From Hip-Hop to Jazz, Reggae to Techno, this spring seasons ‘MusicNow’ deserves a thumbs up for its culmination of contemporary musicians. On the warm sunny night of Sunday April 17, 24 performers took to the checkered stage in the Fé Bland Forum.

The main man of the night Professor Dominic Camardella showcased gifted students attending his course Music 120, “Sound Recording and Electronic Music.” In his class the students become the sound engineers where they learn and apply modern recording techniques to the concert stage striving to achieve the quality and integrity of the professional arena.

During rehearsal the passionate performers demonstrated their skills by lighting the stage, arranging the microphones and storing pre-sets on the live digital mixing console.  

Many of the 17 acts were corky and creative that left the crowd clapping for more. Other acts however, were less than notable and forgotten on the last hurrah.

The show kicked off the set with an easy listening solo acoustic guitarist whose soft voice and melodic riffs created a relaxed feel amongst the audience. Following the first act was a less than great bird chirping bluegrass song, where two men wore cowboy hats while performing.

Camardella took to the stage shortly after as he composed and performed “Mythic Journey,” a dreamy soulful song played on the black grand piano. His tapping feet to the backbeat and dancing fingers across the keys was appropriate for a romantic evening of sipping white wine under the moonlights sky.

After an adjustment of microphones from the stage hands, beat poet Chaye Tionand eloquent classical singer Allison Bernal approached the stage resembling Bonnie and Clyde. The interesting contrast of the black man’s spoken word about the rough economy and Marilyn Monroe’s reincarnation singing an upbeat chorus created a jazzy feel that ran shivers up my spine.

After a quick intermission and another revamp of the stage, the concert picked up the pace. With the help of Mac and Tosh aka Macintosh, the composers used a hybrid of digital and acoustic instruments.

The lively two Jamaican brothers Rastan Campbell and Caleta Campbell took to the stage next with long dreads and black suits. During the song the brothers were jumping around, flowing about living life to the fullest. Their positive vibrations in their reggae song “How Yeah Feel,” were felt as the crowd clapped to the beat throughout their performance.

Following the reggae act was a couple of less than desirable techno and auto- tuned rap tracks that brought a familiar feeling of the mainstream radio.  

The night ended appropriately with the three Swede’s Dan Caesar, Viktor Lundstrom, and Dan Larsson rocking out with engaged fans all across the front row. Their love song “Hide Out,” sounded like a hybrid of Linkin Park and P.O.D. with two of them harmonizing a heartfelt chorus and guitar riffs with and the other Sweden rapping.

In the end all the performers took to a bow on stage and the crowd clapped with a cheering roar, impressed with what the students had to offer.