New York Times, February 3, 2009

Music in Review 

Photo by  Rahav Segev for The New York Times

JUBILEE TRIO

Leslie Amper, Marion Dry and Robert Honeysucker, who perform as the

Jubilee Trio. 

Bargemusic

The concert presented by the Jubilee Trio at Bargemusic on Friday night

was billed as a commemoration of Lincoln’s birthday and the 100th

anniversary of the N.A.A.C.P. But this rare New York appearance by the

group’s three noteworthy Boston musicians — the contralto Marion Dry,

the baritone Robert Honeysucker and the pianist Leslie Amper — was

itself cause for celebration.

The racially mixed trio, formed in 1995, is named for a biblical

celebration in which slaves were freed, as well as for the 19th-century

tradition of black American groups like the Fisk Jubilee Singers, who

injected traditional slavery-era songs into the concert repertory.

Accordingly, the trio mixed spirituals with art songs by composers like

Robert Owens, George Rochberg and Lee Hoiby, grouped by themes of

struggle, resolution and, naturally, jubilation.

The singers seemed overly decorous at first but soon relaxed into a deeply

expressive mode. Mr. Honeysucker deployed his robust, penetrating trombone

of a voice with a thrilling passion and precision. Ms. Dry, apart from a

few early instances of strain in her highest register, performed with

clarity and insight. Each approached spirituals with a dignified

eloquence, avoiding both portentous solemnity and trivializing mannerisms.

Ms. Amper, an alert, sympathetic accompanist throughout, proved an

estimable soloist in Ives’s “Alcotts” (from the “Concord”

Sonata) and William Grant Still’s “Radiant Pinnacle,” a potent mix

of impressionist harmonies and perky rhythms. She mashed chords with her

forearms during Henry Cowell’s rambunctious “Exultation for Piano,”

to the audible delight of those positioned to see her best. 

STEVE SMITH