Sweet Honey Soothes

Look out, I’m about to gush.

When I stepped off the T, the mouth of Symphony Hall was a mess of smiling, politely frantic people, all trying to make sure they were included in the magic that was about to take place inside the hall. Magic it was. Five women and a sign language interpreter came dancing onto the stage, decked out in bright colours and African dress, and immediately the audience was spellbound by Sweet Honey in the Rock. The sight of the black female a cappella singers dancing beneath the statues of the dead naked white men from long ago that decorate the hall highlighted the power and immediacy of Sweet Honey. When Ysaye Barnwell used her effortless, supernatural vocal range to begin the “Chant” that comes from the South American rainforest, I got goosebumps. When she then made the entire hall sing it in parts, my hair stood on end. It is the magic of Sweet Honey that can turn an audience that would otherwise sound like a football mob into a 1,000-strong choir. When they sang “Motherless Chile,” I had to dry my eyes.

Sweet Honey has been going strong for over 25 years, which is enough to turn any other group of musicians into corporate monstrosities or tired has-beens trying to recapture their golden years. Not so Sweet Honey. The group has revitalised itself with many new members over the years, bringing the participation in the group to a total of 22 women, including two of the founding members. Their repertoire continues to expand, encompassing rap, blues and African spiritual songs, as well as their original gospel roots. As an African living in the United States, Sweet Honey is the first group I have seen in America that presents the genuine joy and freedom that characterises African music and performance. Their swaying and dancing across the stage, while spontaneously clapping and improvising melodies was a beautiful thing to see, and nothing short of a spiritual experience to hear. Sweet Honey captured the sound and spirit of North African prayer songs perfectly in the Malian spiritual “Denko,” before bringing us back to America with such a definitive version of the traditional civil rights song “Eyes on the Prize.” “Would You Harbor Me” was powerful expression of the group’s belief in justice and tolerance which was translated, along with the other songs into expressive sign language by Shirley Childress Saxton, who incorporated her signing into the performance so seamlessly that it added an expressive visual element while hardly detracting from the focus of the singers.

Sweet Honey are an incredible group. In addition to being phenomenal singers, composers and arrangers, having contributed music to films, scored ballets and acted on stage and TV, many of the members hold doctorate degrees. Berenice Johnson Reagon, the founder, is Distinguished Professor of History at the American University, and Curator Emeritus at the Smithsonian Institution, which gave her words an extra weight when she spoke of the example set by leaders “who feel that you lose something when you say ‘I’m sorry’ instead of ‘We regret’,” and concluded with something that was lost in applause, but began with, “And our snot-nosed president…” This may have accounted for some of the empty seats in the second half. As Carol Maillard, who introduced most of the songs, said, “The truth hurts.”

The second half was just as good as the first. The group’s insistence on two-way participation between stage and audience was truly infectious, and in the gorgeous acoustics of the Hall, the effect was awe-inspiring. At one point I could have sworn I even heard the not-quite-elderly gentleman sitting next to me humming along and possibly foot-tapping, though that may have been the moshing five-year-old on the other side of me. The addition of some African-style shakers to the sound pushed the energy level even higher. I lost count of the number of standing ovations. I wish I could have seen them in a smaller venue, where the audience might have felt more free to dance and enjoy themselves. Their final set ended with a rendition of “Redemption Song”that would have made Bob Marley proud.

For those of you who were there, thank you for sharing the experience. The rest of you, better be there next time.