March 1, 1974

The American jazz and rhythm and blues band Kool and the Gang performed for a student dance in Kenyon Hall. Describing the event as “an all-too-short 90-minute set of soul-jazz-rock-FUNK,” Roger Trilling ’76 noted in The Miscellany News, that the Atlantic City musicians “are all self-taught and…until 8 months ago Kool’s audience was mainly Black folks between 15-21. This has all changed lately. The band now plays to ever-larger, sold-out crowds.”

“One must respect Kool music,” Trilling concluded, “it’s happy music, dancing music, communal music… We should try to keep our ears from being mired in the expectations of media, music reviewers, our peers, past experiences or cultural orientation…. Listen with your whole selves to all the sounds around.”