Solange’s Eldorado Ballroom Honors Black Musical Legacies

Solange Piaget Knowles, a multidisciplinary artist, composer, and cultural architect reveres Black musical tradition in all of its forms. Her fascination and dedication to this legacy culminates in the curation of Eldorado Ballroom, a concert series which is a product of Knowles’ multidisciplinary platform, design studio, and agency, Saint Heron. Together with Saint Heron, Knowles brought the Eldorado Ballroom to the LA Philharmonic in Los Angeles, for three nights of “transcendent Black performance throughout the decades.” 

For Black communities, music and performance is more than entertainment. It is liberation work, creation work, and central to our core as people. Throughout history we have pioneered sound from instrumentation, rhythm, genre, and beyond. Preservation of this life affirming practice is integral to its continued existence, making programs such as Eldorado Ballroom so invaluable. The concert series originally debuted in the spring of 2023 at the Brooklyn Academy of Music and seeks to celebrate artists that contribute to and extend the Black musical legacy. 

AFROPUNK attended one evening of the series to bear witness to the art and connect with Black performing arts enthusiasts. The night in question, “Contrapuntal Counterpoints (Experiments in Funk, Soul, and Jazz)”, took place on the evening of October 12th, as the second in a series of three. The program as a whole shone a light on Black musical creation across the classical, jazz, and gospel genres — and any categoric fusions that lay between.

Audiences flowed into the concert hall in stunning fall fashions which created a sea of romantic dark hues, fitting for the evening ahead. To much delight, there was a substantial amount of young adults enmeshed with older generations, coming together to share a night of music and art. A pair of young Black women shared with AFROPUNK that their reasoning for attending was simply to support Black artists, by way of being exposed to sounds they were not familiar with. As was one of Eldorado Ballroom’s intentions, many diverse Black musicians were platformed, welcomed by existing fans and embraced by a largely new crowd of supporters. 

The tri-concert series also attracted Black creatives from every pocket of the art world including actors, musicians, curators, filmmakers, and more. Solange and loved ones including several members of the Knowles family, Melina Metsoukas, and Ayo Edibiri to name a few, sat on the left hand side of the orchestra as guests filed in ahead of the show. 

The overhead announcer set the stage for the evening by informing concert goers that the artists of the night transcend the strict notions of genre and are “architects and alchemists of the sonic realm.” 

Night two of Saint Heron’s series opened up with artist Liv.e. Hailing from Dallas, Texas, the alternative soul artist was first exposed to music through a common space for many other Black American musicians: the Black church. Inspired by genres such as R&B, jazz, gospel, funk, and hip hop, the young artist embarked on her musical explorations through DJing, until she developed the genre-blending, synth-infused sound she has crafted today. At the beginning of her set, sounds of nature over a subtle beat engulfed the concert hall before the music crept in and took over. She transitioned between energetic beats and slow melodies, pulling the crowd in and encouraging them to connect to the percussive sounds, “put your fingers in the air if you feel something,” she called out. Her voice and a DJ controller were the instruments of choice, taking audiences through a truly unique sonic experience.

“Reuniting for the first time since 2017,” could be heard overhead moments before the crowd erupted into applause to welcome the second act to the stage. Musical duo J*DAVEY, consisting of producer D’LEAU and vocalist Jack Davey, greeted the audience before taking to the electric keyboard and microphone, respectively. Davey’s voice immediately transformed the room into a classic jazz lounge as it filled the space with warm, masterful vocals. Layers of music continued to build upon itself as the guitarist and drummer joined them onstage and folded themselves in mid-song. Rounding out their first song they hinted at a missing element, and out came bassist and recording artist Thundercat to complete the ensemble. The collective performed a lively set fusing jazz, funk, soul, and even rock together as they mesmerized the audience with each tune. A testament to their skill and knowledge of performance, the “Black Eurythmics,” as the duo refers to themselves as, immersed symphony-goers in a transformative electronic experience. Their soulful experimentation with traditional and futuristic sound provided a stimulating performance ushered in by a spirited and attentive stage presence. 

Rounding out the night was a transcendent set from a collective of world-class musicians.  William Parker and Cooper-Moore, distinguished musicians and composers, segued between a plethora of wind and string instruments that many audience members, including this author, had never witnessed before. Esteemed percussionist Michael Wimberly completed the trio by melding symbols, drums, and rain sticks into the unified sound. Each musician performed solo segments, allowing for the isolated sounds to be appreciated before harmonizing. In tune with the traditional sounds of jazz music, Cooper-Moore began to sing-chant the phrases, “Sometimes I feel like a motherless child; jazz ain’t nothin but a word; jazz ain’t got no momma, momma was blues and ragtime and swing but jazz ain’t got no mama anymore.”

Grammy-nominated jazz, R&B, and neo-soul singer Bilal graced the stage in all black and immediately surrendered himself to the instrumentals. His powerful voice reverberated through the entire building, offering explosive improv vocals. A first-time experience for many, the symphonic arrangement left audience members enthralled. Bilal connected with the music in a way that can only be described as visceral. Utterly lost in the melodies and submitting himself to the act of performance, Bilal with the assistance of Wimberly, Parker, and Cooper-Moore offered an unparalleled visual and sonic presentation for audiences to witness.

Each act took the time to express gratitude for Solange and her curation work. She reciprocated her gratitude for their art in kind, by her visual expressions of appreciation. Allowing the music to flow through her as she danced, nodded, and swayed along to each distinct performance, it was clear that the Houstonian artist has a deep admiration to Black musical legacies and their relationship to genre. The Black artist’s relationship to genre is complex and ever-evolving. As the pioneers and stewards of many of the genres we know today through experimentation, connection, and an innate knowledge of musical tradition, the diasporic alchemists of sound cannot be bound to restrictive singularities. As Knowles puts it, there are “too many manifestations” of the self. Black artists’ creations can seldom be defined, though society often tries, reducing many sounds to one genre while dismissing the skillful practice of expansive genre-blending. Eldorado Ballroom delivered a masterclass in Black musical traditions, epitomizing how explorative the medium can be when engaged through the global Black lens.