assume leadership positions and sing coveted solo features in the group’s repertoire during their swan song concerts.  They’ll leave with these and other treasured memories to hold dear.

Famous and former Glee Club member Cassie Davis of Tyler Perry's House of Payne enjoys the day

The lessons learned here are invaluable and a prime example of the many values of participating in disciplined performance groups like these, even if this will be the last “formal” music making that some of them make.  As for the music majors, the talented young women who plan to go on and give a career in music a shot–a hard but rewarding road is certainly ahead. It will be my pleasure to see them make their transitions from this specific brand of “group” and into the necessities of viewing themselves as bonafide, serious solo artists, composers, and conductors.  They’ll certainly leave with four strong years of good, beautiful, challenging, and difficult lessons of their Glee days to draw on as they move out, stake their claims, and embrace their very bright futures. And remember.  Always remember. Now fly!!

–Dr. Guy

Penn Glee Club – The Star Spangled Banner

When one asks someone about ‘a capella’ music, the response typically relates back to either Ivy League glee clubs or the Folders commercials from the early 1990’s. And while many scoff at the boundless number of collegiate singers doing renditions of top 40 hits, the discourse around the world of a capella has changed radically.

A capella, at its inception could very much be defined as a folk music. Think about the Penn Glee Club. The group was founded 145 years ago, and still has songs in its repertoire from that day and age. More importantly though, songs such as ‘The Red and The Blue’ and ‘Drink a Highball’ are shared by a broader Penn community and have cultural significance to members of that community, which are typical aspects of folk music.

University of Pennsylvania’s Off the Beat – The Crowing

But the genre has grown far beyond the bounds of college campuses. In the early 1990’s, organizations such as the Recorded A Capella Review Board began writing elaborate criticism of penned arrangements and recorded a capella music, pulling it closer to the realm of art music. Further, as recorded a capella is increasingly able to mimic commercial music thanks to technoglogical advancements, the genre has begun receiving mass acceptance.

Glee – Don’t Stop Believing

This fall, NBC is launching “The Great American Sing-Off”, a primetime competition where a capella groups will perform pop hits weekly. In sum, the discourse around a capella is in flux. As the genre changes, it will be interesting to see where the discourse about a capella moves towards.

Lawrence Crane-Moscowitz