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Solange is a bridge builder, a nexus connecting creative mediums.
Old traditions blend into new ones in her catalogue.
2019s kaleidoscopic synth odysseyWhen I Get Homefeatured both Gucci Mane and Animal Collectives Panda Bear.
Performance pieces like Witness!
and Bridge-s juxtaposed ballet, jazz, R&B, and the stark, imposing architecture of museums.
Thats what Saint Heron is and what it really strives to do.
Its going to be really special.
What I see as a through-line is versatility of the Black voice.
Talk about your hopes forEldorado Ballroomand how studying the arts in Houston shaped your work and this undertaking.Thank you.
It means a lot that you dig it.
The Black voice is a sacred vessel.
This is such fulfilling work.
And I feel like bringing it back to Houston, bringing it back to my childhood.
I love being able to celebrate my love for Black contemporary dance through that.
I was excited to see Linda Sharrock on the bill.
She could do soul singing, and she could handle really experimental noise.
Like, I want to be like this woman.
Whoever this is, she embodies the spirit of what it is that I want to embody.
Shes just electric and majestic, and shes just bad.
I love how shes had different lives in her artistry throughout the decades.
She makes me feel like I have time to express all these different facets of myself.
She has such a unique trajectory in her career.
Thats why Saint Heron exists.
This is actually her first performance in New York since the 70s.
So we have to make it really special for her.
To have her, Archie Shepp, and Claudia Rankine on the same lineup is a dream.
I had Jamire Williams on the drums.
He has a project calledERIMAJ, and he does a lot of experimental stuff with minimalism in percussion.
Its interesting to me in the way that it returned to me.
I feel really grateful for how its really pushed me as an artist.
But my favorite Clark Sisters album,Sincerely, is, I believe, out of print.
The classic records can be hard to find.
What do we do about that?Thats the work that I feel called to do through Saint Heron.
Gospel right now … nothing makes me feel more triumphant and safe.
Its something that Ive leaned into a lot over the last couple of years.
Im not sure if youre familiar with Angella Christie, but she is a gospel saxophone player.
She plays with such excellence and power.
I was actually reading this article about how the saxophone was blacklisted in the Catholic Church in the 1900s.
They basically banned all wind instruments.
They called the saxophone a distant relative of the serpent.
The saxophone, for me, is a Black instrument.
She began to make these Masses.
Theres two pieces were going to be performing that night.
One is called St. Martin de Porres and the other is Lamb of God.
Theyre choral works, but they sound like symphonies.
Theyre so full and rich and cinematic and majestic.
And theyre my two most played songs for the past two years.
She arranged the voice and the fullness and the texture incredibly.
Theres a pianist named Artina McCain whos going to be performing the spiritual works of her piano pieces.
One is called A Fungus Amungus.
I love that name so much.
Obviously Twinkie Clark is a legend.
Thats what Im trying to achieve: the range and magic of Twinkie Clarks chords.
What she does with the organ is just out of this world.
She has these two songs on an album calledPraise Belongs to God.
One is Oh Taste and See, and the other is God, You Get the Glory.
Theyre like disco records, but theyre gospel.
You have an R&B night featuring KeiyaA and Kelela, two incredible artists.
Im in awe of all of these ladies and what theyve accomplished sonically.
Res will be there too.
Its going to be a monumental night.
Shes going to be performing songs offHow I Do.
Me and Kels go way back.
She was actually on the first Saint Heron compilation.
Thatll be ten years ago this year.
That moment in music was a really powerful shift in the R&B conversation.
Kelela was a huge part of that.
I feel honored that Saint Heron has gotten to be a place for her in her journey.
I feel like she brings a lot of that technicality to her live show.
Im sure people will be fighting to get in that one.
You havent done anything predictable in forever.
Are you ever unsure of your path?Definitely!
I was a dancer.
I was writing songs for Destinys Child.
I was a part of this theater in Houston in Third Ward called the Ensemble Theater.
I was writing monologues and studying stage production.
But there are doubts for sure.
I think mainly about time.
Have I devoted enough time to this one expression?
Have I taken enough time to master this one thing?
I feel like thats why I take so much time between projects.
Im developing a tempo now.
This is a dream job and one that I feel really honored and humbled by.
