Leavell, McDuffie, Mills make ‘A Night of Georgia Music’ one to remember
Robert McDuffie got back on stage a little early after intermission Friday during a dress rehearsal for Saturday’s “A Night of Georgia Music” at the Grand Opera House.
McDuffie was all smiles and fist-bumped a number of the 26 Mercer University student-musicians already back and seated deep on stage in orchestral fashion. The young artists are Mercer McDuffie Center for Strings students and in front of them was a rock band setup with amplifiers and instruments awaiting the return of the night’s featured performers: McDuffie, Mike Mills and Chuck Leavell.
McDuffie was clearly proud of the students’ work during the first half comprised of songs celebrating some of Georgia’s greatest musical stars. The second half was to be a performance “Concerto for Violin, Rock Band and String Orchestra” composed by Mills several years ago at McDuffie’s request. McDuffie is a Macon native, a violin prodigy who left before finishing high school to study at the Juilliard School. His virtuosity and determination led to his becoming a soloist superstar in the classical world and allowed him to establish the Rome (Italy) Chamber Music Festival and, of course, the center for strings back at home.
Mills and he became friends as kids after Mills moved to Macon when he was 12. The two would get together, talk baseball, talk music and listen to records by bands like the Allman Brothers. Lauren Giddings murder Sister speaks out 10 years after gruesome Macon killing READ MORE Mills finished school and headed to UGA where he co-founded R.E.M. as bass player and songwriter. His Macon buddy, Bill Berry, was drummer. At about the same time, Leavell, barely a half-dozen years older, was moving to Macon from Alabama to play keyboards at Capricorn Records and later join the Allman Brothers Band.
Eventually, he became musical director and touring-band member for the Rolling Stones among other work including session and solo gigs. Leavell remained in Macon, also becoming a tree farmer-conservationist. Watch the movie about him if you haven’t, called “Tree Man.” The band was filled out by well-known Athens-based guitarists John Neff and William Tonks with Gerry Hansen on drums. So that’s a brief background for the powerhouse rehearsing last week in Macon for Saturday’s show, a show done in internationally in major cities before COVID struck.
Macon’s performance was recorded by 7 Cinematics for PBS broadcast so if you missed the show, there’s still that. Thank you for supporting local journalism Your subscription allows us to provide our readers with quality, relevant journalism that makes a difference. We believe a platform for sharing local news is critical to our community – and we’re glad you think so, too. Have questions about your subscription? We’re happy to help. Contact us “I came in too early, I know …,” Mills said about a bass part during rehearsals Wednesday. It’s just part of the talk and work and back-and-forth of getting things right which is something the three and others on stage are particular about. “How close can I get to the monitor before I get feedback or something?” McDuffie asked moving near the stage’s edge to join with Leavell near his piano. “It’s communication,” McDuffie said when the three sat down to talk during a break. He likened it to the chamber music he loves. “We are listening to each other and obviously listening to each and feeding off one another when we play. I say my first exposure to chamber music was as a kid listening to the Allman Brothers’ “Eat a Peach” album.
The way Dickey (Betts) and Duane (Allman) spoke to each other and were deferential to each other – that’s what chamber music is. You check your ego at the door and in it’s a musical call-and-answer thing, the same as what we’re doing here. We’re not only feeling it but we’re seeing each other.” They agreed audiences join the communication as they hear the music and see what’s going on on stage. “Where does the emotion come from?” Leavell asked then answered. “It comes in a lot of different ways. It comes from the arrangement, the tone, the phrasing, in the touch of each instrument. You convey it as best you know how from your heart down to your fingers.” Mills carried on. “You know, some of the audience will be out there and be appreciative and maybe dazzled by our ‘technical brilliance,’” he said. “Some will be here for that but most people are looking to be transported. That’s what music does – it takes you outside yourself, or maybe deeper inside yourself, but it takes you somewhere other than where you were.
Hopefully, that’s what happens when we communicate our feelings in the music. Hopefully, it makes you feel other than you did before.” As each has admired other musicians, are they conscious of the impact they have on younger players? “In terms of the music, sure, I think some people will come and see this and they will be inspired and maybe they’ll be inspired enough to do something,” Mills said. “All you can do is put it out there. You can’t control that, you can just put it out there.” Leavell agreed: do your best and let the music speak. “Personally, I think about the music when I play,” he said. “I’m trying to play with my brothers here and focus every bit of energy I have into making sure I’m in tune with these guys and with the orchestra and make the music as good as it can be.
Whatever happens after that – hopefully it’s good.” And McDuffie. “Well, these two, their music has been the soundtrack to so many people’s lives,” he said. “To me, it’s about the students. That’s who I get nervous for. I need to play well for my students. I rehearsed with them last night and, boy, I had to have a sip of wine before I saw them. I mean, I was playing all these exposed pieces that our ‘sadist arranger’ wrote for us. But on stage, I just try to have a great time with these colleagues but I’m very aware of the students. I have to play well.” David Mallamud served as string arranger for the program and insisted arrangements should take full advantage of McDuffie’s considerable skills. McDuffie said he and Mills lost track as friends after their early years with each pursuing a career. But each said they’re glad they reunited. Not long after the 2011 amicable breakup of R.E.M., McDuffie approached his friend to compose something for him. They both desired to keep classical music alive but in a way that expanded its borders. Mills’ concerto is the result. Most recently, they added the Georgia music segment as a show and asked Leavell to join them.
And there’s still another Mills-McDuffie connection: Mills became part of a larger consortium that put together funds to help McDuffie obtain a high-value violin made in 1735 by Guarneri del Gesù called the “Ladenburg” violin. That’s what violinists of McDuffie’s stature do to get great instruments, violinists who can manage to make even a $3.5 million instrument sound better. Or maybe vice versa, as McDuffie would say. When asked how it came about, looking for details in the process, Mills got a laugh from the other two when he quickly said, “Well, I sold a lot of records.” “Amen, my brother, amen,” Leavell chimed. “But really, Bobbly just put a plan together and people he knew and I was one of them,” Mills said. “I mean, for me, it was an investment in Bobby, in our friendship, and a chance to be a part of Bobby’s musical career.
We were such good friends here in Macon, when that circle reformed I was thrilled to see what he had done and to have the opportunity to be part of it going forward.” Again getting a laugh, he added, “And see, now he has to think of me every night when he goes on stage. He’ll never escape.” Mills said when McDuffie asked about composing the concerto he agreed largely out of that friendship. “I didn’t really know what to think,” he said. “I knew it would get played at least once but now it’s been played 20 times or so and to be honest, Bobby’s the reason it gets played. He’s brilliant in it. I’ve given him something different to play and people like it. I’m thrilled it’s out there.” Mills said between the concerto and the evening’s songs of widely varied Georgia performers, the hope again is musical walls will come down and people will enjoy what they hear beyond genres.
Students from the McDuffie Center for Strings, conducted by Ward Stare, played throughout the evening but in announcing a piece that featured them, Mills said they were “doing things I could never do in a million years.” Violinist Augusta Schubert, a Mercer senior at the center, said, “That’s funny because we could never imagine doing what he’s doing in a million years. So it’s cool we get to play together.” I asked about the varied, unique opportunities the center affords students. “I went on the tour in 2019 and it was one of the most amazing experiences,” she said. “I thought what a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity it was and now I’m so lucky it’s twice-in-a-lifetime. This is such a unique opportunity for us at the McDuffie Center.
We have such a rich musical history in Macon, one that a lot of places don’t have and that many people don’t even know about. I couldn’t ask for more.” In an evening of highlights, an evening of virtuosic violin, piano and Mills’ melodic bass backbone throughout, there were many transformative moments during both halves of the show. A McDuffie-Leavell duet on Leavell’s “Southscape” from the album of the same name had to be one. But don’t discount the moments when looks between the two, now three, friends and their colleagues acknowledged the magic was happening. Being in on those looks can be transformative for audiences as well. It was a good show.