Musician Bill Cole, bassist Shayna Dulberger to offer special performance featuring non-Western instruments on Homecoming + Reunion Weekend

Musician Bill Cole, bassist Shayna Dulberger to offer special performance featuring non-Western instruments on Homecoming + Reunion WeekendOctober 03, 2007Kelly Homan Rodoskikahoman@syr.edu

As part of Syracuse University’s 2007 Homecoming + Reunion Celebration, renowned musician Bill Cole and bassist Shayna Dulberger will give a special performance on Friday, Oct. 12, from 2-3:30 p.m. in the Black Box Theatre at the Paul Robeson Performing Arts Center, 805 E. Genesee St.The concert is free and open to the public.

Cole is a professor in the Department of African American Studies in The College of Arts and Sciences with teaching and research interests in ethnomusicology, music of the African Diaspora and performance music. The concert, which coincides with Cole’s 70th birthday, “will expose alumni and others to instruments that come from the non-Western world,” Cole says.

“These instruments, which are not tempered, will be combined with the acoustic bass to demonstrate how these very different combinations can be used to create beautiful music,” Cole says. “The key to this combination is that all of the instruments will be non-tempered.”

In addition to the special performance, a display of various items, including a volume of jazz transcriptions of the music of John Coltrane by Andrew White (a gift that Cole made to Syracuse University Library’s Special Collections Research Center) will be shown the fourth floor of E.S. Bird Library from Oct. 10-21. A book that Cole authored on Coltrane and poetry by Jayne Cortez will be among the items on display.

Cole, a musician, composer, educator and writer, is the leader and artistic director of the Untempered Ensemble and Shadrack Inc. His use of traditional instruments from a variety of cultures has enabled him to research both their style and meaning within the culture. These instruments include the Asian double-reed horns like the Chinese sonas, Korean hojok and piri, Indian shenai and nagaswarm, Ghanaian bamboo flute, Tibetan trumpet and didgeridoo.

His performances have included such venues as Town Hall and Symphony Space in New York, Broadway Performance Hall in Seattle and Hopkins Center in Hanover, N.H. Cole has served as jazz critic for top music publications and has authored works on John Coltrane and Miles Davis.

Dulberger, who played the piano and guitar as a child, took up the upright bass in high school. She studied classical and jazz music at the Manhattan School of Music and bass at the Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University, earning a performance degree in jazz upright bass. She created a series dedicated to improvised and avant garde music at the Spoken Words Venue in Park Slope, Brooklyn, in addition to playing the bass. Dulberger performs in New York City and has appeared on seven recordings, notably “Transcendence” by Ras Moshe and her own recording, “TheKillMeTrio.”

For more information about the performance, call the Office of Alumni Relations at 1-800-SUALUMS, or visit http://homecoming.syr.edu.