The Rodney Block Collective performed in a Seark Concert Associations SMART Program at the Dumas High School and Dumas Junior High School auditoriums Tuesday, February 1, 2022.
Rodney Block, trumpet; Roosevelt Harris, vocalist; Dre Franklin, piano; D'Shawn Lampkin, bass guitar; and Jonathan Burks on drums performed a variety of music styles including Jazz, Afrobeats, R&B and Gospel. The audience danced and sang to several songs including “This Little Light of Mine.” Blocked talked to the students about how his roots began in gospel music and started playing his trumpet in band. He advised the students to listen to a variety of music and that band and choir is often where a music career begins. Block said learning never ends and that people in a variety of professions have graduated from Dumas High School. He advised students to lead with kindness and love in your heart; make good decisions and try hard to resolve conflict without violence.
Block, a professional Jazz artist, was born in Dumas on April 9, 1970 and raised in Dumas. He learned how to play the trumpet by playing a hand-me-down horn. He formed a group called the Rodney Block Collective. The group is a quintet that plays a range of genres such as; Jazz, Hip-Hop, County and Gospel. He also has as second band, Rodney Block and the Love Supreme which performs on an Eclectic Hip-Hop base style. He has produced six albums.
The SMART Program (SchoolsMajoringintheARTS) is an initiative of Seark Concert Association striving to ensure every student in every grade (K-12th) in our seven county region of the state is exposed to high quality, professional, fine arts experiences. Seark fundraises, books, and schedules SMARTS performances in each school for no cost to the schools. The vision of the SMARTS program is to enrich each child's academic experience and growth by providing exposure to and experience of the arts, an important but endangered area of study.
