A festival aimed at amplifying Black music and artists, returns to Charlotte this weekend, as the annual Black Notes Project makes its second appearance, celebrating jazz music. The event will feature The Sainted Trap Choir, a local group known for its Southern gospel sounds and ability to blend different genres.
The choir got together early in the week to prepare for their performance Saturday night. Over a dozen singers and dancers sat in a circle inside a church in uptown. They paid close attention to Charlotte native Dennis Reed, who coached sitting in front of a piano.
Reed is one of the founders of The Sainted Trap Choir. The choir blends Southern gospel sounds with trap music, a subgenre of hip-hop music that includes heavy bass and fast-paced rhythms.
The group was founded about five years ago and was inspired by Reed’s upbringing in church. A place where he was directing choirs by the age of 9. It’s something he picked up from a local pastor.
“I was curious if I could take what I’ve been doing all these years, and put it into hip-hop sound,” Reed said. “So, since doing that, it became something far greater than that. It became a community, where people could come together. And yes, not only create sounds that move the soul, but also a safe place for everybody to just be themselves.”
Over the next few years, the choir went on to deliver stellar performances on shows like "America’s Got Talent" and perform in front of millions in last year's Super Bowl. Sainted Trap Choir typically consists of about 25 members. But this weekend, about half will be on stage, with the others expected to be in the crowd cheering and supporting.
Reed said watching and listening to the choir presents an opportunity for people to be exposed to a full spectrum of Black music.
“Sainted is just basically an outward expression of Black culture. So, everything is Black," Reed said. "You're going to get the gospel. You're going to get R&B music. You're going to get hip-hop. Anything you can basically hear at your auntie's cookout, that’s what Sainted is — and now you can add jazz to that as well.”
This is the first time, the choir will blend their work to incorporate jazz music. Their performance will recognize Black songwriters and jazz artists such as Ella Fitzgerald, who won 13 Grammy Awards over her 60-year career. Her music is expected to be recognized alongside renowned New Orleans trumpet player Louis Armstrong.
Saturday’s show, titled “The Evolution of Jazz” is curated by Amy Carleton — one of the co-founders of the Black Notes Project with Michael Kitchen. Carleton said she hopes the show will inspire those in the crowd who are not familiar with some of jazz’s finest performers to become acquainted.
“They will then want to go back and listen to those original records and experience them,” Carleton said. “And say, ‘Oh wow, look at how a group like Sainted Trap Choir was able to rearrange these songs and put their own personality, their stylistic attributes on it.'”
In the corner of the room, DJ Fannie Mae watched along. Mae, a Raleigh native, is the other founder of the Sainted Trap Choir. Mae has meshed a range of music from hip-hop artists, like Lauryn Hill, the group OutKast, and R&B artist Victoria Monét.
Mae, who is also Charlotte FC’s official DJ, said jazz is a complex genre that can change in a heartbeat. That complexity she said has been one of the biggest challenges she’s recently faced — especially when attempting to reinterpret the art form while aiming to honor jazz artists such as Fitzgerald and Dizzy Gillespie.
“You don’t want to say, we’re doing a jazz show, and then we don’t really pay homage to the ancestors — to those who were the ones who got famous and made the genre what it is,” Mae said. “So, I think that’s been the most challenging thing, is to really want to preserve the legacy of jazz music while interpreting jazz music in our own 'Sainted' way.”
Sainted Trap Choir’s performance will take place at 8 p.m. Saturday at the Knight Theater in uptown Charlotte.
