Agua to splash onto the UCLA scene tonight
By Jessica Rodgers
Feb. 11, 2004 9:00 p.m.
A group composed of cello, violin, bass, percussion and voice
usually conjures the image of chamber musicians. But the four women
of Agua de Coco, who perform tonight at 6 p.m. at UCLA’s
Fowler Museum, prove these instruments can also produce the sounds
of Africa and the Americas.
The group will perform everything from the classic soul music of
Stevie Wonder to the reggae music of the Caribbean during its
Fowler Outloud performance. Â
“We create a full sound using what is a chamber group: We
adapt these instruments to a very urban, soul sound that is very
new,” singer/percussionist and UCLA musicology graduate
student Kisha Nesmith said.
When picking out the music for a performance, the group looks
for pieces that are inspiring and upbeat. And since February is
Black History Month, the group hopes their performance will not
only allow people to reflect on concepts like loving and respecting
each other, but also commemorate the lives of great African
Americans.
“We generally tend to choose songs that are uplifting and
celebrate black culture, and identity and speak to the conscience
of human beings,” Nesmith said.
Frustrated with the local music scene she felt lacked a
community of musicians supporting arts by blacks, Nesmith asked
three other UCLA ethnomusicology graduate students to join together
to form Agua de Coco in September 2003. In the past couple of
months, the group has been busy performing for local events around
Los Angeles.
However, it’s a continual struggle for the
musicians/students to find time to meet together and rehearse with
their hectic schedules. Making four strong, opinionated women come
to decisions together can also be a challenging headache. But
Nesmith believes each one has a passion for creating good music and
making statements about freedom and respect, which allows their
group to be an influential voice in the community.
“A lot of times people don’t associate good music
with women,” Nesmith said. “After a show, sometimes
someone will come up who is shocked that we could do something like
that.”
