KENTUCKY JUBILEE SINGERS

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 706, 4 July 1929, Page 14

KENTUCKY JUBILEE SINGERS

HIS MAJESTY'S ON SATURDAY The haunting, expressive music of the American negro, now tinged with quaint religious fervour, now sparking with good-natured humour, will b© heard in its natural, original form when J. C. Williamson, Ltd., present the justly-famed Kentucky Jubilee Singers, America’s greatest combination of coloured artists, at His Majesty’s Theatre next Saturday evening. No musical entertainment of the present day has quite the same whimsical flavour, quite the same exotic atmosphere, as that presented by these remarkably-gifted people. Their reputation in America and Europe has been attained through their success in offering to the public music of recognised quality in a pleasing and entertaining manner. They are neither concert vocalists nor vaudeville artists; their performances have been acclaimed because they differ from anything hitherto seen on the stage. In artistic and colourful settings, redolent of sunny scented Carolina, tense with dramatic atmosphere of a war-time dug-out in France, or sparkling with fun and high spirits of a lightly-painted modern scena, these clever entertainers have a message to fit every passing mood. As evidence of the high esteem in which they are held, it is of interest to note the extraordinary appeal they exercised upon the churches and Sunday schools abroad, where the deep religious character of the nego spirituals sung during the performance left a profound impression. The harmonising of rich persuasive voices, particularly tenors and basses, has been described as glorious, and anyone who has heard the true darkie caroller must retain an indelible memory of a beauty of sound most sublime.

The box plans for the approaching very brief season of the Kentucky Jubilee Singers will be opened tomorrow morning.