There’s no rest for the wicked, and there certainly wasn’t rest for the Wichita State University Impulse Percussion Group during last week’s evening ‘Sleepless in Wichita’ performance.
Joined by guest percussionists the Britain Moore Duo, Impulse captivated the Miller Concert Hall with a lively program that had guests dancing in their seats.
Ten musicians make up Impulse: Adam Tillberg, Sarah Woosley Carter, Michaela Anderson, Noah Buller, Garrett Knight, Broonie John Lingala, Miranda Marler, Ari Solomon, Kyan Tenpenny and Katie Valentine.
The Britain Moore Duo, composed of steel pan specialist Mat Britain alongside vibes and marimba artist Dan Moore, has been performing together for over 40 years – but their first performance was right here at WSU as students.
The duo first met as student musicians while attending the university. They’re one of the longest-running percussion duos still active today and are known for their unique blend of musical styles.
“We’re as old as cassette tapes. But that was our start, and we’ve stayed in touch,” Britain said.
The pair met in a student steel band and came together while working to compose a cassette with the band. Moore was brought in to play marimba, and Britain had pulled him aside during a lunch break to fill in parts. By the time the rest of the band returned, they had their first two demos.
After their time at WSU, the two found themselves on separate life paths. Britain was in Ohio, performing gigs and failing to get arrested, which is a running joke between the duo. Moore had been teaching at Montana State University.
“It’s still unclear who made the first phone calls to say, ‘Hey, we should do something,’” Moore said.
In the early days of forming, they decided to go on tour together; however, they hadn’t come up with what to play. The first thought was the music they had recorded together on cassette, but neither could remember it. So, they started from scratch.
They went on to travel the summers together, playing on riverboats and cruises – ‘whatever we can, take a chance’ gigs.
“And here we are 40 years later, still trying to get arrested,” said Moore.
The April performance took its name from the featured piece ‘Sleepless,’ an arrangement that Moore wrote in a day’s time, staying awake overnight to complete it.
Moore also composed program pieces ‘Cricket City’ and ‘Calypso #2.’
During ‘Calypso #2,’ the Britain Moore Duo was joined by Gerald ‘Jerry’ Scholl, Impulse’s director and the head of the percussion department. Scholl then returned during an intermission ‘concert talk’ with the duo.
The duo also arranged several pieces for the program, music that they play consistently in their travels. That music included ‘The Nearness of You’ by Hoagy Carmichael and Ned Washington and a collection of music by Armando ‘Chick’ Corea, including ‘Open Your Eyes You Can Fly’ and ‘Crystal Silence.’
Impulse swapped in and out with the duo for performing time, playing music such as ‘Le Tombeau de Couperin’ by Maurice Ravel, ‘Pattern Transformation’ by Lukas Ligeti, ‘Ogoun Badagris’ by Christopher Rouse and ‘Rituals’ by David Skidmore.
They also featured classical works from the legendary composers Richard Strauss and Johann Sebastian Bach, ‘Neue Pizzicato Polka’ and ‘Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme,’ respectively. The entire performance is available on the Wichita State School of Music’s Youtube.
