This funk band needs your help

How often do you hear of a college student so attached to a high school club that they continue to participate long after they leave for university?

Two college students (Colin Myers, keyboards, and Paul Bauer, percussion) who are part of the 14-member ensemble Inspiration East are just one intriguing aspect of this after-school, student-led jazz, funk and R&B band that rattles the windows of Cherry Hill East High School’s wood shop almost every day after the buses roll away.

While many clubs in the district have either ceased due to budget cuts or are led by students during the school day or on Facebook, Inspiration East continues to meet after school in the depths of the shop, surrounded by heavy equipment and lab chairs and big electrical fans.

Industrial arts teacher Cecil Leonard has served as an adviser (and bass guitarist) for some incarnation of Inspiration East for about 11 years. Budget cuts or no budget cuts, he’s still there in the shop to offer support to a lively group of dedicated musicians who don’t just play well, they compose original arrangements, handle musical direction, perform at school functions and are ready to bring their funky grooves to the masses.

On Monday, the group worked the kinks out of a set list for an upcoming benefit show, to be held Friday, Dec. 4, at The Factory in Collingswood.

The concert, which will include a tribute to Michael Jackson, will raise funds to replace some of the band’s equipment. The group’s dedication – they rehearse every chance they get – has meant some of the original gear Leonard gave them is falling apart.

“My wife said get all this stuff out of my basement, so I brought it here,’’ Leonard recalls with a chuckle, taking a break from jamming with the band. “Over the years, they’ve torn it all up. So we need some new equipment so we can do this at a more professional level.’’

Junior Nick Kepron, a percussionist, is co-leader of the funk group, sharing that job with sophomore Jaden Williams. (Kepron is the son of Lu Hanessian, who writes the Driving Lessons column and blog for the Courier-Post).

Kepron, who plays a drum kit awash in vibrant colors, much like paintings he does at home, has a deep commitment to this project and the mission Leonard set in place so many years ago.

When Kepron returned with his family to Cherry Hill after a stint living in Jersey City his freshman year, he’d missed the chance to join many of the school’s music groups. When he heard about Inspiration East, he approached Leonard and said, “I play drums.’’

“Their old drummer had just left the band, and it was divine timing, I think,’’ he says. “Mr. Leonard said, ‘Good, I’m looking for a drummer,' and I went from drummer to band leader to assistant director for the band. I co-arrange the music. It’s a great experience.’’

Over time, Kepron did join other musical ensembles, but the funk band is where his heart lies.

“This is much more than just music,’’ says Kepron, practically dancing with his enthusiasm. “This is about musicians being the best versions of themselves they can be. The name is not just the name. What we learn here does not just apply to music, it applies to life.’’

Williams, a sophomore, has been in the group for about a year.

To watch him lead the group through James Brown’s “Get Up Offa That Thing,’’ you would think he had been leading a funk band for a decade or more – perhaps on a New York stage.

Though thoughtful and soft-spoken away from the stage, Williams is a born showman, animated and charismatic – his conducting as much a joy to watch as the sound it evokes from his band members.

“I come from a long line of musical directors and performers, so I guess it comes natural to me,’’ he says sheepishly when asked about how natural he looks keeping the band on course.

“What made me want to join was the environment,’’ says Williams, speaking just outside the rehearsal space where we are surrounded by heavy machinery and the air smells of saw dust, “a safe environment and a place of peace to really be myself as a musician. That also came about from the direction of Mr. Leonard. He saw potential in me, so I came and I started right away.’’

For both young men, the fundraiser concert will be a new experience, playing out in the world, perhaps for strangers.

“It will be a new experience, and a higher level for us as a band,’’ Williams said. “Unmarked territory and we have to go and take possession of it.’’

For Leonard, it seems a true calling.

“I’ve always loved music,’’ he says. “It’s always been a powerful part of my life.’’

While much of the shop looks like any other large, public school industrial arts classroom, a bulletin board up near the door to the hall is plastered with motivational thoughts Leonard has posted there where the kids in his care – both during and after school hours – can’t miss them.

This isn’t just about replacing a drill bit or learning to cut wood straight. This is about being anything but ordinary, in whatever you do.

Leonard says he’s used music to connect with students throughout his career, whether here in Cherry Hill or back the '80s, when he was teaching in Austin, Texas.

“(Music) allows me to establish a rapport with the students, some of whom are really talented, even if they don’t play in the school band. I started his as a really open space, where they get to exercise creativity and have an open space for that. I’ve been doing it at all the schools I’ve taught at.’’

Because Leonard splits his time between Cherry Hill’s two high schools, word got out about Inspiration East in the West.

At present, just one student – trumpeter Josue Villegas – makes the trek after school to rehearse with the band, but the door is open for more.

Leonard is hoping the fundraiser will get the word out about what Inspiration East is all about.

“Some people get in the way of musical instruction because they are so rigid,’’ he says. “When you open up the creative space for them, and they take a journey, they discover things for themselves. And they will surprise you. It’s kind of a process like that.

“They are just balls of energy,’’ he says of his students. “This has never been done before, and it’s a great experience to bring people together to do something like that and they walk away with that experience.’’

The venue for the fundraiser could not be more fitting.

The Factory, just off Haddon Avenue in Collingswood, is South Jersey’s largest maker space.

It is filled with heavy machinery available for rent for people to come and create things.

But owner/entrepreneur Tom Marchetty often uses the space to host fundraisers for various community groups and causes, often with live music.

Marchetty is a machinist by trade and he fixes industrial arts equipment at local schools, including in Leonard’s classrooms.

“I’ve been servicing (Cherry Hill East) for 15 years, and I always shoot the %$@ with Mr. Leonard,’’ Marchetty says. “I told him about The Factory and what we have going on.

“He contacted me and said he wanted to do something to help raise money for the kids who come and meet with them in the woodshop.

“I walked in there to do service, and the kids were in there jamming out, and they were just great. I knew it was a great fit, with the history that we have , a bunch of kids, musicians playing in a wood shop, what better venue to have it in than a wood shop? It’s just a good marriage all around.

“They make something out of nothing, and people come (to The Factory) and make something out of nothing.’’

Reviewing the fundraiser’s set list, Williams is excited to mix it up – everything from Curtis Mayfield to Stevie Wonder to John Coltrane.

Asked what he’s  most excited about, he responds, “The Michael Jackson tribute that we’re doing! … It’s going to be a lot of different genres and different styles and different time periods that come together to make a beautiful sound.’’

Fourteen members of Inspiration East --  including a horn section and vocalists – will be joined by six special guests to create a 20-member funk machine.

“It’s going to be a lot of fun,’’ Williams promises. “We want to really show ourselves … so hopefully people will come out and have fun with us.’’

If you go

Inspiration East will perform 7 to 9 p.m. Friday, Dec. 4, at The Factory, 13 Fern Ave., Collingswood. Tickets are $10.  

INSPIRATION EAST IS …

Nick Kepron, drums, co-leader  (junior)

Jaden Williams, keyboards, co-leader (sophomore)

Ben Turner, guitar  (senior)

Jon Hess, guitar    (sophomore)

Jon Hay, guitar      (freshman)

Alex Glass, keyboards    (sophomore)

Colin Myers, keyboards  (graduate)

Paul Bauer, percussion   (graduate)

Joe Tighue, trombone    (senior)

Josue Villegas, trumpet   (senior at Cherry Hill West)

Tahlia Encarnacion, lead vocal  (junior)

Zion Adams, singer      (freshman)

Ben Kepron, singer       (8th grade, Rosa)

Naomi Warszawski, singer   (sophomore)

Director: Cecil Leonard

INSPIRATION EAST WISH LIST

1 Marshall Guitar amp

1 Fender Guitar amp

1 acoustic bass amp

1 Motif Yamaha Keyboard work station

1 Roland Keyboard amp

1 Pearl Drum set

1 electric keyboard bench and stand

1 set of Latin Percussion (LP) congas