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By Julie Rausch

The audience will get a stimulating history lesson in music as told through the WSU Percussion Ensemble’s "Salute to the 20th Century" concert at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 22, in Miller Concert Hall.

Although the concert will focus on the last century, the players will first pay homage to one of the main sources of percussion influence, Africa. The African Ensemble led by Brian Williams will play Gahu, music native to Ghana on authentic drums.

To show African influence in action, the 1900-30 era follows with a performance by a ragtime ensemble led by Ryan Corcoran.

"Ionisation," written in 1931 by Edgar Varése, is one of the most important early works J.C. Combs, professor of percussion, could put his hands on. It was influential in terms of how Varése uses the sonorities of percussion. In this piece, the audience will hear anvils, a lion’s roar and sirens.

"It’s an extremely difficult piece," Combs said, "but I think the audience will find the texture amazing."

Lou Harrison wrote "Drums of Orpheus" for a ballet in 1945. Harrison liked to use unusual arrays of items to make sounds, including flower pots, glass, a string bass laid flat played with sticks and gongs dipped in water, Combs said.

"Six Marimbas," written in 1986 by Steve Reich, takes a nucleus of materials and builds it through repetition, Combs said. "It’s the same, and yet it tends to phase itself into different sounds. It’s almost hypnotic."

Guest artist Paul Smadbeck will perform "Rhythm Song" with Kevin Bobo. Both are School of Music alumni. Smadbeck wrote this piece in the early ’80s, Combs said.

"I would say this is one of the most important pieces of the 20th century for the marimba," Combs said. "He was one of the best marimba players I’ve ever heard." Smadbeck had to make a life choice, Combs said, and he abandoned marimbas for his father’s distinguished Wall Street firm.

"Probably every college student in the United States has played this song," Combs said. "It’s probably made more money for Paul than any marimba piece for any other composer. One reason was that some Japanese car firm bought the rights to it in Tokyo."

"Head Talk" will be played on drum heads only, Combs said. "It’s sort of a salute to probably one of the most important innovations in the 20th century in drumming and that is plastic heads."

The program also will feature a drum corps conducted by Shawn Henderson.

The lobby will have a display of drums from past decades, ethnic instruments, and other archival material from Combs’ collection and percussion alumni.