Events in New Jersey

Wil Baptiste (bottom left) immigrated to the United States from the Bahamas with his family at the age of 11. He hoped to join the school band to play saxophone, but accidentally was placed in the string program. He grew to love the viola and mastered it as well as the trumpet, drums and bass guitar.

Kev Marcus (top left) began playing violin at age 9, with the encouragement of his mother. He and Wil Baptiste met while attending the famed Dillard High School of the Performing Arts in Fort Lauderdale, Florida where they were trained in the classical tradition. During their class and practice time they developed firm classic techniques and in free time listened to hip hop and rhythm and blues.

Both Wil Baptiste and Kev Marcus attended college on full music scholarships. Wil-B attended Florida State, and Kev Marcus went to Florida International University.

Black Violin was born when Marcus heard the music of violinist Stuff Smith, considered to be the first violinist to use electrical amplification techniques on a violin. His professor sat him down at a lesson and told him to listen. Marcus said Smith’s music was “unbelievable”, saying “classical violin with soul and fire. I loved it.” He passed the music on to Wil Baptiste and together they decided to form a band, calling it Black Violin, named after Smith’s eponymous soulful solo album. Inspired by Smith’s music, the two realized that they could synthesize all the styles they loved: classical, jazz, R&B, hip-hop, and even reggae and gypsy music.

Wil Baptiste and Kev Marcus collaborate with DJ SPS, drummer Nat Stokes, and keyboardist Liston Gregory to create their signature multi-genre sound. Audiences will recognize elements of songs by artists from Puccini to the Temptations, from Imagine Dragons to Johann Sebastian Bach. DJ’s like DJ SPS cut and loop beats to recreate music. They also pause, scratch, backspin, speed up or slow down, and/or delay the music. In its simplest form cutting would involve cutting a few bars of the beat and looping it to create a continuous sound.

In the beginning of the use of turntables, DJs would have two identical records. When the first record finished playing the song’s break, or an interlude in the music in which everything stops except the percussion, the DJ stops playing that record and plays the second record at the break. The DJ would set the first record back to the break and play that once the second record finished, and continue this indefinitely.

The only authorized ticket sellers for this performance are the  Scottish Rite Auditorium Box Office, and etix.com. The tickets available on etix are a separate inventory from those available at the Box Office and have different fees. Box Office tickets can be purchased over the phone or in person.

https://scottishriteauditorium.com/event/black-violin/