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CONTACT US THEY SAID IT Story ideas? Questions? Comments? DANTE ALIGHIERI: “Avarice, envy, pride, Three E-mail us at gamecockmixeditor@hotmail.com fatal sparks, have set the hearts of all On Fire.” UMPING back on the SCENE Jump, Little Children keeps busy with shows, albums despite recent lack of radio play Jump, Little Children recently filmed a DVD at a concert at The Music Farm in Charleston, photos special to the gamecock . “We’ve been doing this for a while, but there’s always the stage fright element. It’s still there, but we are over it at the same time. We can perform in front of five or 1,000 people and be fairly comfortable.” WARD WILLIAMS JUMP, LITTLE CHILDREN BY VICTORIA BENNETT THE GAMECOCK You’ve probably not been hearing much of Jump, Little Children on the radio lately. , But that doesn’t seem to bother the Charleston-based band. Lead guitar and cello player, Ward Williams, said its latest album, “Vertigo,” is not the most radio-friendly of its cata log. “Radio helped us to a degree,” said Williams , pointing to the moderate-sized 1998 hit “Cathedrals” from the album “Magazine.” “But I’m actually glad we’re not on the radio right now. Most of what’s out there is mediocre to awful. I hope radio will start to turn around.” While radio play may be the fastest road to success, Jump, Little Children has been presented with opportunities in other forms. The band made its first national televi sion appearance March 29 on CNN’s Headline News. At the Atlanta broadcast, the band played new songs as well as ones closer to its Irish beginnings. Williams said they were invited to be on the show because a fan of the band worked at Headline News. “Atlanta is one of our biggest markets, and it was great exposure,” Williams said. He enjoyed the appearance, despite an an nouncer mistakenly calling the band “Jump the Children.” The next day was also a mile stone for the band. That evening it filmed a DVD of its concert at The Music Farm in front of a packed house. “We’d rehearsed the set list the whole week,” Williams said. Even before several cameras, it was not much different from any other night, Williams said. “We’ve been doing this for a while,” he said. “But there’s al ways the stage fright element. It’s still there, but we are over it at the same time. We can perform in front of five or 1,000 people and be fairly comfortable.” The band consists of Williams; Jay Clifford on lead vocals and rhythm guitar; Matt Bivins on vo cals and an array of instruments in cluding the harmonica, tin whistle and accordion; Evan Bivins on drums; and Jonathan Gray on upright bass. The band’s longtime friend Michael Bellar played keyboard. “We wanted to make the DVD special in some way,” Williams said. “Mike has played with us a lot and knows our music. And he’s phenomenal on the keyboard.” Jump, Little Children decided to make the DVD after being approached by Chris Schars, who the band knew through a Wilmington radio station. Schars had joined a video production company, and he offered Country rock singer and use graduate Patrick Davis will open for Jump, Little Children at Senate Park on Saturday. the band a deal it couldn’t resist. It took Schars up on the opportunity to create a new product, which will be released later this year. Though the band has been a re gional staple since the early ‘90s, it has found recent success beyond the Mississippi River. In March, the band toured the West Coast and played sold-out shows in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Chicago. Williams said the crowds, which averaged 200 people, surprised him. “But the fact is we’ve been doing this for a while.” He said their mu sic has spread beyond the region by people who moved and by people who sent their CDs to long-distance friends. The band is moving “slowly but surely” toward the national level, Williams said. He said the band would hit that point when it can draw at least 500 people to shows in other regions. Jump, Little Children seemed to be on the right road to their goal in 1998, when they released “Magazine” with Breaking Records, a Columbia-based branch of Atlantic Records. The band’s music re ceived support from local radio stations and began to expand beyond the regional scene. The band was weeks away from releas ing “Vertigo” last April when Atlantic dropped Breaking. After months of conflict, the band bought its record back and re leased it on its own label, EZ Chief Records. Now, after tireless touring and some good opportunities, things are looking up again for the band. Jump, Little Children will play Saturday at Senate Park, which is located at 931-B Senate St. in the Vista. Locals Patrick Davis and Danielle Howie and the Tantrums will open. Danielle Howie and the Tantrums, who make their home in Columbia, released i| their first album in almost five years, “Skorborealis,” last month. The sound is primarily rock, but it is turned in directions of punk, folk and jazz. There’s something for old and new fans alike. Local country-rock act Davis, a USC grad uate, has crafted mature songs that have a storytelling quality coming from smooth vo cals and honest lyrics. He cites Tom Petty, Gram Parsons, Neil Young and early Bruce Springsteen as influences. On his four-song demo, Davis is backed by local talent such as Mark Bryan and Dean Felber, both of Hootie and the Blowfish, as well as Gary Greene, formerly of Cravin’ Melon. Plans are in the works for a full-length album to be recorded in Nashville in June. Tickets for the show are $10 in advance and $12 at the door._lj Comments on this story?E-mail gamecockmixeditor@hotmail.com ‘Move Somethin^’ BY TITAN BARKSDALE THE GAMECOCK Anyone on the comer of Senate and Park streets this Sunday after 10 p.m. will be required to move something — as soon as the beat drops. National hip-hop recording artist Talib Kweli will rock Columbia’s surging live music venue, Senate Park, with the drum-pounding smash, “Move Something,” and other hits as part of “The Quality Tour,” which pro motes the upcoming release of his first solo album, “Kwelity.” DJ Shekeese, event co-coordi nator and recent USC graduate, is elated because Columbia will play host to one of the most celebrated ; I Kweli will play F Columbia on ^ Sunday. PHOTO SPECIAL te TO THE hip-hop artists in recent years. “He represents what hip-hop is really all about, so anytime I have the opportunity to showcase to others the realness of hip-hop, I get excited about that,” Shekeese said. Since making his professional debut in the mid-’90s, Kweli has an extensive musical catalog char acterized by introspective and en lightening lyricism. The socially conscious emcee has been revered for poignant rhymes that cover a variety of relevant topics. DJ Shekeese cites this trait as the reason for Kweli’s appeal to all audiences. “He does stuff for everybody, and that’s the most important thing to me as far as hip-hop is concerned, because this is an artist that can even appeal to my mother,” DJ Shekeese said. “If my mother was to come in there, she could say ‘I can understand what he’s saying.’ “ Kweli has two critically ac claimed studio albums to his credit in which he rapped alongside a part ner. The classic “Blackstar,” re leased in 1998, features Kweli along side Mos Def. “Train of Thought” was released two years later, mak ing a Top 20 debut. It features Kweli with DJ Hi-Tek. Together, they are Reflection Eternal. Kweli’s status as a performer, wordsmith and activist has been solidified. He became a fixture in hip-hop by captivating audiences with his stage presence, energy and free-spirited performances. However, Kweli doesn’t just rap about instituting positive change. He actually does so with his awareness efforts. He owns The Nkiru Center for Education and Culture in Brooklyn, which serves as an educational and multi-cul tural resource in the Brooklyn community. In addition, Kweli worked on the Hip-Hop for Respect project to heighten sensitivity to police brutality. With college students’ inclina tion to stay in tune to progressive individuals and events, DJ Shekeese said getting the college crowd out wouldn’t be a problem. Second-year student Carmen Haynesworth said Kweli’s dispo sition would attract her to Senate Park this Sunday. “He is a conscious rap artist whose message is uplifting,” Carmen said, “It’s a shame that he doesn’t get more recognition be cause he puts out stuff that people aren’t aware of and need to know.” The event is under the umbrella of Non-Stop Hip-Hop, which show cases hip-hop culture in the Columbia area with a radio show on WUSC 90.5 and live shows at the New Brookland Tavern. The magnitude of this event forced it to move to Senate Park, which is a more central and spa cious location. Also, it has been a venue for recognized national acts of Kweli’s status. Purchasing a ticket gives the buyer access to quality music this Sunday- in more ways than one. Tickets for the show are $12 in advance and are available at Senate Park or etix.com. They are $15 Sunday at the door. Senate Park is at 931-B Senate St. Comments on this story?E-mail gamecocKmixeditor@hotmail.com Kevin Snyder, founder of Higher Harmony, leads the group in song at Its performance in the Russell House Theater on Tuesday night. PHOTO BY CANDI HAUGLUM/THE GAMECOCK Higher Harmony sings A capella group displays vocals in debut show BY MIKE LUKE THE GAMECOCK Higher Harmony is a male a cappella organization at USC. The current members are Joey Foster, Kevin Snyder, Jack Stevenson, Joe Maxim, Matt Bates, Andy Johnson, Victor Kemper and Chris Young. The group started in the spring of 2001 and has steadily progressed from small gigs to its first concert Tuesday at the Russell House Theater. The Zeta Tau Alpha and Alpha Delta Pi sororities sponsored the show. Kevin Snyder,, a second-year graduate education student, is the group’s founder. He says the advantages of being a student or ganization, rather than just an a cappella group, are the “oppor tunities on campus. An organi zation appeals to a wider selec tion of people for whom we can perform.” A cappella literally means “without accompaniment.” Higher Harmony could be said to be just singing, but that would be failing to recognize the complex ity of the group’s music. Each song has bass lines, lead voices, harmony, syncopation and even percussive sounds. The group’s compositions are arranged mainly from sheet mu sic, but a few songs, like “Brown Eyed Girl,” are done by ear. Snyder said these can be a “big challenge, when you have to write five or six harmony parts to a song just by listening to it.” The group lacks a lead singer. The songs require that most so los go to the tenors, which are Foster, Snyder, Stevenson and Maxim. Higher Harmony’s style allows for a constant bass line with baritone and tenor harmo ny without losing the strength of the melody. They have perfected this style, and no section of singers sounds weak. Higher Harmony’s concert Tuesday night was unique. A per formance can be much more stressful for a musician who can’t hide behind an instrument. Higher Harmony was excellent, however, and gave the audience the feeling the songs were well rehearsed. The group opened with “The Star-Spangled Banner,” which it has previously performed for dif ferent sporting events. Most of Higher Harmony’s songs are from early ’60s Motown and early ♦ HARMONY, SEE PAGE 7