From the South Pacific, FCA took the concert audience to somewhere between New Orleans' French Quarter and Carnege Hall with Sweet Plantain, the fourth concert of the 2011~12 season. Specializing in genre-blurring, original compositions, Sweet Plantain's unique style fuses Latin, classical, jazz and improvisational forms. Giving voice to an urban, Latino sound, the group makes use of extended percussive techniques, some of them original creations, to showcase the rhythmic vitality characteristic of Latin music.

“It was brilliant." – Wickersham's Conscience

The eclectic blog Wickersham's Conscience had this to say afterward:

Sweet Plantain: Not Your Mother’s String Quartet

Sweet Plantain is not your mother’s string quartet. Your mother’s string quartet probably didn’t perform a rap version of Vivaldi, shouting blues or Venezuelan gaucho music, to mention just a few differences. WC applauds Fairbanks Concert Association‘s willingness to continue to press the boundaries of its traditional fare.

That’s not to take anything away from the musicians, who are immensely talented, classically trained musicians. They had terrific rapport with the audience, and an energetic, engaging playing style that was nearly as much fun as their music. They are trying for something outside of the classical music box, and they have succeeded.And they get an amazing variety of music out of two violins, a viola and a cello.

They opened with Cole Porter’s “Love for Sale,” starting off with a traditional classical interpretation that gradually morphed into a jazz version, with extended solos by all four artists, then pulled back to jazz, and then returned to a classical interpretation. It was brilliant.

One of the regular members of Sweet Plantain, Eddie Venegas (violin, trombone) is shared with Latin pop singer Marc Anthony’s band. Anthony is apparently touring in support of his divorce from Jennifer Lopez, although WC disclaims knowledge of all “news” featured on E! Sitting in for Venegas was Earl Maneein – self-described as a “stunt Violinist” – whose work was amazing. His solo and lead on Venezuelan “Serenata” was outstanding.

Cellist David Gotay led a rap-string quartet fusion of A Tribe Called Quest’s “Excursion,” which also featured violinist Joe Dennizon’s very credible record-scratching sounds extracted from his violin. “Excusion” included other surprises, but WC won’t give away all of the secrets. Viola player Orlando Wells serves as the straight man of the group; WC agrees with him that the horrible pun on “baroque bow” was nearly bad enough to walk out.

Gotay admitted it wouldn’t be a string quartet performance without at least one piece from a classical composer, so we heard a cello concerto from Antonio Vivaldi, re-cast as a “Tony V” Cello and Viola Concerto, which transmogrified Vivaldi into rap, without losing either the spirit of Vivaldi or the rhythms of rap.

The encore was a spirited “shouting blues” cover of a blues classic, bringing blues rhythms – and lyrics – to a strong quartet. It was a delightful way to end a lovely improvisational evening, with chamber music pressing the edges of its traditional format.

You’ll note there are no photos of Sweet Plantain included in this post. There’s a reason for that. WC took photos, but mid-concert an usher told WC that if he took photos the usher would escort WC to the lobby and erase the contents of his camera. Not a polite request that WC not take photos; a direct threat. The person also lied: he said there was a request photos not be taken in the program. There’s not. Nor did the executive director of Fairbanks Concert Association ask at any time that photos not be taken.  And photos are kind of what WC does.

It’s particularly annoying because there are no photos of this particular configuration of the Quartet available on-line.

Perhaps one of WC’s readers will be kind enough to sort this out before the next concert. But, at least for now, sorry, no photos.

But that’s the only sour note in a fine concert by a group that clearly has fun, enjoys stretching limits, while preserving strong musical integrity.

Sweet Plantain performed an earlier concert at The Loon on Friday night; WC understands it was well-received, too. WC congratulates the Quartet on overcoming the problems presented for any serious artist at The Loon.

For more well illustrated commentary, read Wickersham's Conscience.