2008 Woodie Awards
World-renowned musician to perform with Miami's Steel Band
Ben Garbarek
Issue date: 3/25/08 Section: Campus
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"Miami has one of the best steel band programs in the country," Narell said. "(They) are one of the most established bands in the country. I'm looking forward to it. I like to work with school bands at universities."
Narell has gained fame for his unique blend of jazz and steelpan music, expanding the role of the pan in modern music.
"I have a different perspective on steel band music," he said. "It's pretty unique. It's not something you hear at (other) Miami concerts. (I'll be) incorporating jazz music, it's pretty different. It's a neat concept, it's something very new."
Miami students will be playing pieces from Narell's latest album Tatoom, which was released in February.
"I wrote most of it in Paris over a period of fives years," he said. "It's a real gift that students and steel bands around the world are playing it … I'm really fortunate to be working on my own music."
After their two performances at Hall Auditorium, the Miami Steel Band and Narell will take their act on the road for two weeks, performing at various high schools in Ohio, Indiana, West Virginia and Pennsylvania.
"We want to share our experience with other audiences," said Chris
Tanner, associate professor of music and the director of the Miami Steel Band. "The music (Narell) is writing currently for steel bands are lengthy and difficult and take a while to prepare. It takes a lot of effort to prepare for the two shows on campus. We want to do it more than once and grow with it, get as much of (Narell's music)."
Although Narell came to Miami in 2005, senior Amelia Huerta, a member of the Miami Steel Band, is looking forward to performing with the distinguished artist a second time.
"This year is unique because he's staying with us for three weeks (on the high school tour)," Huerta said. "Everyone is really hyped up about it."
Tanner said Narell has a unique approach to composing steel band music.
"He's had a lot of different influences in his career," Tanner said. "One of the strongest is jazz. His harmonic language is expanded (because) he's approaching steel band composition as a jazz musician."
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