Choir sings roots and rhythms of cultural heritage

The voices of Linda Tillery and the Cultural Heritage Choir, lingered over a nearly empty Jack Adams Hall last Wednesday. As their soulful harmonies resonated through the Student Center, people began to file in, lunch in hand, to listen to songs whose message was sometimes humorous, sometimes tragic.

The Oakland-based group sings everything from African-American traditional music and gospels to prison songs and field hollers. They were sponsored by SF State Women's Center, Associated Students Performing Arts and the African-American/Black Student Union in celebration of Women's History Month.

"Young people in the United States have no idea what the roots of the music they listen to are," said Tillery, the founder of the choir. "Slave music is the roots to many other types, like rhythm and blues, rock and roll, rap. It's all derivative."

The choir has been together for three years and includes; Elouise Burrel, Rhonda Benin, Melanie DeMore and Emma Fiege.

They sing mostly acapella, using simple instruments like tambourines, shakers, drums and "vocalese," to create rhythm. Vocalese, also used in "beat-box" music, means to use an expressive voice Tillery said.

The power of their voices matched the power of the words they sang.

"That's all right, that's all right, since my soul got a seat up in the kingdom. Hush little baby, don't cry, you know your mamma was born to die."

Tillery said that many of the songs they sing have roots in the South and their effect can be heard in present-day music.

She also said she became curious about her musical heritage as a teen ager while studying music at Lowell High School. That's when she started researching slave songs and gospels through the Library of Congress and the Smithsonian Institute.

An example of slave songs that have a particularly bittersweet edge are field hollers, which slaves would sing while working in the fields..

One field holler the group sings is about a turkey buzzard who flies down to snatch the flesh off a dead carcass left in the field.

"There was a slave-lore that said that the buzzard was really an angel coming down to carry the soul to heaven," Tillery said. "This is where this song comes from."

The lyrics to the song are: "Throw me anywhere Lord, in that old field. Throw me, throw me, throw me, I'm ready."

Amber Blackwell, who attended the performance, said the music made her feel closer to her cultural music heritage.

"I felt like crying when I heard some of those field hollers they sang," Blackwell said.

Ray D.O. who is part of a quartet, said he had learned something from the performance.

"I'm going to take what I heard into the studio with me," he said. "I think we should explore our heritage in our music."

[ Golden Gater Online March 12, 1996 ]

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