The IU Soul Revue, part of Indiana University’s African American Arts Institute, will travel to Los Angeles April 15-18 to tour professional recording studios and perform alongside Grammy-winning artist Terry Steele April 17 at Spaghettini, a jazz club restaurant in Seal Beach, California.
The 20 IU students will also get to visit Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds’ recording studio. Edmonds — whose most recent Grammy was for his album with Toni Braxton, “Love, Marriage & Divorce” — received an honorary doctorate degree from IU in October 2018 and visited a Soul Revue rehearsal and met with students while he was on campus.
James Strong, Soul Revue’s director, said the group’s trip to Los Angeles will be beneficial for students as they try to figure out their place in music.
“We want to give our students the best educational, real-world experience possible,” Strong said. “We want our senior students to get an idea of what they can anticipate entering the professional side of the business, and we want our younger students to be inspired and motivated to continue following their professional endeavors.”
Strong, who has worked with artists including Tupac, LL Cool J and Toni Braxton, has a wide-spanning music career. He is a bassist, producer, composer and director, having performed for sold-out crowds at Madison Square Garden and Radio City Music Hall.
Soul Revue was the country’s first Black popular music ensemble when it was founded in 1971 and has opened for artists including James Brown, The Emotions and Booker T. Jones. The group performed with Bootsy Collins at the 2018 Cincinnati Music Festival.
Contact staff writer Tyler Fenwick at 317-762-7853. Follow him on Twitter @Ty_Fenwick.
IU Soul Revue, a Black pop music ensemble at Indiana University, is traveling to Los Angeles this month to tour recording studios and perform. (Photo provided)
