THURSDAY, MAY 6, 1999

Percussion beats fill recital hall with life

By Ken Hanson

On-Line Forty-Niner

The beat went on and on. In fact, it went on for almost an hour and a half as the University Percussion Ensemble performed Tuesday night at Cal State Long Beach's Daniel Recital Hall.

Also performing at the concert was the University Percussion Quartet, which opened the evening with a heart-pounding collection of bongo, tom-toms and snare drums.

Percussion instruments were the highlight of the evening as xylophones, vibraphones and drums of all kinds made the recital hall come to life with music.

The hall was not filled to capacity, however. About 45 people were seated for the evening's performance. It seemed that most of the audience was composed of either students doing concert reports or the friends and families of the performers.

The Daniel Recital Hall can accommodate up to 265 people, but the small audience only took up about a quarter of the seats.

The percussion ensemble played very well. The semester-long rehearsals paid off for the players, and the professionalism and intensity with which they played was obvious.

One of the standouts of the evening was "The Entertainer," a happy piece that reminds one of clowns. The xylophones were the main musical voice of the piece, and helped communicate the light-hearted nature of the music.

The tribal sound of the evening was an interesting change of pace. The only problem was that the steady beats and the dark room made for a perfect nap-time atmosphere.