“This is about participating,” IU Soul Revue Director Tyron Cooper said as the performance began. “This is a community.”
Cooper, a three-time Emmy award-winning musician and an assistant professor in the Department of African American and African Diaspora Studies, introduced the musicians throughout the concert.
The event was co-sponsored by the Office of the Vice President for Diversity, Equity and Multicultural Affairs and the Neal-Marshall Black Culture Center. The ensemble is part of the African American Arts Institute.
The IU Soul Revue, which was founded in 1971, performs genres such as rhythm and blues, soul, funk and contemporary music.
The concert features music recorded and popularized by African-American artists, Cooper said.
Students also recited poems about the holiday season between songs.
The concert not only highlights the students’ artistic ability, Cooper said, but also gives the audience the chance to see the students individually. The small venue makes this possible, he said.
“The audience will have the opportunity to get to know the musicians on a more intimate level,” Cooper said.
The students in IU Soul Revue are diverse in age, social background and cultural background, but the music brings them together, Cooper said.
The motto of the group is “one band, one sound,” Cooper said during the performance.
Cooper said the students are intellectual artists because they are conscious of why they sing and dance and they understand the meanings behind the music.
Admission to the event cost one canned good. The donations are given to Backstreet Missions, a non-profit organization located in Bloomington that serves the homeless.
IU Soul Revue is excited to give back to the community and they view music as a vehicle for social change, Cooper said.
“The students are thinking beyond themselves and thinking of others,” Cooper said.
The holiday season brings out different aspects of the black popular music tradition and the music touches upon themes of love, family and relationships, Cooper said.
Second-year law student Marcus Phelps said “Soulful Holiday Concert” was his second time seeing the IU Soul Revue. He first saw them at the African American Arts Institute’s “Potpourri of the Arts” in November.
“They are extremely talented,” Phelps said. “They are like a party. I’m looking forward to having fun and having a break from finals.”
Junior Unity Williams said she had also seen the group before at “Potpourri of the Arts.”
Williams said she has friends in the IU Soul Revue and she highly recommends any performance by ensembles in the African American Arts Institute.
These students work so hard on their performance, she said.
Williams said the style of their performance is one of the aspects she likes about the group, and she was excited to see soul incorporated into Christmas music.
“It feels like a really high-class performance at a low cost,” Williams said. “They bring high energy.”
