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Harlem 100

The celebrations of the 100th anniversary of the Harlem Renaissance gave way to the

concert that was dubbed Harlem 100. The Harlem Renaissance is one of the most culturally

momentous periods of human history and Harlem is the most resurging creative movement that

has proven to be an unsurpassed period of braininess in entertainment. The concert featured

Mwenso and the Shakes which are prolific music collectives based in Harlem. It is notable to

state that the performers of the concert bask in the merits of their ancestral forbearers such as

Duke Ellington and Bessie Smith who once lived in their neighborhood. Therefore, the concert

was a celebration of the history of the Harlem Renaissance. There were other special guest

performers such as Brianna Thomas, Michela Marino Lerman and Vuyo Sotashe. The concert

took place on October 22, 2019 at the Eisenhower auditoriu.

Mwenso was born in Freetown Sierra Leone and spent his teenage years hanging out at

the legendary club Ronnie Scott’s in London. This early exposure built a desire to pursue jazz

music later in life. Brianna Thomas, a brilliant and strong voice with big range draws her

virtuosity from great blues women such as Ella Fitzgerald. Her scatting techniques and the

stylistic breadth of her voice make her unarguably the best of her time in jazz music. Michela

Marino Lerman, according to the description given about is a hurricane of rhythm. She is a tap

dance artist that graced this concert and her dancing flashed with brilliance throughout the
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concert. Sotashe is a South African jazz vocalist and a Fulbright Music scholar of William

Peterson University.

The most notable piece among the many numbers presented was ‘no regrets’. The band

was mainly featuring tunes that had rich vocals and expressive text. Mwenso and Brianna were

incredibly great in the choreography and vocal embellishment of this tune. The song opened with

a celebratory percussion and vocals. The solo scatting by Mwenso was beautiful to a point one

would think it was an instrument playing. The band naturally delivered the tune in a manner that

made the audience join in the celebration and sing along. The dancing was great and the

instrumentation was just incredibly good. The tenor saxophone passages were useful in creating a

break in the music and giving the performers a chance to interact with the audience and show

them some moves. Mwenso is a great entertainer and a good jazz vocalist.

Throughout the concert, the music was purely a representative of jazz music and a clear

description of the evolution of jazz throughout the years. With scat singing, the swung rhythms

and the incredible syncopation in the vocal and instrumental passages confirmed how the

traditional features of jazz have survived to date. In the vocal passages, one could hear a

similarity with the singing of Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong as the voice and techniques

sounded similar. This concert was incredibly good as the music was celebratory in nature. Manso

and the Shakes created the best renditions of the known tunes and ensured the audience fully

participated.