Ouachita to host Tiger Steel concert Dec. 5
November 29, 2016
- Katie SmithOuachita Baptist University will host Tiger Steel in concert in Mabee Fine Art’s McBeth
Recital Hall on Monday, Dec. 5, at 7:30 p.m. Admission is free and open to the public.
Dr. Ryan Lewis, assistant professor of music, directs the steel drum ensemble. He
said he seeks to celebrate the instruments’ history by ensuring that the ensemble
“performs at least 50 percent Trinidadian calypso and soca as a way to honor the nation
from which the instruments originated.”
While Lewis and the ensemble enjoy performing, he also seeks to choose songs that
will present an extra challenge to the musicians.
“Each year we choose a Panorama (steel drum competition) composition to learn and
study, and I really enjoy working on those with the students because they are challenging,
high-energy and a lot fun,” Lewis explained.
Lewis also has started a beginners’ steel drum band, Pan Jouvet, which will be featured
in the concert. The name is a nod to J’ouvert, the opening day of Carnival celebrations
in Trinidad and Tobago.
Lewis said he hopes the audience will enjoy hearing the two ensembles perform as they
present a variety of music to fit diverse taste including Trinidadian calypso and
soca, funk, pop-rock, jazz-rock, Latin and even Christmas songs.
“We hope to bring people in the audience joy, which is one of the many benefits of
music that should not be overlooked,” Lewis said. “To be able to make people smile
is a powerful and wonderful blessing for both the audience and the performers.”
Tiger Steel will be performing its signature song, the calypso standard "Jump in the
Line" made famous by Harry Belafonte, "Woman Is Boss" by Len “Boogsie” Sharp (a Panorama
competition piece from Trinidad) and the pop-rock favorite "I Can See Clearly Now"
by Johnny Nash.
Tiger Steel also will perform three selections by their guest artist next semester,
Liam Teague, a virtuoso Trinidadian steel drum player known as the “Paganini of the
Pan.” They will play his soca tune "Hands Like Lightning," an arrangement of "Sunday
Morning Funk" and his own Brazilian bossa nova composition, “Pearls.”
Pan Jouvet will be featured in the middle of the concert, playing the calypso standard
“Matilda” by Harry Belafonte, the jazz-rock hit “Watermelon Man” by Herbie Hancock
and the Christmas favorite “Carol of the Bells.”
For more information about Tiger Steel and Pan Jouvet, visit www.obu.edu/percussion or contact Dr. Ryan Lewis at [email protected] or (870) 245-5421.
By Katie Smith
November 29, 2016
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