Entertainment Studies | Smooth: The Sounds of D'Angelo with The Sol Ensemble Directed by Harvey Cummings II
Promotional image for Smooth: The Sounds of D’Angelo,
By Kia O. Moore
Keynotes:
Tap into local talent first.
Always perfectly tune and amplify the strings.
Pull together an excellent rhythm section.
You can take familiar songs and add your own twist and people will listen.
Orchestral genre blending brings out multiple generations.
Build a reputation for putting on spectacular events to draw people out.
Reach out to organizations that align with your event to build an audience.
Connect with the right venue to support your event’s mission.
Coverage for Genre Blending Affair
When I saw the social media advertisement for a Neo-Soul meets Orchestral music concert scroll up my screen, I knew I had to write about it for the local alternative newspaper Queen City Nerve. It checked all the boxes for something that I needed to study for Hip Hop Orchestrated’s return. The use of local musicians, the blending of a Black music genre with Orchestral music, and reaching a diverse audience. From the interview, I could learn the behind-the-scenes aspect of the show. Then when the promoter, Micheal Kitchen of The Sol Kitchen, invited me to attend Smooth: The Sounds of D'Angelo with The Sol Ensemble Directed by Harvey Cummings II, I knew I could glean information about how to run a live genre blending show.
A Night Out With The Sol Ensemble & Harvey Cummings II
The night began with my sister and me taking in the visuals of the newly restored Carolina Theatre. It was a fabulous venue, with every seat giving you a good view of the stage.
The pre-show consisted of Harvey Cummings II getting on the turntables and taking us through neo-soul hits. He had a lot of creative transitions, but some did not go as smooth as he may have liked. When the transition was off, it would take me out of the vibe being created. So, that was my first note: make sure the DJ is always smooth with the transitions, or you could lose the vibe of the room.
When the show started the set up of the artists on stage was perfect. He had a great rhythm section, brass in the back and the strings stage right. The show was phenomenal, but the one thing that got me was the rhythm section overtaking the sound of the strings at times. I could see them strumming to the song, but all I could hear were the drums and guitars. That was the second note: always make sure the strings are perfectly tuned and drastically amplified if they are playing with drums or any sort of rhythm or brass sections.
The show was full of sonic surprises. The one that really took the cake was New Jack Country. He was a white man with a cowboy hat and acoustic guitar that was poised to sing D’Angelo’s version of Crusin’. He took to the mic and when his vocal permeated the venue the crowd erupted in applause. That was note number three: give the crowd something to yell about. Make sure you have surprises baked into your show so it is memorable, sharable, and can go viral.
Then as the show was wrapping up, when Harvey Cummings II was introducing the musicians, knowing that they were mostly all Charlotte-based made me proud. It showed me that using local talent can work well although Charlotte has been known for supporting local artists only after they go away to gain fame and return to a Charlotte stage. So that was my fourth note: keep talent local like I thought I should and collaborate with artists that have found a Charlotte-based audience to boost Hip Hop Orchestrated’s following too.
Building an Audience for Genre Blending Concert
One thing that was hard not to notice was how generationally diverse the audience was. There were elderly couples, to middle aged patrons, to young adults all coming together to honor D’Angelo with an orchestral twist.
This mix of generations may be attributed to the marketing of the event. Micheal Kitchen has accumulated a large list of thousands upon thousands of contacts from his The Sol Kitchen events. He throws a wide array of events that attract different kinds of people. So note number five: build a strong contact list that translates into attendees in the seats.
Talking with the Programming Director for Carolina Theatre Ben Klein let me know just how important it is to have a venue that supports the marketing efforts. They shared the event with their following to bring a different audience out to honor Orchestral D’Angelo. The sixth note: work with venues who align with your mission and will support your event.
In conclusion…
The event was a wonderful night of enjoying reimagined music and observational learning. I hope this is just the being of The Sol Kitchen doing genre blended specific events. If they get the Charlotte market used to the idea, it makes it that much easier for Charlotte to embrace the concept of Hip Hop Orchestrated.
