Sophia Cuni-Hall, a second-year jazz student in Humber Polytechnic's Bachelor of Music program and vocalist of the R&B ensemble, said R&B has been an essential part of her music education.
She said performing and learning the genre has helped her develop adaptability, collaboration and confidence.
On Thursday Humber Polytechnic hosted its annual R&B Night, a part of their Student Showcase Concerts Series. At the Lakeshore campus, three ensembles were featured: the R&B ensemble, the Future Pop ensemble and the Rhythm n’ Soul ensemble.
Though contrasting, but also similar the groups featured music born from rhythm and blues. Kicking off the night, the R&B ensemble explored traditional R&B, originating from African American communities between the 1940s and 1970s. The Future Pop ensemble is in its second year and performs a blend of Contemporary Pop and R&B.
The concert was brought to a close with the Rhythm n’ Soul ensemble focusing on classical R&B, funk and soul.
Thomas Francis, the instructor of the Future Pop ensemble, said that when most colleges switched to polytechnics, he wanted to create an ensemble with the same approach, making students employable now.
“What I wanted to do was kind of update the way that ensembles happen or what they teach students. I want to make students kind of like gig-ready, if that makes sense,” he said “Music that people are listening to now, which is kind of the point of future pop. We're trying to play the most stuff with you in the last, I think, five to seven years. Yeah, we're just trying to make students ready for when they leave.”
Will Jarvis, the instructor of the Rhythm n’ Soul Ensemble, said that R&B is important for students to study and perform because it is a timeless genre.
“The repertoire of R&B music is something that is long-lasting, and it gets performed from generation to generation, for instance. The music groups that are performing now will be playing R&B music that was originally recorded in the 1960s or 1970s. And this will go on forever. These are classic songs that will stand the test of time, and the students need to be able to play it authentically,” he said.
“ When they're asked to perform in an R&B group, then they know how to prepare for a performance, and also how to approach it stylistically and play it really authentically," Jarvis said.
Thomas Mordaunt, the Future Pop ensemble music director and drummer, said the Humber R&B Night and the Future Pop ensemble have allowed him and other students to showcase their genre diversity.
“If there was just one thing that I would want people to take out of our performance, which I think they will take out of the performance, is that music isn't just about the technical exercises," he said. "It's not just about getting the marks. It can be fun as well. I want our ensemble to help them to kindle that fire and that passion inside of young students at school who come to watch."
Linda Wang, a second-year student in the bachelor of music program and vocalist in the R&B ensemble, said leading the band in a song was an honour.
“It’s definitely taught me to be more present on stage. It’s something I’ve struggled with in the past, quite a bit. The ensemble has taught me to speak up for myself quite a bit in terms of how I want something to sound and how to work with others in a genre I’m not very familiar with,” she said.
Alyssa Boccia, a vocalist in the Future Pop ensemble, said Francis helped her get out of her comfort zone while performing live.
“I’m a super timid performer and I feel like the more that I put myself out there and stop letting what other people think might think of what I’m doing or how I sound control me,” she said.
Boccia finished the Future Pop ensemble set list by leading the group in the song Erase Me by Lizzy McAlpine, a song of her choice.
“It was really cool being able to perform a song of my choice and letting people know that I have a really strong connection to that song,” she said.
She said R&B is a broad genre that brings people together, and the R&B Night is an event that brings together Humber staff and students from all streams.
“I think that the elements behind R&B are super cool, the elements of jazz and the soul elements, the blues elements, and everything that R&B is in itself, that is the root and the core of music,” Boccia said.
Jonathan Kay, the instructor of the R&B ensemble and Humber alumnus, said the genre has been a form of expression and resistance throughout history and wants his students to carry on that tradition.
“The music is a vehicle for expression, getting your voice out there and getting the students to think a little bit more about ‘What is it that doesn't serve me in this world? What are the ways that you feel that the world isn't organized well for being inclusive or for being harmonious?’ So it kind of is bringing a little bit back the activist side and the function of music through funk,” he said.
“There (are) definitely heavy, heavy strains of musicians who have been activists, social activists, revolutionaries, and music has been a way that has helped to push back against the world,” Kay said.
He said the students' version of Penitentiary Philosophy by Erykah Badu is a piece that has helped them find their performance style and manage anxiety.
“What I was speaking to them about before we went on was just really breaking down a little bit the formalism of the concert experience. And it can feel, especially when you're a student or especially when you're on a stage like that, it can feel like a very formal place when you're up on a nice big stage, the audience is sitting in their soft seats back here, it can be hard to break the ice,” Kay said.
Cuni-Hall said the R&B Night is unique because it’s one of the few popular genres that gets its concert at Humber, and its style is rooted in Black ancestry.
“I think it's important because it's like one of the very popularized genres in Black culture, I think it the important learning about the music from the genre and learn something about Black people and like, like who they are and what they do. I think that for me, because it's my culture, I like seeing that,” she said
Cuni-Hall said she grew up singing R&B with her father, and it inspired her to pursue a music career and join the R&B ensemble.
“I had a close relationship with it because it was around in my childhood, and it was in everything that I did. My dad did, and he passed away, like when I was 13, so that kind of relationship with the genre kind of carried through. and that's kind of why I was more excited to be in it this year, because it was something that, like, he loved and he would have been proud of what I did,”
