Hafiz Shabazz, adjunct assistant professor of music, and his World Music Percussion Ensemble will perform this evening in "Breaking New Ground," a concert featuring music of the past, present and future, at 8 p.m. in Spaulding Auditorium.
The audience will experience music of the past as the Ensemble performs the traditional music of Ghana, Dahomey, Senegal, Gambia and West Africa using drums, bells, balaphone, thumb piano and other indigenous instruments.
The performance will feature guest performers Odean Pope and Onche Ugbabe '98.
Ugbabe will offer the audience a glimpse of music in the future and the promise it holds. A student composer and musician, Ugbabe's main focus is electro-acoustic music.
Pope, a world-renowned tenor saxophonist, will provide a representation of today's music. Backed by the strong rhythm of the Ensemble, Pope will play classic and contemporary jazz, including some of his own compositions.
Pope has become known in the past 20 years while perfoming as a member of the Max Roach Quartet, and also for founding the Odean Pope Saxophone Choir, which he considers his crowning achievement. Pope's compositions and arrangements for his choir reflect the gospel and spiritual music of the African-American church.
One technique that is characteristic of Pope's performances is multi-phonics, which uses a cluster of simultaneous overtones. It is made up of a blend of jazz, big band swing and funk, and contains overlapping rhythms and melodies.
Such a broad range of musical style and rhythm, featured on both modern and traditional instruments, promises a very diverse performance celebratory of the African-American tradition.
Admission to "Breaking New Ground" is $7 general admission, $4 for Dartmouth graduate students and $2 for Dartmouth undergraduates.
