- Welcome, I'm Dr. Raymond Wise, Executive Director of the African American Arts Institute. We're excited
- to continue another installment of our spring concert series. And tonight, we are going to celebrate
- black popular music with the IU Soul Review. This year, we're also celebrating the 50th anniversary
- of the African American Choral Ensemble. And at this time, it means that all three of our performing
- ensembles are 50 years old. They all have a 50-year legacy, and that is remarkable. Let's applaud that.
- Before we get started, I want to acknowledge our home, the Neil Marshall Black Culture Center, and their
- staff, who are always so supportive of all that we do. We also want to thank and acknowledge our academic
- partner, the Department of African American and African Diaspora Studies, under which these ensembles
- are listed as courses. And they, too, are celebrating a wonderful anniversary this year. We're excited
- about their going forth as well. Know that the African American Arts Institute, the Neil Marshall Black
- Culture Center, and the African American and African Diaspora Studies
- department are all products of the vision of Dr. Herman C. Hudson who believed many years ago that black
- music and dance should have a place in the academy. And over 50 years ago, he recognized the talent
- and the gift of a young musician by the name of
- and he selected her to launch what we now know has become the IU Soul Review. And 50 years later,
- we are here. The IU Soul Review, now currently directed by Professor James Strong, has provided
- transformative artistic and academic experiences and experience for hundreds of IU students, for faculty,
- for staff, and community members. Recent performances, literally at the Madam Walker Theater and the
- Jazz Kitchen, attest to the excellence in their performance as well.
- They prepared an exciting concert for you. So let's just take a moment to thank them for their commitment
- to maintain this legacy of black popular music here at Indiana University and beyond since 1971. Let's
- give the Soul Review a hand.
- I also want to give thanks to our new administrative unit, the College of Arts and Sciences, and the
- staff who supported us through this transition this year. And of course, our concert series would not
- be successful or possible without support of members of our community who believe in the arts and diversity,
- and that includes you. So we just thank you for showing up and for coming out tonight.
- We also want to thank the Buskirk Chumley staff who've welcomed us and assisted us in making tonight's
- concert a success. And last but not least, we want to thank the African American Arts Institute staff.
- A special thanks goes out to Jerrica Stocker and Johnny Campbell, Anya Jenkins, and their staff who've
- worked so diligently to make tonight's concert a reality and success. Then special thanks to our production
- team, to Laurie Garrity, to Mike Schwann, to Jeremy Hogan, and all of those who are helping with that
- as well. Now as we come together tonight,
- It's important to know that we do so at a time when there are some who believe that black music, dance,
- and culture are not worthy of inclusion in the academy. And in fact, we face attempts for erasure and
- elimination and to marginalize the stories of African Americans. But in this regard, we need your support.
- We really need your help to help us maintain the legacy of the African American Arts Institute and create
- sustainability for the future.
- If we want to keep this going forth, and I hope that you will say that by the end of tonight's performance,
- we must help to support it with our presence,
- with our advocacy, with our resources. That said, we have several initiatives that are in the works
- that will allow you to continue to help us preserve our mission of preserving and promoting black culture
- through performance, education, creative activities, scholarship, and outreach. And we also have an
- ongoing campaign that we call the Just One Campaign that allows you to support the Institute in a very
- tangible way. So for those who cannot give large amounts, we certainly invite you to give a small donation
- whenever possible. And we know that when we put our small
- mounts together it will make a big difference. So go to our website look that up and feel free to give
- a donation as well. Also want to announce that we have one additional event this year
- Next Saturday, May the 2nd, the African American Choral Ensemble will present its spring concert on
- the campus at the Ruth Anna Halls Theater, and we certainly invite you to come on back and join us there
- for that celebration as well. Now, this is the moment that I tell everyone in the hall that I ask you
- to turn off all of your gadgets and your devices that emit light and sound, and we thank you for adhering
- to that policy.
- We know that music has always played a vital part through which African Americans have told their stories.
- Music has allowed black folks to express their joys and their sorrows and connect with their community
- and celebrate. And that's what we've come here tonight to do. We have literally come to celebrate. And
- if you're looking for a celebration, you're in the right place. There's one going on outside, but there's
- another one going on in here.
- We welcome you to the celebration of black popular music. And again, we invite you to join in with us,
- sing along, rock along, clap along, dance along. But it's time to have a party and a celebration. So
- we thank you again for being here tonight. Tonight's concert is entitled The Test Where Preparation
- Meets Performance. So let's get this celebration and party started. And without further ado, we give
- you the IU Soul Review under the direction of Professor James Strong. Enjoy.
- Ladies and gentlemen, the IU Soul Review.
- I'm okay with y'all.
- And we want to say thank you guys for coming out, partying with us, you know what I'm saying?
- Buying tickets, that means so much to us. Now for this next one, I think my girl Anaya got something
- to say to y'all. Talk to them. All right, do we know anybody named Janet Jackson? Do you have some Janet
- Jackson fans? All right, all right. Band, go ahead and hit me. All right, y'all have that special someone
- that when you think of them, your mind just, it's calm, it's at peace.
- Now she ate, she ate, you know what I'm sayin'? Now on this next one, my good friend Nyla wanna talk
- to y'all too, is that cool? Nyla, what's up? All right, this next song is by a wonderful woman named
- Alicia Keys. It was released in 2009, and it's about just loving someone so much that you would do anything
- for them, you would be open and vulnerable for them, you would do the unthinkable for them.
- Y'all ready? All right. Band, you got me?
- They stand afraid against my window, bringing back sweet memories.
- for this next one, we just wanna get a little serious with y'all for a little bit. Now we gonna give
- y'all a little bit of the stylistics. Do y'all know about the stylistics? Well, I'll give you a little
- backstory. They are a soul group based out of Philly. Back in the 1960s, they was doing their thing.
- But this one that we're about to do is about self-reflection. What can you contribute to make the world
- a better place? When you look down inside, look at yourself and say, wow, I really have a purpose here
- and I really matter.
- So with this next one, we want to give you People Make the World Go Round.
- Thank you, thank you, ladies and gentlemen. As the vocalists leave the stage, I just want to take a
- quick second to give my band a little time to shine, you know what I'm saying? They some killers on
- these instruments, y'all. Give a round of applause to the band, everyone. Now, my brother, Mr.
- Conner Lee, could you please come up here and tell them what you're about to give them, man? How we
- all doing tonight? Thank you all so much for coming out. We're about to do a David Sanborn number called Hideaway.
- Did y'all enjoy that? I can't hear you. Did y'all enjoy that? Because we got plenty more where that
- came from. Now, this next tune, we're going to do a jazz classic by Herb Alpert called Rise. Mr.
- Joe Friedman, can you please come to the stage, my boy? Hey, don't hurt him now.
- Put your hands together for Mr. Joe Freeman, everybody. Now, don't be shy. Put your hands together for
- Mr. Jeff Parker, too, y'all. Whoo. Hey, y'all boys cold, man. Y'all boys cold. Now, for this next election,
- we just want to pay homage to the late, great, legendary saxophonist, Mr. David Sanborn. To y'all that
- don't know a little bit about David Sanborn, you know, he's an amazing jazz musician. He dominated in
- all other genres, but jazz was his thing. You know what I'm saying? And he passed away a little bit ago.
- So for this next one, we just wanna let you guys know that his legacy is still living on today in this
- band, in this ensemble. So right now, we just wanna give you straight from the heart. Take it away, Connor.
- since we all getting, you know, becoming family and everything, how y'all feeling so far? Because these
- boys, these boys right here, they work the hardest out of everybody. So give them another round of applause,
- please. Yes. Now for this next tune, we're going to give y'all a little bit of BT Express. Who all know
- BT Express here? Okay. Okay. So for those of y'all that don't know, BT Express is a funk disco group
- based out of Brooklyn.
- You know what I'm saying? Them boys were from the streets for real. But they also birthed one of the
- modern godfathers of R&B nowadays, Mr. Kashif. Now, if you don't know who Kashif is, Kashif is behind
- the, let me see if you guys know this song. Oh, you make my love come down. Oh, you make my love. Y'all
- know that song? Love Come Down, Mrs. Evelyn Champagne King. He's a mastermind behind You Give Good Love
- by Whitney Houston and
- He was the one who brought the bass synth to modern R&B nowadays. So for y'all, I just want to take
- y'all on this ride on the BT Express. Go ahead, y'all.
- Yeah, that's right, that's right. All right, so this next tune, who knows by a great singer-songwriter
- by the name of Luther Vandross? All right, all right, all right, all right. All right, so this next
- one, you know, a lot of people really don't know it like that, but the yearners know what it is. You
- know what a yearner is? Okay, okay, okay, we're in the right place. Bruzen, you got me? This is Take
- You Out by Luther Vandross.
- It's my surprise, I must say, cause I never had seen such a pretty face with such a warm and beautiful
- smile. It wasn't hard for me to notice her style. I was surprised I didn't show her me. She took my
- heart and healed me for me. I wouldn't let her get away, not until she heard me say. It's good for the
- miss, but what's your name? Where are you from? Here I come, I've got some weed. Can I take you?
- the chance for romance. And I walk away knowing I tried my best and I'm going, I'm going on with my
- day, cause at least she heard me say.
- That's why I had to come over and introduce myself to you.
- Mr. Caleb Bailey, everybody. Give him a round of applause, Mr. Caleb. Woo! Hey, boy. Hey, now. Now,
- for this next one, we're going to actually give y'all the hottest R&B song on the charts right now.
- Know what I'm saying? See, a fun fact about this song is when she performed this on I Heart Radio, the
- music awards, our alumnus, he actually arranged it.
- And he is her MD right now. So right now, we want to give you Folded by Kehlani, arranged by Mr. Alex
- Goldblatt, everybody. So with you along.
- All right, I know we already sang a Janet song, but I'm gonna hit y'all with another one. Bam, go ahead
- and hit me again. So we do wanna thank you guys for coming out and supporting us. It means so much to
- us. Thank you for coming together again. So yeah, that's the song we're gonna sing by Janet.
- Thank you everybody. We gonna stay in the 90s for a little minute. How many of y'all know about a group
- called Ideal? Okay, okay. Well, regardless if you do or don't, I just want you guys to just vibe with
- us, okay? Is that cool? Just vibe with us, just vibe with us. Come on, hit me up, y'all. One, two, three,
- four, one, two. Y'all, don't be afraid to get up and dance, you know what I'm saying?
- I like it when you move up close to me. Same scene, crying, holding me. Real close because it's supposed
- to be, baby. I like it when you put that band on me.
- Making it harder in between, baby. Whatever you want to do. Whether it's at home, whether it's at home.
- It's up to you. Whatever you want to do. So you want to move. Show me how you move. What you're going
- to do. Because I'm what I'm bound to. Tonight, I just got paid.
- You can choose the place we go. Or stay home on this merry snow. You choose the scenario tonight.
- Come on now. Come on, y'all take over, come on.
- I feel that, come on.
- Thank you, thank you, thank you.
- All right, give it up for Jason one more time, y'all. All right, this next song we got is by a woman
- named Phyllis Hyman. How many of y'all know Phyllis Hyman? All right, this was a song. This is actually
- one of her most popular songs. She made this song in 1977. Band, y'all ready?
- We got my brother, Mr. Jay Humphrey, y'all. We got two guitarists, Eric Olson and my boy, Anthony Lewis.
- Give it up for them, y'all. Now on these keys, we got my brother, Mr. Jayden Sanders. Y'all, give it
- up for Jayden. Now on this beautiful vocalist, we got my boy, Mr. Caleb Bailey, y'all. Chloe Williams.
- Ms. Naila Rae, everyone. Faith Henderson, everybody.
- And yours too, and your boy Jason Lott. You know what I'm saying. Come on, y'all. Woo. All right, y'all.
- It's time for the takeover. Y'all been sitting down for way too long. I need y'all to get up.
- It's a party. You know what I'm saying? Come on. You got to do it yourself.
- I see you. Come on, make some noise, y'all. Let's go. If it was you, you or me, you're gonna be winning.
- If you want something better, you gotta want to give your all. Because I believe so much in we, I know
- we're not kidding.
- If you're the same as me, yeah, you've got to want to take the ball. Now I'm bound down, but nothing
- is given. Don't know where the cards may fall. All I know is that we've got to get it. We've got to
- put this on the road. I guess we'll get it on the road.
- Come on, come on. Take me somewhere true. Come on, come on. Gotta, gotta take me home. Gotta, gotta,
- gotta take me home. Come on, y'all. Let's go. Bring it, Daphne, back. Come on.
- We're in control. I see y'all. Everybody make some noise, y'all. I said we're in control.
- So I guess we're gonna have to take control. Say it's been so too long. Come on, come on. Too hard to
- handle, too comfortable. Everything's got to stay in control. Y'all sound good. Y'all gotta take it
- home. Y'all gotta take it home, yeah. Come on, come on, yeah.
- Got to, got to take it home. Got to, got to, got to take it home. Now this next song, if you sitting
- down, I don't know how you sitting down. I need you to get up off your seats and get on your feet. There's
- plenty of room right up here. Y'all don't be afraid to come by to move with us. You know what I'm saying?
- I don't bite. I don't bite. Come on, come on.
- Turn it down, really? Yeah, I see you, brother. Whoo! So excited. Thank you. Let me see y'all. Girl,
- you're looking sweeter now. Whoo! You got it every day, girl. Wish that I could love you right, yeah.
- In a special way, girl.
- Let me hear y'all sing. You blow my mind. I'm satisfied. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Come on. You're not me,
- y'all. So excited.
- Take it away now, come on. Shabaraba, sweet, sweet, sweet.
- Hey, don't y'all go nowhere. We got one for y'all. Wow. Wow. Yeah. Come on, y'all. Woo. Let me say something.
- You are a bad, bad missus.
- You know, skin tight, precious. You know what I'm saying? You're running, folks, in dick chest. Maybe
- you're about to bust a stick chest. Yeah. Come on. Skin tight. Yeah. One more time. Skin tight.
- Don't know where to sing along. Come on. Skit tight. Skit tight. Woo. Come on. Look back.
- Come on now. Okay, for this next one, I need my brother, Mr. Kayla Bailey, to come help me with this
- one now. Y'all don't go nowhere, because we gonna take y'all back to 1990. Now, do y'all know some brothers
- by the name of Bell Biv Devo? I don't think y'all heard me. Do y'all know some brothers by the name
- of Bell Biv Devo? Okay, okay. We gonna put some poison in y'all system. Hey, Prop, hit me off, man.
- of an appraisal for the fact. You know what I'm saying? You ready, Steve? I'm ready. Say so, you ready?
- I'm ready. Is y'all ready?
- I think she's the best thing in the world. Come on. She's so right. She'll drive you right out of your
- mind. Steal your heart and your mind. She'll make you think you're dreaming. You'll fall in love and
- you'll be screaming.
- Come on, y'all, welcome. Put your hands up, come on.
- Poison, poison, poison, poison, poison, poison, poison.
- Poison, poison, poison, poison, poison, poison, poison, poison, poison, poison, poison, poison, poison,
- poison, poison, poison, poison, poison, poison, poison, poison, poison, poison, poison, poison, poison,
- poison, poison, poison, poison, poison, poison, poison, poison
- What they say? Hey, y'all ready for this one now? Say where them fans at? Where them fans at? Come on.
- Where them fans at? Hit me one time. Hit me two times. Come on.
- Oh, I got marbles on the ground. It's on the ground. Yeah. Where the bands at. Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh. I
- got marbles on the ground. It's on the ground. Y'all know what I'm saying. Get it by your seat. Let
- your body move. Cameras and cowgirls, you're feeling the groove. Sippin' on moonshine. Fire barrel rolling.
- I'ma get behind it.
- Oh, I got my boots on the ground. One more time, y'all. Oh, I got my boots on the ground. Oh, I got
- my boots on the ground, baby. Please, everybody.
- Thank you, thank you, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. We are the IU Soul Revue.
- And I hate to inform y'all, but this is the last song of our show. I know, I know, I know. I understand.
- But can we give a shout out to the Soul Revue alum in the house, everybody? Come on, put your hands
- together. Thank y'all for representing. Thank y'all for showing up. You know what I'm saying? So for
- this last song,
- If you want to put your lights up in the air right, make the whole room look like a disco ball. You
- know what I'm saying? Band, is y'all ready? Vocals, is y'all ready? Hey, is y'all ready? Is y'all good?
- I think my ears might be a little bit broke. I couldn't hear y'all that well. Is y'all good? One more
- time to raise the roof. Is y'all good? We're going to give y'all a little bit of ooh child. Come on, y'all.
- amazing audience, you know what I'm saying? Y'all was vibing the whole time. We want to say thank you
- to the tech crew. Thank you to the amazing people here at Buskerk Chungley. Thank you to Jada, our road
- manager. Thank you to Arielle, our vocal coach. Thank you to Everett Taylor out there doing his single
- tour right now. Thank you to all of you guys for making this happen. We are the IU stove review.
- Come on, y'all, let's take a bow.