Khenany Concert Delights Audience

by Beverly Brown

Khenany woke up and wow-ed Owego last month with a spirited performance of Latin American music at the Owego Middle School. Five members of the Mexican group - Antonio "Tono" Hernandez, Rafael Covarrubio, Concepcion "Conchita" Garcia, Hector Ramirez, and David Espinoza (a 6th member, Hermilo "Milo" Batista, did not appear that night) - played an amazing variety of string, wind, and percussion instruments including guitars, flutes, panpipes, and drums. The performers introduced their songs and talked to the audience in both Spanish and English. They also explained the various Latin American instruments to the audience.

Their introductory set consisted of three songs including "Encuentro" and a song that's title translated as "Smashing Coffee Beans." They continued with "Lejos de Amor" ("Far from Love"), a Chilean song about homeless children and "Silencio" ("Silence"), a song from Peru. During the song "Bella," they used an instrument called a "cuatro" which is a small guitar with four strings. ("Cuatro" means "four" in Spanish.) For the final song of Act I, they performed a Bolivian song using the "Charango," a small, guitar-like instrument made from an armadillo shell. One of the performers joked that they have to shave it, because the armadillo hair is still growing.

Act II began with a quiet, peaceful song called "Goodbye Illusions." During this song, they used an instrument which perfectly mimicked the sound of a bird.

Khenany joked that American audiences like it when they recognize songs. To keep their audience happy, Khenany played a medley of American songs in a Latin American style using Latin American instruments. Audiences enjoyed Khenany's Latin interpretations of "Dueling Banjos" (or should that be "Dueling Panpipes"), "Memory," and "When the Saints Go Marching In."

Khenany showed the audience how the South American instruments would sound with another style of music - Classical. They played a medley which included "Chopin's Polonaise," "Beethoven's 5th," and "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desire."

Before singing the last song of the evening, Khenany thanked the audience for "coming to listen to the music of Khenany instead of watching TV."

The delighted audience gave Khenany a standing ovation and were rewarded with an encore performance which included "El Condor Pasa."

After the show, Khenany invited the audience to come up on stage and get a close look at the musical instruments. Those who took advantage of the offer were intrigued and amazed at the variety and beauty of the instruments. The "Charango" really is made from an armadillo shell, and it really does have hair (though reports of its needing to be shaved are surely exaggerated).

The small clay ocarinas are shaped like birds and beautifully painted.

One of the most fascinating instruments was a square drum (sort of a square, wooden pizza box) filled with marbles. As the drum is slowly tipped, the marbles move and perfectly imitate the sound of the ocean.

Equally fascinating was the "Rain Stick," a large bamboo stick filled with pebbles. When the stick is turned upside down, the pebbles slowly fall and sound like rain.

One of the most fascinating wind instruments was played not by blowing into it, but by filling a small bowl with water which forced air out of the other side of the instrument and created a beautiful whistle-like tone.

If you missed the wonderful Latin music of Khenany, visit their web site at www.khenany.com to learn more about them, order cassettes and CDS, and -- best of all -- listen to some free samples of their music.


©1998 APALACHIN COMMUNITY PRESS