Sounds of Blackness
| Sounds of Blackness | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota, United States |
| Genres | Gospel, R&B |
| Years active | 1969–present |
| Labels |
Perspective Records A&M Records Zinc Records Atomic K Records Malaco Music Group |
| Associated acts | Paris Bennett, Cynthia Johnson, Alexander O'Neal |
| Website | soundsofblackness.org |
| Past members |
Ann Nesby James "Big Jim" Wright |
Sounds of Blackness is a Grammy Award-winning vocal and instrumental ensemble from Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota who perform music from several genres music including gospel, R&B, soul, and jazz.[1] The group scored several hits on the Billboard R&B chart and Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart in the 1990s. Cynthia Johnson of Lipps Inc. fame and Grammy winner Ann Nesby are the group's most prominent alumni.
History
Origins
The group was founded in 1969 by Russell Knighton at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota, and the group was called the Macalester College Black Voices. It was in 1971 when current director Gary Hines took leadership over the ensemble, and the group name was officially changed to Sounds of Blackness.
The chief lead singer of the group was Ann Nesby until 1995 when Nesby left the group to pursue a solo career. The group continues to perform internationally. The group performed the original songs for the 1999 Disney animated short John Henry (based on the folklore character) as part of Disney's American Legends, the short was re-released in 2015 as part of the Walt Disney Animation Studios Short Films Collection. The original songs were written by Gary Hines and Billy Steele, with a score by Stephen James Taylor
Awards and honors
The group has received three Grammy Awards, four Stellar Awards, one Emmy nomination, the International Time for Peace Award, the International Dance Music Award, five NAACP Image Award nominations and 1 NAACP Image Award.
Sounds of Blackness's "Time For Love" was nominated for the 7th Annual Independent Music Awards for R&B Song of the year.
Members
Current Active Membership
Vocalists
Melissa Belfrey, Jamecia Bennett, Quintin Brown, Ashley Commodore, Ayenna Davis, Tim Davis, Bridget Dawkins, Steve Dinkins, Rodney Fair, Elwyn Fraser Jr, Terrence Frierson, Lacie Glasper, Reginald Haney, Carrie Harrington, Alexandra King, Patricia Lacy, Yulanda Lunn, Lynnette Simpson, Andrea Tribitt, Victoria Udeh, Anthony Valentino
Musicians
Daryl Boudreaux - Percussion, Gary Hines - Music Director - Keyboards, Paul Johnson - Bass, Darold McCray - Guitar, Juan Navarro - Trombone, Larry Robinson - Drums, Larry Sims - Trumpet, Billy Steele - Ass't Director - Keyboards, David Wright III - Saxophone - Flute
Discography
Studio albums
- The Evolution of Gospel (Perspective, 1991)
- The Night Before Christmas...A Musical Fantasy (Perspective, 1992)
- Africa To America - The Journey Of The Drum (Perspective, 1994)
- Time For Healing (Perspective, 1997)
- Reconciliation (Zinc, 1999)
- Soul Symphony (Sounds Of Blackness, 2002)
- The Night Before Christmas II (Atomic K, 2004)
- Unity (SLR/Lightyear, 2005)
- Kings & Queens - Message Music From The Movement (P-Vine, 2007)
- The 3rd Gift - Story, Song & Spirit (CC Entertainment, 2009)
- The Sounds of Blackness (Atomic K, 2011)
Compilations
- Journey Of The Drum Remix Collection (Perspective, 1995)
- The Very Best Of Sounds Of Blackness (A&M, 2001)
- The Collection (Spectrum, 2003)
- The Best Of Sounds Of Blackness - The Millennium Collection (20th Century Masters) (A&M, 2007)
Other appearances
Singles
| Year | Single | Peak chart positions | Album | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US 100 [2] |
US R&B HipHop [3] |
US Dance [4] |
US Gospel [5] |
SWI [6] |
UK [7] | |||||||
| 1991 | "Optimistic" | — | 3 | 17 | — | — | 45 | The Evolution Of Gospel | ||||
| "The Pressure Part 1" | — | 16 | 1 | — | — | 71 | ||||||
| 1992 | "Testify" (US only) | — | 12 | 7 | — | — | — | |||||
| "Optimistic / Testify" (UK only) | — | — | — | — | — | 28 | ||||||
| "Pressure (Pt. 1) (CJ Mackintosh Remix)" (UK only) | — | — | — | — | — | 49 | ||||||
| "Joy" (US only) | — | — | 27 | — | — | — | Mo' Money OST | |||||
| "Soul Holidays / Joy" (UK only) | — | — | — | — | — | 79 | The Night Before Christmas - A Musical Fantasy | |||||
| 1993 | "I'm Going All The Way" (UK only) | — | — | — | — | — | 27 | Africa To America; The Journey Of The Drum | ||||
| 1994 | "I Believe" | 99 | 15 | 1 | — | — | 17 | |||||
| "Gloryland" (with Daryl Hall) | — | — | — | — | 37 | 36 | Official Theme Song Of World Cup USA 94 | |||||
| "Everything Is Gonna Be Alright" | — | 29 | 10 | — | — | 29 | Africa To America; The Journey Of The Drum | |||||
| "I'm Going All The Way" | — | 39 | 41 | — | — | 14 | ||||||
| 1995 | "Black Butterfly" (US only) | — | 86 | — | — | — | — | |||||
| 1996 | "Children Of The World" | — | 90 | 19 | — | — | 141 | People: A Musical Celebration Of Diversity OST | ||||
| 1997 | "Spirit" | — | 29 | — | — | — | 35 | Time For Healing | ||||
| 1998 | "The Pressure (new remixes)" (UK only) | — | — | — | — | — | 46 | single only | ||||
| "Try" | — | — | — | — | — | — | Reconciliation | |||||
| 2005 | "Unity" | — | — | — | 29 | — | — | Unity | ||||
| 2011 | "Fly Again" | — | 93 | — | 22 | — | — | The Sounds Of Blackness | ||||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released. | ||||||||||||
See also
- Grammy Awards of 1992
- List of number-one dance hits (United States)
- List of artists who reached number one on the US Dance chart
References
- ↑ "Official Website of Sounds of Blackness". Retrieved July 14, 2014.
- ↑ "Sounds Of Blackness - US Hot 100". billboard.com. Retrieved 17 September 2014.
- ↑ "Sounds Of Blackness - US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs". billboard.com. Retrieved 17 September 2014.
- ↑ "Sounds Of Blackness - US Dance Club Songs". billboard.com. Retrieved 17 September 2014.
- ↑ "Sounds Of Blackness - US Hot Gospel Songs". billboard.com. Retrieved 17 September 2014.
- ↑ "Sounds Of Blackness - Swiss chart". hitparade.ch. Retrieved 17 September 2014.
- ↑ "Sounds Of Blackness - UK Chart". The Official Charts Company. Retrieved 17 September 2014.
External links
- Sounds of Blackness official website
- Sounds of Blackness Facebook page
- Sounds of Blackness Twitter page
- Sounds of Blackness - The Drum (Africa to America) Video produced by Twin Cities PBS