Black Violin
Overture Center-Capitol Theater 201 State St., Madison, Wisconsin 53703
You know those annoying covers of hip-hop songs where people rearrange them into generic folk-pop tracks? Yeah, Black Violin is pretty much the opposite: Instead of taking a black art form and watering it down, Wil B (viola) and Kev Marcus (violin) imbue a white art form (classical music) with the spirit and ethos of hip-hop. Instead of dilution, they create something completely new, combining the airiness and beauty of classical music with the gritty defiance of hip-hop. And string instruments sound great over syncopated snare beats.