Hylton Performing Arts Center

Family Concert Commemorating Martin Luther King

Word-Beat combines the artistry of singer/actor Charles Williams and global-jazz percussionist Tom Teasley in a program featuring inspirational texts by authors such as Langston Hughes and Nelson Mandela as well as African folk songs. The duo achieves a true marriage of ancient melody and future sounds, combining the melodies of Africa, the West and beyond with inventive percussive rhythms. Timeless world rhythms evoked by Teasley’s masterful blend of ethnic percussion and cutting-edge electronics underscore traditional verse delivered in spirited performance art mode by Williams.

This activity is partially supported by a grant from the Virginia Commission for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts.