After a too long hiatus, we have finally re-instituted the Mystery Tours. This was the second of the week as we had house guests and Kay wanted to include them in this evening’s entertainment. So I and Kay’s other guests found ourselves at the Ponte Vedra Public Library building – a branch of the St. Johns County Library System.
We doubted we were there to read. And it was true! The reason we were there was much bigger and louder than any book. As we walked through a long hallway to the Conference Room of the Library and through the open door I saw a familiar figure standing in front of a snare drum, practicing some snappy rhythms.
There was an old friend of ours who had recently retired from her position as Principal Percussionist with the Jacksonville Symphony as well as from her professorship in Music at the University of North Florida. We did not know she was back to performing in small venues but we were not surprised: she has always loved music and performing.
So, there was Charlotte Mabry and a former student of hers providing us with a very entertaining evening of percussion performance. Hard to imagine enjoying a full evening of nothing but percussion instruments? Not the way Charlotte and Greg performed. They used several different intruments: tambourine, Chinese gongs, bells and cymbals, a marimba, that infamous snare drum, a South American box drum, and even tiny music boxes (really not much larger than a match box). And the sounds they created were enthralling, catchy, melodious and amusing.
This was truly a great way to re-start the Mystery Tours!