Wednesday, January 29, 1997
MUSIC:
British quintet of former backup singers to perform at
SchoenbergBy Stephanie Sheh
Daily Bruin Contributor
It might not be another British Invasion, but the return of
British a cappella group Black Voices is sure to enlighten many
Americans.
While the group does not sing rock and roll, it does perform
almost every other musical style ranging from gospel, blues and
reggae, to pop, African and Caribbean.
Black Voices will bring these various styles to UCLA’s
Schoenberg Hall on Friday and Saturday night. This quintet uses
nothing but its own voices to explore a wide variety of songs
telling the stories of many nationalities.
Working as backup singers for local bands, the group of five
first-generation British women just started improvising together as
friends. After a while, they decided to form their own singing
group.
"We used to just sing together and just jam," explains Carol
Pemberton. "Black Voices grew out of the fact that we were backing
singers for different bands around Birmingham. And I guess we were
just tired of standing in the background doing a few ooh oohs, and
ahh ahhs, and a few dance routines.
"We always found that when we met together and we sang things
that we chose and harmonized the way we wanted to it, it was more
fulfilling."
The casual way the group emerged remains reflected in the
group’s musical creative processes today. Members of the group are
not required to have extensive musical training. And unlike other
singing groups which focus on written music, Black Voices’ songs
are built around emotions and stories.
"We like to state that we build our music in an African
tradition, so we don’t have written parts," Pemberton says. "The
main thing is that you don’t have to be trained to join Black
Voices, because very often the melody is given and people just
throw in whatever they feel. Whatever the spirit moves and
dictates, that’s what we’ll go with. If we like it we keep it, if
we don’t like it we’ll throw it out."
Although this casual style has worked for the quintet, these
past few years as a professional group have expanded their ideas of
music and led them to put more of their music on paper.
"More and more, the longer we’ve been together, we’ve seen the
importance of writing your own material, so we encourage everybody
in the group to write," Pemberton says. "Even if they do consider
themselves to be non-writers, we pressure them sometimes to put pen
to paper and write about specific themes. Then we try to
incorporate it into different songs."
The group’s expansion musically is not limited to different
styles or creative processes, it broadens to include a vast
assortment of themes in their songs. The group’s repertoire
contains many themes of different social struggles.
"A lot of us grew up in the black church, so gospel is very
strong in what we do," Pemberton says. "Our parents are from the
Caribbean and they came to the U.K. in the 1950s and the ’60s to
seek a better life. So some of our songs speak to that experience
and the whole thing of being black in the U.K. We have a lot of
songs about struggle and racism."
Pemberton feels that, in general, being black in Britain is not
too dissimilar from being black anywhere else, because one
encounters racism daily. However, she feels there are some subtle
differences between being black in Britain compared to the United
States.
"Here (in Britain) they didn’t have the civil rights," says
Pemberton. "They never had the Black Panther movements and things
like that. There was always a kind of borrowing from an American
tradition or a tapping into what Americans kind of started.
"I’m sure that if there was enough rioting here tomorrow, like
the Los Angeles riots, if some black person got up and said, ‘Let’s
march tomorrow!’ we wouldn’t have the kind of support that you guys
could get together," adds Pemberton.
The variety of styles and themes in their music may account for
their widespread appeal. "Black Voices" has toured all over the
world to extremely enthusiastic responses. They spend about 10
months of each year touring and have been all over Europe, Asia,
Africa and have even visited the United States and UCLA before.
But that was six years ago, and after several returns to the
United States, the group’s popularity has spread. Pemberton reveals
that they are still anxious about visiting the United States
though.
"We are excited," she says. "We’re looking forward to coming
back to the USA. It’s frightening in some respects, because a lot
of people we admire in gospel are from the States. A lot of the
greatest black singers in the world are from the States. So you
kind of feel a little bit in awe, because you think you are
treading on sacred ground. You don’t know how people are going to
receive you. But it’s excitement with great anticipation."
MUSIC: Black Voices will perform at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday
at Schoenberg Hall. Tickets are $9 for students and $28 for general
admission. Information: 825-2101.
Columbia Artists
Black Voices, a quintet of British singers, performs this
weekend at Schoenberg Hall.