How to fit a top-tier HBCU marching band and the gospel tradition onto one album
At the 2018 edition of Coachella, Beyoncé showed us how a global pop star celebrates the marching bands of historically Black colleges and universities in a spectacular festival performance, then translates that into a downright marvel of a concert documentary and live album.
Live performance is also the realm that the Aristocrat of Bands — pride of Nashville-based HBCU Tennessee State University — has excelled in for 76 years. The AOB's reputation for precision and high-stepping showmanship on the field landed it on national television during a 1955 NFL game and brought an invitation to President Kennedy's 1961 inauguration, both firsts for an HBCU band. In the last year, the AOB secured a coveted slot in the Rose Parade and an early July booking at Essence Fest alongside a couple of big gospel names, Jekalyn Carr and Sir The Baptist. That latter appearance served as a preview of a one-of-a-kind project, The Urban Hymnal, a studio album featuring the AOB as primary artist, fully in gospel mode for the first time, with an array of contemporary gospel stars in supporting roles.
Conceiving of the project took someone as connected in the industry as Sir The Baptist teaming up with someone as and and picked up a Grammy nod for his work with Kierra Sheard, Jenkins is a virtuoso on trumpet and one of the AOB's most skilled and imaginative composers and arrangers.
