4D » SUNDAY, JULY 30, 2017 » TALLAHASSEE DEMOCRAT Tallahassee Democrat - 07/30/2017 Copy Reduced to 60% from original to fit letter page Page : D04 TLH LOCAL Through music, FSU professor escapes to Brazil

AMANDA SIERADZKI COUNCIL ON CULTURE & ARTS

Music sits somewhere within the realms of escape and transcendence for Dr. Michael Bakan, a professor of ethnomusicology at Florida State University. When he sits to play, he feels himself go into a heightened state where the groove of the music moves his head in circles, lurching his body along with its rhythms, eyes closed, face turned upwards. “Sometimes I get teased about how funny I look, and I agree when I see it on video,” laughed Bakan, who’s become particularly transported by Brazilian music and artists. “It has this incredibly deep, rich rhythm and these lush harmonies that go on and on. Where western music revolves around three or four chords, Brazilian composers are able to make har- monic progressions that are ridiculously complex, but are put together in a way that touches you in a basic, emotional place.” Every Tuesday evening at The Blue Tavern, Bakan comes together with a cohort of musicians in the hopes of giving Tallahassee a similarly full experi- ence via their weekly performance: Roda Vibe! Roda, pronounced ‘hoda’ as per its Portuguese origins, translates to circle in the phrase “roda de choro.” Choro is the genre of Brazilian music, often heard in the bars, clubs, or late night venues in Rio de Janiero. As a drummer, Bakan plays a specific role, keeping the beat while letting the music unfold and the other musicians improvise around him. “You’ve heard it if you listened to old American cartoons like Bugs Bunny or Road Runner because they would hire these musicians,” elaborates Bakan. “It combines elements of Brazilian samba with west- ern classical music and jazz. Some of the songs are much more sentimental and dark sounding, but over- all it’s an uplifting music, enjoyable to listen to, and accessible.” As head of the World Music Ensembles Program at FSU, and director of the Sekaa Hanuman Agung Balinese and Omnimusica Intercultural ensembles, Bakan’s knowledge and appetite for world music is vast. Recently forming the Bakan-Margut- Hall World Trio, he has also published the textbook “World Music: Traditions and Transformations” that is taught in universities worldwide, and crafted his own definition of the field that focuses on how “peo- ple make and experience music, and why it matters to them that they do.” LEAH BAKAN “Culture has become so complex and hard to pin Bakan, right, stands with pianist Mason Margut and bassist Brian Hall. Together, the three make up the Bakan-Margut-Hall down that it makes a lot more sense to locate the in- World Trio. vestigation on individual people and how they make and experience music,” says Bakan. “I think we al- ways want the primary voice to be the voice of the person who the study is about.” His earliest musical awakening occurred at age three while listening to The Beatles’ “Eight Days a Week,” as the song’s crescendo sent shivers up his spine. A year later his parent’s found a disassembled in a local thrift shop. They brought it home and a neighborhood friend helped put it back together. From that point on, Bakan could always be found in his family’s basement, festooned in his Sergeant Pep- If you go per’s suit playing on his first to whatever Beatles record happened to be on the turntable. A What: Roda Vibe! short stint in his brother’s rock band solidified his When: 8-10 p.m. every Tuesday connection with the instrument, and by age eleven Where: Blue Tavern, 1206 N Monroe St Bakan was taking drum lessons from a former mathe- Cost: Free matics professor, Micky Earnshaw who introduced Contact: For more information, visit him to a radical method of playing music. https://www.facebook.com/events/1874844589504239/. “He was an amazing drummer and musical mind,” recalls Bakan. “He would write out in long hand all the possible permutations and combinations of each note, then he’d figure out how to play them all against each other. The whole approach became influential on MARGIE BERTRAM my compositions later, and even now when I’m play- Roda Vibe performs every Tuesday at Blue Tavern. ing other kinds of music and composing, those forma- tive experiences are my foundation.” Transitioning into jazz and classical percussion, their , mandolins, flutes, violins, and Bakan attributes his skill and technique to lessons (). It was on that trip that he met Roee There’s nothing common about NFC • Fully-Accredited with instructors like John Rudolph, principal percus- Ben Sira, an Israeli virtuoso and choro musician. • 3K - 12th grade sionist with the Vancouver Symphony. When he saw Striking up a friendship, Bakan brought Sira to FSU’s • Celebrating 50 Years of Russell Hartenberger perform as part of the group College of Music as an artist in residence. Sira wanted excellence in education Nexus in a West African ensemble, Bakan was in- to bring an authentic roda experience to north Flori- • Weekly Chapel Programs ext. 195 spired by the University of Toronto percussion pro- da. • Dual Enrollment for 850-386-6327 fessor and decided to pursue his bachelor’s at the Providing an informal space for people to eat, Juniors & Seniors nflschool.org university. drink, talk, and play are at the heart of the gatherings, While in school, Bakan embraced Toronto’s rich and the events have been wildly successful even after musical and multicultural scene and played in every- Sira’s departure. Musicians range from community thing from a traditional Chinese orchestra to a reggae members to music students, and the Blue Tavern has band. After a setback in his health that sidelined his become the perfect home for the performances as it drumming, Bakan pursued a degree in ethnomusicol- supports an acoustic music atmosphere. Bakan is ogy from UCLA, shifting his perspective on what proud to continue Sira’s dream of creating a sustain- playing music means to him. able culture for choro music and is excited about the There’s never been “The older I’ve gotten the more I’ve realized that event’s continual growth. my joy in playing is not in me manifesting myself as a “I look forward to every Tuesday,” said Bakan. a better time to get your musician,” says Bakan. “I’m more interested in being “The people are there, hanging out, listening and there to support and lift up the people I’m playing having a good time. It’s a unique experience where with and in doing so, share something with the people you can delve into another cultural and musical way who are there to listen and they can all feel like of being in a really comfortable and unintimidating Real Estate they’re part of that experience.” way. It’s become a kind of a family.” Raw human experience is always at the forefront Amanda Sieradzki is the feature writer for the for Bakan, and that was the first aspect of a Brazilian Council on Culture & Arts. COCA is the capital area’s License! choro music performance that he connected with on a umbrella agency for arts and culture trip to Brazil in 2015. (www.tallahasseearts.org). Developed in late 19th century and paralleling the State-accredited evolution of early jazz, roda de choro consists of a courses available small group of musicians playing around a table, with online or in our Tallahassee Copyright © 2017 TallahasseeTHINGS TO CONSIDER Democrat. BEFORE CHOOSING All rights A SENIORreserved. LIVING Use COMMUNITY of this site signifies your agreement to the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy/Your California Privacyclassroom. 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