Professor plays museum

When other boys were running around teasing girls and learning how to write an essay, Cal State Long Beach music professor Robin Cox was writing musical compositions.

"I have been writing compositions since junior high school," Cox said after he and his self-named group, The Robin Cox Ensemble, entertained an audience of about 50 in the University Art Museum Tuesday.

The Robin Cox Ensemble comprises of string and percussion instruments that illuminate a unique sound that blends the somberness of the cello and violin, with the high intensity of the marimba, an instrument that sounds similar to a xylophone.
 

MUSIC REVIEW: A

An eerie piece called "Aria" stole the show as its sound played like a musical score in a movie while an unsuspecting victim is slowly walking down a dark hallway.

The strings' sounds varied from long, soothing melodies to short, pulsating notes.

With CSULB music lecturer David Gerhart's marimba taking a small but eminent part in the piece, CSULB graduate student Erik Leckrone beat on the djembe, a solitary drum played like a conga.

Cox composed the entire piece, except for the djembe, which he said Leckrone always improvises.

Improvisation is one of the most prominent elements in the jazz art form, and it is by that form Cox says he is inspired.

"I have background of being a classical violinist," Cox said.  "And in a previous life, I was a jazz pianist."

Combing a jazz sound with a classical tone is what makes the 1-year-old band so different, he said.

"It's a fairly unique entity," Cox said. "I hope it's unique music, but I also hope that people can still identify with it and enjoy it."

People did and discovered an unexpected sound.

"I expected something soft and mellow," said Hoa Tran, a junior majoring in child development.  "It was pretty interesting.  It was intense."

The intensity was also brought upon with the groups visual stimulation, which Cox says he finds important.

In the last song of the performance, the cellist, Manon Robertshaw played the bass drum while still playing the cello.

"I needed one more percussion, but I didn't have another person," Cox said.  "The audience also finds it interesting visually."