>> You know what Big Tony, or Trouble Funk, said at a radio interview that we were in-- He said, "GoGo is like a Ritz cracker.

You could put anything on top of it and it'll be GoGo."

>> And it'll sound-- >> And I knew that because I wasn't, you know, playing GoGo, and I knew that they put anything over GoGo.

I said, "Why not put classical?"

So actually, I'm-- it sounds like something really new, but, you know, actually, what, Chuck Brown was putting jazz over GoGo, so I'm not the first one to have thought of this.

I'm the first one who actually did it.

[ Dramatic music ] >> Welcome to "DMV: The Beat."

This is the story of GoGo Symphony, from violinists to drummers to rappers and everything in between with a GoGo symphonic infusion.

[ Music playing ] Once again, we are D.C.'s strength in GoGo Symphony.

We're about to do it classically.

Y'all ain't never seen it done quite like this, quite like this, quite like hey, hey!

Hey, hey!

Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey!

What, what?

>> Well, I was born in New Jersey, as I said, and grew up in New York State, and then my parents had to go to the Philippines for a couple of years, and so we lived there.

And after we came back to the United States, I lived in the D.C. area for most of my life, and I grew up in a very musical family.

My mother played the piano and the violin, and my father played piano.

My mother taught me piano and violin and how to write down music.

I pretty much grew up in a kind of a White neighborhood, and then I went to private schools and that was even Whiter, but at the same time, I was living in Prince George's County, and so I had like a mixed-- mixed exposure to various cultures.

>> I was born in Newport News, Virginia, and I was brought up here to the Washington, D-- Washington, D.C., area at the age of two by my-- my-- well, they were my parents, but my step-parents.

I had kind of a rough, you know, growing up, but I had a great life.

I was-- I lived in Northeast D.C., from about two years old to the age of six, seven, and then I moved to-- from D.C. into PG County, but was still going back and forth living in D.C. like on weekends and then coming back to PG, and then I ended up going-- grew up in like Langley Park area, Langley Park, Adelphi area, then from there moved to Beltsville.

I've been dancing, singing since five years old.

So I've always been into the arts, been singing on the choir since I was five, actually started dancing at five years old when I was the artistic director for-- at Bowie State University for the marching band, for the dancing.

I think we were called the "Dancing Divas" back then, but I was choreographer for all of-- anything that had to do with dance, theater, music, that was me.

I traveled all over the United States, on tour with many companies, been overseas and back.

I have always been in the arts and have been a creative force [chuckles], you know, when it comes to the arts with my singing, my dancing, my choreography.

>> I went to college, studied classical music composition, came back to PG County and started playing in bands, and that's where I ran into GoGo.

In the meantime, I also played in pop bands.

So I was in this band called "The Answer."

We played GoGo with pop music.

I got into a band that Prince put together called "Robin Power and the Uptown Dames."

While I was there, you know, I said, "Oh, I have to create a song that's kind of different because I know Prince likes to be different," so I said, "Let me pick-- let me mix some GoGo into there with a little bit of jazz, you know, and some strings and a big rock power chord," and so that was the first time I merged classi-- well, something with GoGo.

And he liked it and he made it our opening song for the show that we put on at the Glam Slam.

Got home after that, made a music video, got home, of course, the-- that was with Robin and Power, that movie flopped, so we didn't go on tour with him as planned.

Got home, started writing music for film and video and then became a video producer, made a documentary about beauty, and then I said, "I want to go back into music," and I wanted to go back into classical music, but given the fact that I was in the pop world, I said, "Nobody in this classical scene knows who I am.

I am nobody.

So I have to do something really different."

And then again, I thought, why not mix GoGo with classical?

And, yeah, for symphonies you can dance and party to.

And that is how I thought of starting the GoGo Symphony, and I wanted some orchestras to play it, but a consultant told me, "This is a crazy idea.

You have to start your own group," [laughs] because first of all, I had to have some genuine GoGo-- >> Exactly.

>> Percussionists and musicians, not-- I can't just use, you know, the orchestra percussionist because it's-- it's a feel, it's a culture, and I had to honor that.

And then, so I got some GoGo people together and got some classical and jazz people together and we started playing and things blew up pretty quickly after that, and that's how I started it.

>> I was actually brought on through GoGo Symphony through Juju, Julius House, from, you know, EU.

He's actually family of mine.

He had called me because I -- before then, I'd been doing nothing but bands, you know, I do bands, jazz bands.

I do R&B bands, you know, GoGo bands, and he was like, "Yo," you know, "Sis, I got the best," you know, "little job for you that you-- I think you'd be great at," and that's how I ended up literally with GoGo Symphony.

>> And then we had our own-- another-- >> Yeah, another MC, right.

>> MC, and she-- she moved to Atlanta.

[ Laughs ] >> Right.

>> And we had a show coming up, and I said, "Juju," you know, "Ashley's gone.

What do we do?"

And he said, "I know someone," and that's why he called.

>> And that's why-- and I've been here ever since.

>> But what happened was, she jumped right in with barely a rehearsal.

>> Yeah.

>> And she did great with the audience.

She was like a natural, and we were-- jaws dropped with how she handled the audience.

>> One!

>> It worked out.

>> It worked out, yeah.

[ GoGo Symphony plays ] We're going to need y'all to party with us.

Y'all can get your dance on if you want to.

We aren't out here to have no shame.

We know it's hot.

♪♪ ♪♪ What?

Can you say it a little louder?

What?

I can't hear you.

What you say, Liza?

I can't hear you.

What?

You better work with it.

Where my keyboard at?

♪ You better bring it out ♪ ♪ You better bring it out ♪ Wait a minute.

Is that that jazz infusion?

♪ Bring it out ♪ Y'all didn't think we could go there, did you?

I know that's right.

♪ GoGo Symphony bound, D.C.'s dreams were one on one ♪ ♪ GoGo Symphony bound ♪ ♪ D.C.'s dreams were one on one ♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ I'm going to need y'all to feel that groove right there.

Hey, hey, what y'all say?

♪♪ >> You know, in the beginning, I was concerned about not being African-American and doing GoGo, and I'm very familiar with the concept of appropriation.

So that's why I invited some genuine GoGo percussionists and musicians to join the group.

I had also been working with Trouble Funk and playing with a faction of Trouble Funk called "TRJ," but at the same time, I am primarily from the classical scene and I made sure that I collaborated with people like Juju and, you know, Archie Beslow, who is from Air Raid, and some African-American true GoGo artists to collaborate with me, and lately, I've been turning over a lot-- a lot of more artistic and direction to-- to people like Dee Dee and our new conductor, Andrew Velez.

How am I being received now?

It's mixed.

You know, the minute I told Big Tony that I was thinking of doing a GoGo Symphony, he was really excited and very supportive, even Big G is very supportive.

He told me, you know, you know, "I've wanted to work with you."

It's just that he's busy.

Juju, very supportive.

So the actual musicians are very supportive, even the Sweet Cherie of Be'la Dona.

The musicians are cool.

They know how music works, that there's always a borrowing and mixing of cultures, and that's the nature of music, and a lot of the audience members, they-- they-- they are really excited, you know.

They-- we got a-- like a standing ovation, like three curtain calls during our premiere with the Capital City Symphony, and, you know, it was a very mixed audience, and there's a few people who-- who think that is not right to mix the two, but I have to remind you that Chuck Brown played with the National Symphony Orchestra and was very happy about that.

So I've been careful and everybody's excited, you know, everybody has their opinion.

>> Right.

>> Everybody has their opinion.

>> So there's always going to be some people who are like, "This is not pure."

>> So overall, our whole impact as far as the GoGo in the GoGo culture and what GoGo Symphony and Liza is trying-- has been trying to do, it's basically bringing an education and a life, you know.

Music is always going to be a learning experience, taking one genre of music, another genre of music, like she said, borrowing different genres, bringing them together, but our whole impact is to-- is to teach, you know, the culture of classical and GoGo.

Who sets the rules for that, you know.

There-- no one can set a rule for trying to teach music as a-- as a whole.

We're trying to teach kids that the arts, music, dance, theater, everything is an artistic learning experience, and if we can't mix one genre, then what, we're putting a line or a wall up to say, you know, what we can and can't do when it comes to music?

Like she said, there are few that look at it as it's a joke or-- and to be, me, perfectly honest, I could care less what somebody thinks [laughing].

You know, it's like-- it's what we're doing.

We get great shows out of it.

We get great accommodations out of it.

We've made top listings out of it, and we have some of the best that are natural 100% A head-hitters in it working with us.

We're trying to teach, you know, so that's the impact that GoGo Symphony has.

Some people out here, they've never even heard a classical sound or a GoGo sound or a mix, a mix, you know, a mixed adventure when it comes to, you know, the ability that we can have to bring more people into the music world.

[ GoGo Symphony plays ] ♪♪ ♪♪ Yay, yay.

A-yay, yay, yay.

♪♪ ♪♪ Y'all, watch these violins, all these strings in the front line.

♪♪ Wha!

Wha, wha!

Yeah, yeah.

Yeah, yeah.

Who in the ring, who, who, who in the ring, who, who, who in the ring, yeah, we doing it right.

Who in the ring, ha, who in the ring, who in the ring, yeah, we ready to fight.

Who in the ring, who in the ring, who in the ring, I'll be making it high.

See, see, we out here today.

♪♪ A-wah-wah-wah!

I can't hear you.

Yeah, yeah.

♪♪ Oh, sh...

Wait a minute, wait a minute, yay, yay.

♪♪ >> I was invited to see Chuck Brown on his 75th birthday at a radio station.

We enjoyed him for four hours as people called in for hours about his birthday.

So after that incident, I went to his Facebook page shortly thereafter.

He had an ad on his page.

It wasn't an ad, but it was just a post about a woman who was trying to start a group, a GoGo group that played classical music.

Of course, when I saw her picture, her being of Filipino descent, I was thinking, what would she know about GoGo?

She knows a lot, believe me.

She does know a lot.

So I sent her a message in 2011, and two years later, I had gotten bored with Facebook.

I got off Facebook, but something told me to go back.

I went back on Facebook and there was a message in 2013, 18, 19 months later, saying, "Yes, could you-- maybe we might need a tambourine player."

So I'm like, is this real?

[ Laughs ] Wasn't expecting no-- you know, that was the first thing that popped up on the page that day.

Three weeks later, we were on the Mall playing, my first time on the stage with professional musicians, and it was a amazing event.

I thought I knew what I was doing.

I did okay, but I had a lot to learn as far as being disciplined while playing with other musicians.

>> Straight out of the bat, we-- our first gig was at the National Mall during July 4th, and after that, Big Tony invited us to open for them and Be'la Dona at the 930 Club for their new single release.

Went straight to like the Atlas because that consultant, that classical composer consultant that I hired -- "How do I get orchestras to play this?"

-- he contacted a conductor at the Capital City Symphony who was kind of-- who knew how to handle more, you know, contemporary jazzy stuff, and said, "Hey, you should try this," and so they played it at the Intersections Festival at the Atlas.

The results were spectacular.

I mean, there's a blog about, you know, what it was like, but-- and "The Washington Post" said, "Oh, my God, she had, you know, they had the audience of their feet, you know, screaming."

We had, you know, we didn't prepare an encore because-- >> [ Laughs ] We weren't ready.

>> You know, because nobody knew who we were.

But when we were done, you know, there was like three curtain calls, and people were stomping their feet and clapping, you know, because it was a fun show, you know.

It's like a symphony you can dance and party to, and that's exactly what was happening.

[ GoGo Symphony plays ] >> Yeah.

♪♪ Yay, yay.

♪♪ ♪♪ Ay, ay.

Ay, ay, ay, ay, ay, ay.

What you workin' with?

What you workin' with?

Yo, yo, what you workin' with?

Ay, ay, wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute.

Hold it right there, hold it right there.

Wait, wait.

Hey.

Hey, bring it on back.

Where y'all -- Where you at?

♪♪ What, what?

Hey!

What?

Hey, hey, hey.

♪♪ >> GoGo Symphony in the-- has-- has really enhanced my life because it gave me a more-- a better interest and a better knowledge of music, and I got into it as a late age.

Like I said, I didn't go in the group until I was 62, and now I'm 73 and I'm still there.

[ Music playing ] It's just-- it's so meaningful in my life because it's a hobby that I love.

The only thing I don't give up for music is my family emergencies.

Other than that, I've been bowling.

I'm a-- I've been bowling for 35, 40 years, but when Liza calls, bowling is put to the side.

Partying is put to the side.

Even maybe a family picnic might be put to the side if I'm going to perform or I have to have rehearsal.

I'm going to rehearsal, and it just-- it makes me happy to play, to be able to entertain people, have fun with other people.

>> If you have a vision, go for it.

>> Yeah.

>> There's two sides to that, okay?

Advice, encouragement is go for it, you know, and even if you don't have much, you know, you can make it work within what you have.

You know, we practice at churches for free rehearsal space, and, you know, we-- it was guerilla, you know.

There's going to be critics.

There are going to be critics because everybody's, you know, going to have-- there's all kinds of people out there, so not everybody's going to like what you do.

A lot of classical institutions will describe us as "not serious" just because, you know, we have a groove and we like to dance, and like, you know, that doesn't even make-- that's just somebody stuck in their box, you know.

>> Right.

>> So, yeah, if you can tell the difference between someone who's just stuck in their box or something that's just not working, you know, you have to straddle the middle somewhere, find your way.

It's-- it's hard, and-- and you know what, just enjoy it for what it is and don't always think about the end result.

The most important part was, you know, our relationships and what was happening in the present, you know, be in the now.

>> My advice would be just never give up.

Never give up.

People are going to always view things the way they want.

What we want to accomplish we're getting accomplished.

[ Chuckles ] The people that we're trying to reach, we're reaching them.

That's it in a nutshell.

Anytime you get an invitation from the mayor we're reaching them.

We're doing-- we're doing our part, you know what I mean?

So we're-- we're-- yeah, we're trying to get to the next level, but we're not out here in competition with anybody.

>> One skeptical GoGo fan told me to stay in my own lane.

I said-- >> We're in it.

[Chuckles] >> No, no, we have our own lane.

>> Exactly, we're in it.

>> We made our own lane.

>> Right, we made our own lane.

>> That's-- that's what I would suggest-- >> Right.

>> If you want to try something new, if you're a new artist, create your own lane.

>> Exactly.

>> Create your own lane, because if you sound like everybody else, you're going to get lost like everybody else, unless you have a million-dollar marketing campaign behind you.

No, make your own lane, create your own lane.

[ GoGo Symphony plays ] ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ >> What you workin' with?

What you workin' with?

♪♪ ♪♪ >> Once again, all classical trained musicians up here.

We do it for the kids.

We do it for the public school system.

We love y'all.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪ You ain't never seen a party like this ♪ ♪♪ Hey, hey, hey.

♪ You ain't never seen a party like this ♪ ♪♪ Hey, hey, hey, hey.

♪ You ain't never seen a party like this ♪ ♪♪ What, what, what?

What, what you workin' with?

♪♪ Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey.

♪♪ What you workin' with?

What?

What?

Y'all show some love.

>> And the beat goes on.

Thank you for watching.

>> This program was produced by WHUT and made possible by contributions from viewers like you.

For more information on this program or any other program, please visit our web site at whut.org.

Thank you.