Sweet Honey in the Rock Headlines at Carnegie Hall

January 14, 2016

*(Washington, DC) –Grammy^®-nominated and multiple award-winning a cappella group, Sweet Honey In The Rock headlines at Carnegie Hall on February 11^th, which marks their 32^ndperformance at the historic concert hall.

Special guest artists and multiple Grammy^® Award-winning jazz trumpeter, bandleader and composer Terence Blanchard and Grammy^®-nominated jazz musician Regina Carter will join the group for this exclusive engagement.

“We are grateful to celebrate our 32^ndperformance with CarnegieHall upon the release of our new album,” says founding group member, CarolMaillard. “We are also honored that we have been able to maintain and carry on the tradition of a cappella music and perform it at legendary concert halls all over the world for more than four decades.”

Tickets, priced from $35—$65, are available at the Carnegie Hall Box Office, 154 West 57th Street, or can be charged to major credit cards by calling CarnegieCharge at 212-247-7800 or by visiting the Carnegie Hall website, carnegiehall.org.

Entering a new chapter after their 40^th anniversary, Sweet Honey In The Rock will release their 24^thalbum, #LoveInEvolution on January 22, 2016 on SHE-ROCKS 5, Inc./Appleseed Recordings. #LoveInEvolution features 14 songs and is produced by group member, Nitanju Bolade Casel.

Staying true to the Sweet Honey In The Rock tradition of soul, jazz, blues, spirituals, gospel and African chants, the album is the group’s first studio release in nine years. #LoveInEvolution is an eclectic mix of new original songs and covers of a few popular classics.

Sweet Honey In The Rock’s new single “Second Line Blues,” is written and performed by founding member, Louise Robinson. It is inspired by the New Orleans tradition of funeral procession. The first line of the band is the procession and the second line of the procession consists of the mourners.

Its cryptic snare drum cadence, roll calls the names of many of the recently noted innocent people that have fallen victim to murder at the hands of anyone from deranged civilians to police abusing their license to kill. Founding members Louise Robinson and Carol Maillard explained, “Since we started performing this piece, we had to keep adding names…and sadly, we’ll be adding more before things change.”

The “Second Line Blues” video reflects the current state of gun violence, the senseless loss of life, mass murders, and police brutality in our communities.

The video pays homage to many who are known and unknown including Emmett Till, Freddie Gray, Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown, Clementa Pinckney, Tywanza Sanders, Amadou Diallo, Sandra Bland, Walter Scott, Susie Jackson, Sean Bell, Tamir Rice, Ethel Lance, Cynthia Hurd, Eric Garner, Myra Thompson, Daniel Simmons, and the mass killings in Sandy Hock, Columbine, Virginia Tech and many more.

The video is executive produced by Robinson. She worked with the incredibly talented designer and editor Kate Peterson (Pleasantly Progressive Design), who also edited the group’s debut video for, “IDK But I’m LOL.”

The group’s debut single “IDK, But I’m LOL” offers a jubilant message of encouragement to continue to live in the realm of possibility. The single is available at key digital outlets everywhere.

“Second Line Blues” Video: Sweet Honey remembers those slain

Sweet Honey In The Rock’s ensemble features four core vocalists—Robinson, Maillard (both founding members) Nitanju Bolade Casel, and Aisha Kahlil—plus Shirley Childress (an American Sign Language Interpreter who has been performing live with the group since 1981). Acclaimed bassist Romeir Mendez regularly appears with the group as a special guest musician.

Next weekend, the national PBS television program ‘Religion & Ethics News Weekly’ will feature Sweet Honey In The Rock in a segment to coincide with the Martin Luther King holiday.

Correspondent Kim Lawton talks with members of the group about how they have been singing about social justice issues for more than 40 years and the spirituality that infuses their music. They discuss the group’s music video tribute to King, “Give Love,” and the principles taught by King that are still relevant in race relations today. They also talk about the group’s new CD, “#LoveInEvolution.”

The segment will also be posted on the program’s website next week, www.pbs.org/religionethics. It will be part of the “Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly” episode broadcast on more than 250 PBS television stations across the nation over that weekend. (Check local listings).

“Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly” is the only national television news program in American mainstream media that focuses on covering the topics of ethics and religion. The half-hour weekly show is a production of Thirteen/WNET.