Black Violin: breaking musical conventions, making the impossible possible

Musician Kev Marcus (left) smiled as he played his violin and looked into the crowd at Musco Center for the Arts March 15. To his right, Wilner Baptiste (Wil B) jammed on his viola. Photos by DANIEL PEARSON, Photo Editor

Smoke was the first thing one would see. A DJ mixer, drum set and keyboard stood on stage behind the haze, and bathed in blue light were two tapestries reading in bold letters, “Black Violin.” 

That was the tone set March 15 at the Musco Center for the Arts, where Grammy-nominated violin duo Kev Marcus (Kevin Sylvester and Wil B (Wilner Baptiste) performed.

When Marcus began playing his violin and Wil B started playing his viola, it seemed like a typical violin recital. However, once the steady blue, purple and red lighting changed to a light show that seemed to fit an EDM concert more than a string instrument performance, Black Violin abandoned anything you previously thought about classical music. 

“The reason we’ve been doing this so long isn’t just because we’re good at the violin, but because we do things with the violin that people don’t expect,” Marcus told the OC Register. 

Sylvester and Wil B knew they would always make music together after meeting in a high school music class. Sylvester told PBS Newshour that a college professor gave him a tape of Stuff Smith’s “Black Violin” album, which inspired the string instrument duo’s name and widened their musical perspective. 

“When I listened to it, I could tell it was a Black guy playing it. I never had that experience with the violin. It just changed my entire perception of what the violin could do,” Sylvester said in the PBS interview. 

Since then, Black Violin’s mission has been to defy stereotypes by pushing the borders surrounding classical music. Black Violin started off with original songs like “A Flat,” a fast-paced song with hip hop influences, while also incorporating pop songs that play on the radio like an eerier version of “Believer” by Imagine Dragons. 

The standout among the covers was “Best Part” by H.E.R and Daniel Caesar, where Wil B strummed his viola and sang the lyrics to the well-known R&B song. The crowd laughed when Wil B sang, “You know that I see it/I know you’re a star,” held out his viola and looked at it like it was his lover. 

Kev Marcus (left) and Wil B (right) duel with their string instruments of choice at a March 15 concert in the Musco Center for the Arts.

Wendy Stewart, a long-time fan of Black Violin who attended the event, told The Panther Black Violin’s versatility allows them to break stereotypes regarding race and music. 

“I don’t think most people expect to see Black folks playing the violin — not only hip hop, but the classical pieces too,” Stewart said. “I know I had a moment where I thought … ‘Oh, they have to prove they do know the classics, too.’ And so, while it was beautiful to us, we know in the back of their head they’re also sending a message that, ‘We know the classics, too.’ And that’s breaking the stereotype.”

Although the concert centered Black Violin, it would not have been nearly as spectacular without DJ SPS, Nat Stokes on the drums and Liston Gregory III on the keyboard. Attendee Patricia McGregor, a relative of Stewart’s and new fan of Black Violin said she sat on the edge of her seat in the Musco Center as she appreciated the distinctions between each artist. 

“Each of them are different men on stage, dressed in different ways, but being their authentic selves, in all of their joyful excellence,” McGregor said. “That is a revolution.”

Each musician performed a solo that had the crowd hyped. DJ SPS gave the audience musical whiplash by mixing Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5 and transitioning to party songs “Yeah!” by Usher, Lil Jon and Ludacris and “The Way I Are” by Timbaland, Keri Hilson and D.O.E. 

Nat Stokes played the drums so fast that his arms were a blur. The crowd was silent for Liston Gregory III in order to hear the chilling notes and intricate runs he played on his keyboard.

Black Violin ended the show on an inspirational note with their song “Impossible is Possible.” The almost entirely adult crowd was on their feet and waved their arms to the beat like they were teenagers at a boy band’s concert.

Lyrics like “It’s time to open your eyes/Cause we were made to fly” inspired McGregor’s family of budding musicians to practice their craft. McGregor looked lovingly at her children while telling The Panther her favorite part of the concert. 

“My favorite part was watching these boys and watching the way the music moved through their bodies, spirits and souls, and watching that seed be planted of what all is possible,” McGregor said. 

Orange County was just one stop on Black Violin’s Impossible tour. Catch them performing across America until June 4.