On Wednesday, Feb. 20, the Elizabethtown College campus was visited by international ambassadors of jazz The Eric Byrd Trio (EBT). The EBT are former Kennedy Center/United States State Department Jazz Ambassadors. This allowed them to perform in countries like Columbia, Bolivia, Chile, Estonia, Italy, Scotland, Honduras, Tobago and Trinidad. They also toured at the Montreux Switzerland Jazz Festival and a music festival in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.
The group is made up of three musicians. The main composer of the group is pianist and vocalist Eric Byrd. Byrd was named by URBANITE Magazine as one of ten “Movers and Shakers” in the Baltimore area. He uses the principles of swing and bebop, along with rousing gospel-tinged chords and thrilling blues lines. Byrd has been playing professionally for over 30 years. He received his undergraduate degree at Western Maryland College, and then went for his Masters in Music in 2001 at Morgan State University. Byrd now lectures a music class part-time at McDaniel College. He has performed with many popular jazz musicians, including Tim Green, Randy Brecker, Warren Wolf and Wynton Marsalis.
Drummer/percussionist Alphonso M. Young Jr. is known as a very versatile and imaginative performer in front of crowds, and his energy of swing style is known to be spectacular. Young is a music instructor at the Loudoun County Public Schools in Virginia. He and his brother, Tim Young Jr. are also on the faculty at Shenandoah University. The Young brothers also have their own trio. Young has played with distinguished artists like Vanessa Rubin, Bob Berg, Othello Molineaux and Rebecca Parris. He also starred as the percussionist in the European tour of the Broadway show “Sophisticated Ladies.”
Acoustic bassist Bhagwan Khalsa currently resides in Washington, D.C. and is one of the most desirable bassists. He has been in the music business for the last 20 years. Khalsa studied at the Grove School of Music in Los Angeles. His originality in music silhouettes the sound of the trio. Khalsa presently co-owns B&B Music World, which is a company that offers music education to the Washington, D.C. area. Some musicians that Khalsa has played for include Sonny Fortune, Eric Alexander, Gary Thomas, David Newman and Kenny Drew Jr.
The trio’s music elevated the traditional jazz genre while including their own modern approach to the music. They also have a few original compositions that they like to play for their audiences. The music is very upbeat and the crowd enjoyed it thoroughly. During some of the songs, the audience began clapping and moving their bodies back and forth. The trio personifies diversity in many ways. Diane Elliot, director of Diversity and assistant professor of social work, was largely responsible for bringing the trio here to Etown. Elliot said, “We are a diverse campus. We’re growing more and more diverse so it makes sense that we try and incorporate as many programs as possible on the co-curricular side that address issues of diversity. Jazz is an American music and we thought it would be a good time to focus on that during Black History Month.” The trio was brought to the College by Elliot through a booking agency. Elliot also mentioned that, “We are truly an inclusive campus and that we are featuring events that reflect that and that we are trying to make sure that we continue to be inclusive of all disciplines, all areas and all contributions to the extent possible.” EBT coming to Etown promotes diversity and allows students here to reflect on how diverse the campus really is.