Ted Yoakum - Western Herald
Despite the many differences between the two cultures, the people of Mozambique and the US can be brought together via the universal language of music, as demonstrated during a recent visit to the nation by WMU’s own Jazz Quartet.
The group, comprised of bassist Tom Knific, saxophonist Trent Kynaston, drummer Tim Froncek and pianist Steve Zegree, performed a number of concerts last May in the capital city of Maputo for the city’s International Music Festival. The quartet participated in five concerts throughout the week, including one at the US Embassy.
“Mozambique is certainly wonderful and exotic,” Zegree said. “To experience whole different way of life and whole different culture is fascinating.”
The visit gave the group the unique opportunity to share the unique sound of their chosen music style with the natives of Mozambique, who were mostly unfamiliar with the American freeform style, Zegree said.
“We programmed our music in a way that would be very well appreciated by a larger and more diverse audience,” Zegree said. “They loved us. The audiences there just were really appreciative of our music. They demanded encores, they gave standing ovations; it was really rather extraordinary.”
The musical exchange was not just one-sided, though, as the four musicians got the chance to collaborate with local talent for a number of songs. One such musician they worked with, a singer, was the daughter of a prominent revolutionary, who stood up to the previous regime’s oppressive government, Zegree said.
Another musician the quartet played with was a local saxophone player, who combined the traditional style of American jazz with more freeform elements found in much of their local music.
“Their musical way of approaching things is much less structured and more spontaneous,” Zegree said. “But guess what? That’s the essence of jazz, so it was perfect, wonderful.”
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