Not just a band per se, Sounds of Blackness is the fulcrum of universal music. Decades have surpassed, yet the group still remain loyal to their pioneering concept of uniting a breadth of eclectic genres - from jazz, soul and gospel to rock and roll.

Since 1971, the group has proudly represented the roots of African American history and culture as well as spawning iconic talent such as Alexander O' Neal. Musical Director Gary Hines gives Reminiscin' a guided tour of the band's past, present and future.

Over the course of your career, the group has won many awards from organisations as diverse as the Grammies and the NAACP. What has been the biggest achievement of Sounds of blackness?
As amazing as all of those awards are, we will always treasure them. The biggest achievement is when a perfect stranger, away from all the cameras and the press will come up to us and say that our music helped to save their life or changed their life or any of those kind of things. They heard our music and it has turned their life around. As amazing as all those awards are nothing can surpass that.

Being formed in 1971, many years have gone by - have you evolved with the times?
Oh definitely, with the popularity of Hip Hop, Neo-soul and Reggaeton, all of those are members of the new family. It is really a paradox because they are new members that have evolved but nothing in the sound is new. I mean even with hip hop, the whole mode of music where the spoken word rhymes to the rhythm and the drums, that goes back centuries. I mean nothing in the sound is new; we are just always trying to continue that legacy.

Since its existence in 1971- does the band still consist of its original members? What has happened to past members?
Sounds of Blackness this past January has celebrated its 35th year as an organisation. Such talents as Alexander O'Neal, Cynthia Johnson ("Funkytown") and of course, Ann Nesby and Jamecia Bennett - mother of Paris Bennet ("American Idol"). I am the only one that has been around the entire time, it is a relatively new crew. We do not have any of our founding members; in fact right now our full membership is now 25; 15 singers and 10 musicians.

Being in the industry for so long, what is your take on the music industry today?
It is all about balance and perspective. Historically in the classic soul and jazz even the blues musicians will always have music of consciousness. It is about being conscious enough, the great Paul Robeson says, that all true artists have responsibility to their people. It is first of all about acknowledging you have that responsibility as artists, regardless of your genre of music. In addition to non political music it should realise the political realities of their people and try addressing that. You can't do that if your mindset is not there - that is what we try to do in Sounds of Blackness.

What was the concept behind the Sounds of Blackness?
A group of African American students at Macalester College, Saint Paul, Minnesota began this group and brought me on as musical director in 1971. At the time they were mainly doing songs in the movement that were political. I was a college student and at the time of course in the States, the freedom and liberation and awareness movement was very prominent and all the musicians. Whether it was James Brown, Staple singers, Marvin Gaye or whatever they had their party music and dance music, but they always were singing about the movement, as we called it. I mean Marvin Gaye had all those songs, but he also had 'What's Going On' and James Brown had 'Cold Sweat' but he also had 'Say It Loud, And I am Black And Proud', I mean you can go down the list, Curtis Mayfield had 'Superfly' but he also talked about, 'We're a Winner'. So we came out of that tradition. We needed a name that would represent such a diverse scope and that is the meaning of the name Sounds of Blackness. We did every sound of the black experience.

Being such a regional attraction in Minnesota what made you decide to go mainstream?
In our early days we would reach out and travel around the states and we kinda became known within the industry. We did some things with Prince and some early things with Jam& Lewis. When we headed back, the first recording project we did with Jam & Lewis; we knew them in he early 70's. In fact many times our bands would play together- that is how they met Alexander O' Neal, as he joined Sounds of Blackness when he moved to Minnesota-so we were his first band in Minneapolis. Just to show you how the universe is based on cycles, the first recording with Jimmy and Jerry were for Alexander's Christmas record. When we finished in the studio they asked us for the purposes of the credits and who we were signed to. We said we were not signed to anybody and wanted to do a record together, then the next thing you know it just stemmed from there.

Being formed at a time where soul and R&B music was at its peak-was it difficult for Sound of blackness a choir -led group to be taken seriously in the industry? How did you establish yourself onto the music scene?
The first thing Jam & Lewis told us was, 'Don't change- we want to present you to the world just the way you are.' The other big challenge still to this day, is the name Sounds of Blackness and also getting people to understand, especially in the industry. The industry likes to pigeon-hole; you either this or you're that. Probably the misconceptions of Sounds of Blackness is one that we are a gospel group, but it is apart of what we do and secondly that we are a choir, we have never been either of those. We have always been a large band that always did all styles of black music. To answer your question, probably the biggest barrier was to not let the industry pigeon-hole us. I mean Jam & Lewis were saying don't change but the publicist were like, 'Why don't you just do one style of music-just do R&B or just do gospel, that would be so much easier to market,' but that is not who we are. We couldn't call ourselves the Sounds of Blackness if we did only one style of music.

As you have mentioned you don't have one musical style, but what is the threaded theme of Sounds of Blackness? Is there one prevalent genre in your sound?
It is the music of the black experience. It is a family of music. Like any other family, there are members of their family who they have more in common then they do in differences-but they do have a common thread. The common thread with us is of course the roots of Africa.

Where does your musical influence stem from?
I am from a music family; my mum Doris Hines is a renowned jazz singer in her own right. Speaking of Duke Ellington, Sarah Vaughn, Nat King Cole and Ella Fitzgerald, she has worked with all those people. She still sings to this day and she is 80 years-old. Growing up in New York, the household always had music around and on the radio the broadcast was not as narrow as it is today in the US. If it was good music you heard it-jazz, African, Indian, blues, gospels. Especially being in New York all that influence was around. My original instrumental background is drumming; you know marching around playing the drum. Originally I was a drummer first. Music was always around.

Being the sole decision maker in regards to the musical direction of the group- can the role take its toll?
You know, it is a question of when a certain style, music or theme will be best presented for the next record, for the next project or the next production. In addition to recordings we also do productions, we do a stage production called 'The soul of the sixties' where we do a tribute to all the great R&B and soul artists -James Brown, Otis Redding , Sly and Family Stone. We have a Christmas production that we do. The question becomes when to do it. We always have a welcome material joined with the culture - it is just when and how to present it.

In terms of future progression - are there any upcoming new material?
We are already looking at our next record we are gunna call it 'Kings and Queens'. It is for the sisters and brothers, in fact the lyrics says, 'It's time for you to know you ain't no bitches or hoes, it s time to know you are kings and queens'. You are descendants of royal ancestry so start acting like that - talking and waking like that. So that is our next recording project, we seek to do more soundtrack work as well. We intend to do what we are doing but in an increasingly broader scale.

Related Link:
> www.soundsofblackness.com
> Unity [Us Import] - CD - Sounds Of Blackness - Amazon.co.uk