+ by Rahsaan “Wordslave” Eldridge + photos by Tom Miller
I stood on stage, eyes closed, orchestra to my left, listening to the guitar’s arpeggio. The last note of the intro faded. I breathed into the opening line, “There is melody in the way you walk.” For the song’s five minutes, the audience sat rapt until I released the last note. We held a moment of stillness together, then applause rose around me.
I’ve performed “Perfect Work of Art,” a ballad I wrote 20 years ago, countless times a capella. Guitarist Kevin Jackson and I recorded it as a duo. I love that rendition, but the version in my head when I had written it included rolling timpani and dramatic legato violins. When Jimi “Haha” Davies invited me to join his project The Sound We Make, I jumped at the chance to revive my original idea. The concert would feature the Annapolis Chamber Orchestra and members of the Chesapeake Youth Symphony Orchestra. Sultry singer-songwriter Madisun Bailey and local legend Dean Rosenthal would join me in the lineup. The opportunity was thrilling.
After learning that his daughter Ila, a toddler at the time, enjoyed classical music, Davies marveled at how the genre touched her youthful soul. He dreamed of attracting other young people to this rich musical form because the traditional audience is dwindling. Mainstream artists performing with orchestras inspired him to plan a concert that paired local acts with Annapolis’ own orchestras. For 10 years he pitched the idea without success. Then he connected with Dane Krich, percussionist and general manager of the Mid-Atlantic Symphony Orchestra, who agreed to take on the project, scheduling the concert for May 2026.
For weeks leading to the show, people came up to me at gigs to let me know they had tickets. Their smiling faces filled the Live Arts Studio in the Annapolis Mall. Loyal fans of local artists anticipated rich collaborations between familiar talents from festivals and bars and an orchestra steeped in hundreds of years of classical musical tradition.
Davies selected musicians from several generations to appeal to a wide range of listeners. All the artists had sent two songs to composer Daniel Capelletti for orchestration. We each performed one solo piece without the orchestra. After a brief intermission, the orchestra played “Palladio” by Welsh composer Karl Jenkins. Rosenthal returned to the stage, injecting laughter into the room with his rugged voice and traveling tales “The Girl I Know in Texas” and “Baltimore Marilyn.” Rosenthal thanked Davies for this and many other opportunities over the years. Bailey sang “Bourbon Breath Brother” and “Forest Green.” The orchestral swells under her steady strum and warm melody transported us into the woods, surrounded by white oak and tulip poplar as she swayed from left to right, eyes closed in approval of the strings’ driving pulse. Davies performed “Balancing Act” and the aptly titled “The Sound You Make.” His inspired performance embodied the spirited energy of the entire evening.
My second piece was an upbeat rap. The crowd joined me in call-and-response, chanting the song’s title “I Am” during the chorus. The artistic director and conductor J. Ernest Green accompanied me on piano. The orchestra members, who brought such power to the evening’s performance, included Teddy J. Hersey (bass), Mattias Van Andel (cello), Katy Chiang (cello), Declan Jenkins (cello), Donna Willingham (violin), Dorothy Couper (viola), Michelle DeHaven (viola), Oliver Dyer (guitar), Dana Bevard (violin), Anna Durbin (violin), and Kimberly McCollum (violin).
Davies’ vision tied together performers from various generations, genres, and styles in an evening of collaborative joy that filled Live Arts Studio. He envisions the concert becoming a semiannual gathering that brings together artists, audiences, and the community, while drawing new listeners to the world of classical music. In that spirit, each performance becomes more than a concert. It becomes a reminder of how collaboration can renew both art and those who experience it. Artists often view collaboration as renewal.
What if we all approached life this way? █
For more information, visit liveartsmd.org.
