Skip to main content

The Beat Goes On

 


“Just posted a video in Columbia, Maryland,” the tweet read. I was curious. I’m always looking for a good local story. So I clicked.

@MarvillousBeats Just posted a video @ Columbia, Maryland. https://www.instagram.com/p/CHBTKDXgfc4/

The video shows a young Black man playing violin near Vantage House in Town Center, I believe. He is accompanied by a backing track. Would you call this style jazz violin? I think so. He is very, very good. 

I was curious, so I looked him up.

Marvillous Beats is the performance name of a Laurel-based violinist Marvill L. Martin. (He is also a composer, actor, and audio engineer, according to his website bio.) The music he makes? 

The vibe of the Marvillous Beats sound is a unique mix of original classical music, pop, jazz and hip-hop. 

Check out his cover of “Positions” by Ariana Grande. The rhythmic pizzicato in the intro is, as my daughter would say, “chef’s kiss”.

It can’t be easy to be a specialist in live performance during the pandemic. Even in the best of times, musical artists are engaged in an endless cycle of self-promotion in order to find enough gigs to get by. Right now the kind of group events that normally book musicians are few and far between, if not a downright impossibility. 

If you scroll down through his Twitter account you’ll also see that he is a family man with a beautful baby daughter. Seeing those photos made me wonder if there was anything I could do to connect his music with people who might become fans. What about you?

Maybe you need something to do today to keep your mind off of things that are causing you stress and anxiety. A little music might be just the thing.

Marvillous Beats has a YouTube channel, too. There’s lots of stuff there to explore. And you might want to put a little something in his tip jar if you’re so inclined. Or just tell a friend and spread the word.







Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Teacher Gifts

Today is the last day of school before the Winter Break. It’s a good time to remember the far-reaching nature of our public school system. You may not have children. You may have sent your children to independent schools. It matters not. You will be impacted one way or another. Yesterday I read a long thread on Facebook about several waves of illness in the schools right now. There’s influenza A and norovirus, I believe. And of course there’s COVID. Apparently in some individual schools the rate of illness is high enough for school admin to notify parents.  When I was little the acceptable holiday gift for a teacher was one of those lovely floral handkerchief squares. (I don’t know what it was for male teachers. They were rare in my elementary years.) These days the range of teacher gifts is wider and I have fond memories of Target gift cards which I have written about before. I think it’s safe to say that giving one’s teacher Influenza, norovirus, or COVID is not the ideal holiday...
1 comment
Read more

They Can Wait

This is not a typical Saturday post. That’s because, in my community, it’s not a typical Saturday.  Oakland Mills High School, after years of deferred repair, needs massive renovation. It’s pretty simple: when you don’t fix a problem it gets bigger. The school system itself said the the OMHS school building was  "no longer conducive to learning" back in 2018.  2018 .  But Thursday the Boad of Education voted to push it out of the lineup of important projects which will be given the go-ahead to proceed soonest.  In my opinion it’s a terrible decision and sets a dangerous precedent. To explain, here’s the advocacy letter I sent in support of Oakland Mills High School. I was rather proud of it. I am writing to ask you to proceed with needed renovation at Oakland Mills High School in the most timely and comprehensive manner humanly possible. I have read the letter sent to you by the Oakland Mills Community Association and I am in complete agreement. You are extremel...
1 comment
Read more

Columbia Chance Connection

  Last night, as my husband and I were about to sit down to dinner, our front door swung open and a cheery voice announced, “I’m ba—ack!”  We weren’t expecting anyone. Clearly the only people who’d walk right in to our house would be one of our offspring. I had my reading glasses on so I wasn’t seeing too clearly. It seemed too tall for our youngest, but we knew our eldest was at work. I took off my glasses to see a friendly but confused face scanning our living room. When her gaze landed on us we all had a sudden realization. We didn’t know eachother. “Oh I’m so sorry! I’m in the wrong house! My daughter just moved in and she needed hooks for the kitchen so I ran out to get them.” She waved the package. “All these houses look the same and I don’t know the neighborhood yet. I thought this was my daughter’s house.” We were all getting a bit giggly. “That’s okay. For a quick second we thought you were our daughter,” said my husband. I told her our names and said she should defin...
Post a Comment
Read more