On stage, Linda Tillery and the Cultural Heritage Choir might look like a quintet, but when the group gets a groove on, drawing from the entire history of African American music, the vocal/percussion ensemble sounds like multitudes. Since Cuban tenor Simon Monserrat joined the four founding women in 2005, he’s added deep knowledge of Afro-Caribbean rhythms to the group’s already vast textural palette. An original member of Bobby Mcferrin’s Voicestra, Tillery spent decades researching African American music. The choir gave her the means to weave all the threads—field shouts and spirituals, blues and gospel, work songs, R&B, funk and jazz—together into a joyous cultural exploration perfect for children and adults alike.

“Everything the Choir sings is infused with a spiritual power that flows from their deep roots in black culture”
—San Jose Mercury News