Songs From Mama’s Table, an a cappella alliance that includes the women’s vocal groups KITKA, and Linda Tillery with the Cultural Heritage Choir, will sing this weekend at Edison Theatre.

Although both groups formed in San Francisco, they represent different musical traditions, as KITKA celebrates women’s music of Eastern Europe and Linda Tillery and the Cultural Heritage Choir are a quintet who are devoted to the sounds of African survival music.

Both KITKA and Linda Tillery and the Cultural Heritage Choir draw from rich though very different backgrounds. KITKA has been featured on such radio programs as the Prairie Home Companion, and its members sing in dozens of Eastern European languages, including Macedonian, Romanian, Russian, Ukrainian, Albanian, Bosnian, Bulgarian, Serbo-Croatian, Georgian, Hungarian, Ladino, and Yiddish, as well as ancient Greek, Latin and medieval Galician. KITKA uses both contemporary pieces and ancient folk songs, which puts them in a similar strength with Linda Tillery and the Cultural Heritage Choir, who also combine traditional African American music with contemporary style.

Linda Tillery is perhaps best known for her performances with Bobby McFerrin’s Voicestra, and her later work in theatre led her to assemble the Cultural Heritage Choir. The Choir draws inspiration from the wealth of African-American traditional music, from work songs to gospel. The choir consists of Rhonda Benin, Elouise Burrell, Melanie DeMore, and Emma Jean Foster-Fieg. Both KITKA and Linda Tillery and the Cultural Heritage Choir have separately released several albums to date. KITKA has released, KITKA (1989), Voices on the Eastern Wind (1995) and Nectar (1999). Linda Tillery and the Cultural Heritage Choir have released Good Time, A Good Time (1995), Front Porch Music (1997); Shakin’ a Tailfeather (1997); Hippity Hop (1999); and Say Yo’ Business (2001).

Special guests from the Saint Louis community that will join the performance of Songs from Mama’s Table are the Washington University Greenleafs during Friday’s performance, and Charis, the St. Louis Women’s Chorus, during Saturday’s performance.

Where: Edison Theatre
When: Friday, January 25th at 8 pm
and Saturday at 11 am.
How Much: Tickets are $25.
Who to Call: 5-6543
SPECIAL OFFER: Tillery & The Cultural Heritage Choir will perform a special
all-ages matinee for Edison Theatre’s
ovations! for young people series at 11 a.m. Jan. 26. Tickets are $7.

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