A different sort of concert is coming up at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Odessa High School Performing Arts Center.
Organized by Interim Head Band Director Jimmy Olague, An Evening of Percussion features professional musicians who have performed with some of the biggest stars, renowned clinicians and local students. Admission is $10.
Olague said 14 students and five guest musicians from the area and three special guest artists will be on stage.
The special guest artists include Lalo Davila, percussion director at Middle Tennessee State University and a highly sought after clinician; Fausto Cuevas, a Los Angeles-based musician who plays with Stevie Wonder, Jennifer Lopez and has done work with Britney Spears and Santana; Rich Redmond, who is based in Nashville and drums for country star Jason Aldean.
Maddie Olague and Tyler Lilystol are the guest singers. Lilystol is a member of the Current Nine, a big band in Odessa, and Oscar Corral, who is also a community member and involved in musicals at the Permian Playhouse and sings around the area.
Olague said they have been preparing for the concert for about three and a half weeks.
“It’s something that we’ve been having for 18 years now, so they know to expect that we have a end of the year concert just to feature them and also just some different music for the audience to enjoy,” Olague said.
“It also excites them about playing the percussion instrument because a lot of times they don’t like playing keyboard instruments, but this way they really get to enjoy it when they see how it’s really incorporated in music in a fun way,” he added.
Although Olague has had plenty of experience putting these concerts on, he said he doesn’t feel good until it’s started, the crowd is having a good time.
He said they had to skip two years because of COVID.
“… My seniors are the only ones who have experienced this as a high school student and none of my middle school kids have ever experienced this concert. So it’s almost like brand-new again. We’ve had high attendance between 500 to 800 people, and I hope that we can have that again after a two-year absence. It’s a different than any other band concert than people think will be a band concert. It’s not your typical band concert,” Olague said.
Sixteen-year-old Ezaiah Cisneros will be the marimba and drum set. He was in the concert in middle school.
“It feels incredible. This is like the only time as a percussionist I get to be able to learn and play the type of music that I like to play; the instruments that I’ve grown to love over the past almost eight years I’ve been playing,” Cisneros said.
He added that he was looking forward to the concert.
Gabriel Haley, 17, will be playing the marimba, xylophone, the bongos and the guiro.
Haley has been part of the concert previously. He added that it’s amazing to play alongside musicians like Davila and Cuevas who travel the world and with local musicians who are very talented.
“… It’s really an honor to get to play with them. It’s a great opportunity,” Haley said.
He added that OHS has a really great program.
“The drumline, the percussion section, it’s a really strong family. Everyone’s very close and if anyone would want to be part of it, it’s a great place to be. It really is,” Haley said.
Redmond has been playing drums since 1976.
“This is incredible; incredible educators. It’s a thrill to work with my old friend Jimmy. We went to college together (in) 1988. Obviously, he has an amazing program here and the fact that he’s been doing this 16 years in a row, bringing the community together, and bringing these talents together is amazing,” Redmond said.
He added that he and Olague played in college. He just met Cuevas and he knows Davila because he is “part of the fabric of the Nashville music scene.”
“I would just say that music education is so important and it helps shape lives and change lives. With arts programs disappearing all over America, it’s really incredible to have this kind of a thing. It’s very, very important, so I’m a big believer. I’m a product of music education. I grew up in Texas …,” Redmond said.
For this concert, Davila played the timbales and sang.
“This is my 17th year that I’ve come and play and every year it just gets bigger and better. The experience that these students are getting is incredible. With the new addition of the drummer from Jason Aldean and returning artist, Fausto, this is unlike anything else that’s happening around the United States when you have three artists fly from all parts of the United States to come play at Odessa High School under (Olague’s) direction,” Davila said.
He added that this is an important experience for students.
“It’s extremely important because they’re being introduced to not only music from various styles, but also getting introduced to new artists that are actually out in the field performing and they get to share the stories with these students …,” Davila said.
