Liam Teague and Robert Chappell are proof that the NIU music department doesn’t get as much credit as it deserves.

Teague’s newest album, “For Lack of Better Words,” pairs him with Robert Chappell, a faculty member of the NIU music department. Chappell is a famous world-jazz composer who has a keen interest in world percussion. Teague graduated from NIU with a music degree with an emphasis on steel pan, and is an award- winning artist and a master of the steel pan.

Teague and Chappell are a perfect combination.

-The duo’s album showcases their skills to an absolute maximum. The best thing about the album is the inability to classify it as a certain musical genre. The songs range from anywhere between world music to classical, even with some jazz and ragtime of the 1920s.

Perhaps what classifies this album as world music is that Teague and Chappell took the works of artists across the globe and made them their own.

The album’s first track, “Allegro,” is a piece by Belgian composer J.H. Fiocco.

“Dances in Bulgarian Rhythm,” the second track, was written by Hungarian composer Bela Bartok. The original composer’s piece alone is extremely dynamic, yet Teague and Chappell add improvisations with the steel pan to make the piece even more complex.

The best tracks on the album are those written by Teague and Chappell. Chappell’s finest piece, “In One Breath,” is one that he refers to as “jazzical.” The reference refers to the fact that the song is a sort of classical and jazz hybrid. Although the song is mostly a composition, there is a lot of improv, jazz’s strongest characteristic.

With “Triplets,” Teague and Chappell take us back to the Vaudeville era. The tenor pan steel drum used in the piece keeps a ragtime rhythm, whereas a piano would normally be used, and a xylophone plays in the background.

“For Lack of Better Words” is an advancement in the world music genre. Teague proves that the steel pan is a versatile instrument that can be used for more than the background music to a Caribbean beach party.

Overall, Teague and Chappell’s “For Lack of Better Words” is a unique and refreshingly original piece that will satisfy all world music fans, and non-fans may find the music surprisingly entertaining as well. NIU should be proud to call both of these artists their own.