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Tyron Cooper On The IU Soul Revue

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African American and African Diaspora Studies professor Tyron Cooper directs IU Soul Revue, which has performed R&B, soul, funk and hip hop in Bloomington and across the country since 1971.

Cooper holds a Ph.D. in ethnomusicology and has received three regional Emmy award nominations. He has worked with artists from A Taste of Honey to Marietta Simpson.

WFIU's DeShawn Wells spoke with IU Soul Revue Director Tyron Cooper on February 17, 2015.

DeShawn Wells: Tell me more about the Soul Revue, the history of the Soul Revue.

Imagine an ensemble performing Black music on Indiana University's campus in 1971.


Tyron Cooper: The Soul Revue started in 1971. It's really interesting, because when I conceptualize the Soul Revue currently, I'm always harkening back to the ‘70s. I jump over the ‘90s, I jump over the ‘80s, and I go right to the ‘70s. I think that's because that's where that richness was; that's where the core identity of the Soul Revue is situated. Imagine an ensemble performing Black music on Indiana University's campus in 1971.

DeShawn Wells: It's powerful.

Tyron Cooper: It's powerful…We're continuing the legacy. So we still do music from that particular era, but we look at how the music has evolved, how those same ideas have been reinterpreted for our current realities. So you got Lauryn Hill talking about "Black Rage," you got John Legend and Common talking about "Glory" - speaking right, directly to our current circumstances. You got D'Angelo with "Black Messiah." So you have all of these rich, again socially, politically and culturally fruitful and fervent expressions that come right out of our community. That's what Soul Revue is about. It's about operating within a Black performance tradition to elucidate the Black life reality.

You have all of these socially, politically and culturally fruitful and fervent expressions that come right out of our community. That's what Soul Revue is about.


Soul Revue has the ability to express certain things that cannot be expressed in verbal dialogue. It's art. So it's easier to talk about issues of race, politics, all those things that define who we are as various cultures within this American social fabric.

Soul Revue has that ability to talk about it. Soul Revue has that ability to bring people together to experience certain realities. And the Soul Revue will have you listening. You're internalizing, you're synthesizing this reality. You take that home with you, and everybody is better for it.

DeShawn Wells: I want to talk about this Black performance tradition.

Tyron Cooper: When I say the Black performance tradition, I'm talking about a certain aesthetic sensibility, a certain qualitative experience that happens within the framework of the core African American culture, understanding that Black folk are not a monolithic constructwe're diverse. But there is a core experience…Think about the Southern Black experience. That had a more autonomous environment, where they were free to express themselves in various ways that reflected more of an African heritage, of an African way of living.

If we fast-forward up to our very present time, we look at a certain qualitative experience. Certain things like call-and-response, like there's a participatory dimension to this music, that it's not a spectator sport. You have to engage this art form.

So you're gonna have people screaming out, "Aw, yeah, you better sing!" You might have people dancing; you might have people crying. All of that is a part of the experience. They contribute to that experience by exhibiting such demonstrative behavior.

DeShawn Wells: We'll close from there. Again, thank you very much for coming. I really appreciate it.

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