Four years after Los Angeles-based Campanile went international with a seven-stop tour in Taiwan, the group is back with their exciting and highly contagious handbell performance.
Campanile has distinguished itself among handbell groups by its use of choreography to liven up performances with the instrument. Their spectacular repertoire includes 61 bells, 32 chimes, keyboards and drums, and their highly visual performance techniques draw inspiration from Stomp, a unique combination of percussion, movement and visual comedy, and Riverdance, the wildly popular spectacle of Irish folk music and dance.
PHOTO: KHAM
Clad in leather, the six-member group plays their handbells, some as heavy as 25kg, others as light as 100g, while performing acrobatic stunts and dancing. Their skillful coordination of movements and their ability to perform complicated tricks remind one of Cirque du Soleil. Few audiences can help but have all their senses gripped by this breathtaking visual presentation.
Campanile's members were friends from their days in music school. At a school reunion, they discovered their common belief in the power of handbells to create dance and theater as well as music. This feeling was so strong that they teamed up in 1989 to try performing jazz numbers with handbells -- something no one had thought of doing before. Despite calling themselves a jazz band, Campanile's repertoire is by no means limited to one genre. It ranges from rock, pop and New Age to classical.
"We're a jazz group and also a handbell group. We can play any kind of music. There's no limit to handbells. All musical styles can be brilliantly performed with handbells," said Roger Bowerman, the group's leader and producer.
Campanile's fun and lively performances of jazz numbers such as Dave Brubeck's Take Five and Jimmy Dorsey's Boogie and Classical Gas are a far cry from the religious music handbell ringers typically deal with.
Apart from holding frequent concerts, Campanile has released five albums containing original compositions. The group's 1996 Point of No Return marks their first try at New Age and world music, with bells, drums and keyboards combined in soothing melodies with an ethereal mysteriousness. Nocturnal Journeys (2000), their most popular album to date, added a synthesizer and chimes to the lineup. Continuing in Campanile's exploration of the realm of New Age, the album contains several momentous pieces which evoke mysterious imagery.
At the concert in Hsinchu tonight, Campanile will perform some of its originals, including the dreamy New Age-style Roll the Tube and Double Helix Tango. Wings Through Twilight evokes the picture of a sunrise in Florence. The Cold of Between, dedicated to Anne McCaffrey and her sci-fi novel series Dragonriders of Pern, is an introspective piece with a touch of fantasy.
Interpretation of jazz is Campanile's forte. In the cool jazz classic Take Five, the particular 5/4 beat is altered to sound more relaxing. Bluette is another of Dave Brubeck's works the group often performs. Their interpretation remains close to the original's soft and dreamy waltz, while leaving room for the group's characteristic light-hearted humor.
The Pink Panther, Henry Mancini's composition for the namesake cartoon, is rendered smooth and a bit ethereal. Its humorous melody is interpreted with effortlessly elegant movements, giving the decades-old piece a new face.
These and other captivating interpretations of familiar numbers are likely to once again capture the heart of audiences in Taiwan. Even for those who were never fans of handbell music, or who never buy such records, Campanile has often proved irresistible during live performances.
"We've played countless concerts at colleges, community centers, theaters, and other gatherings and were amazed to see the responses audiences had to the personality of our group. While each of our performances are different, we always present a program that is fun, hip and cool .... more like Hootie and the Blowfish than Itzak Perlman," Bowerman said at the start of the band's world tour earlier this year.
"Our sound and style are unique and appeal to a diverse audience regardless of age or entertainment preferences," said Rima Greer, the group's primary composer.
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