A feeling of empowerment is in the air this Friday, April 24, 2026 at Princeton, NJ’s McCarter Theatre as fans of socially conscious music experience a concert by the Grammy-nominated a cappella ensemble, Sweet Honey in the Rock.
Sweet Honey in the Rock is an all-female African-American singing group which was founded in 1973 by Bernice Johnson Reagon. Originating as a quartet, the group got its name from a song based on Psalm 81:16 which tells of a “land so rich that when rocks were cracked open, honey flowed from them.” In 2003, Johnson Reagon left the group and the quartet became a sextet with five singers and a sign language interpreter.
With a repertoire rooted in African choral, blues, gospel, and jazz, Sweet Honey in the Rock has performed on many of the world’s biggest stages on six different continents. The ensemble’s musical landscape embraces multiple genres and generations and addresses civil and human rights, women’s issues, love, spirituality, and more.
In addition to having their songs featured on TV’s Sesame Street, Sweet Honey in the Rock is the subject of the 2005 American Masters television documentary, Sweet Honey in the Rock: Raise Your Voice. The singers’ latest release is their 2024 single, “The Living Waters.”
Inside McCarter’s Matthews Theatre auditorium, the lights dim and Rochelle Rice, Aisha Kahlil, Louise Robinson, Nitanju Bolade Casel, Carol Maillard, and sign interpreter Barbara Hunt take the stage along with bassist Romeir Mendez.
As Mendez plays a melodic bass line, Nitanju Bolade Casel welcomes the audience by talking about the importance of drawing on the strength of those who have come before us prior to acknowledging, “I know that somebody prayed for me.” Breaking into a joyful melody, Casel sings in her soulful voice, “Somebody, somebody/Prayed, prayed, prayed for me,” deftly accompanied by Mendez on electric bass before her colleagues get the audience singing and clapping along on the swinging gospel number, “Somebody Prayed for Me.”
Rochelle Rice chants, “I’m gonna do what the spirit say do/I’m gonna walk, I’m gonna shout, I’m gonna love, I’m gonna vote,” before the rest of the quintet joins in singing, “Do, do/I’m gonna do what the spirit say,” on “Do,” an appealing R&B/gospel tune where Casel, Louise Robinson, and Aisha Kahlil add percussion as Rice sings lead.
Carol Maillard reveals that although Sweet Honey in the Rock was created back in 1973, she suggests that many of the songs they are performing tonight “are more relevant now more than ever before.” Following “Echo,” where the vocalists echo one another in five-part harmony, Mendez picks out a bass line as the group segues into “Oh, Sankofa,” a powerful and rhythmic story song Casel wrote about the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre which the ensemble performs against a backdrop of historic images projected on the screen behind them.
The crowd applauds and the ensemble marches into “Ella’s Song” where Robinson cries, “We who believe in freedom cannot rest/We who believe in freedom cannot rest until it comes.” After teaching concertgoers their vocal part, the crowd sings it independently as the singers add intricate counterpoint vocals on this moving gospel/blues number.
Malliard asks the audience to say “Amen” before launching into “Testimony,” where the women sing, “But by my life be I spirit/And by my heart be I woman,” on this gentle spiritual. Then, on “Women Gather,” the ensemble chants, “The women gather crying tears that fill a million oceans,” on this hypnotizing rhythmic a cappella piece which elicits grateful audience applause.
Mendez plays upright bass while Kahlil speaks about the beauty of Africa before she sings lead on “Dream Variations.” While her colleagues cry, “To fling my arms wide/In the face of the sun/Dance! Whirl! Whirl!/Till the quick day is done,” Kahlil vocally improvises over top of them on this Langston Hughes poem set to a gospel music arrangement.
To conclude Act I, Malliard is featured on “We Are,” a tribute to all of the former Sweet Honey in the Rock members where each of the current singers vocalize and scat on this stirring chant that concludes with animated audience cheers and applause.
Following a short intermission, a video is played which celebrates 50 years of Sweet Honey in the Rock. Then, Maillard teaches the audience how to pronounce the African lyrics to “Rainforest Chant” which the ensemble and audience perform together as a round.
Robinson is featured on her original composition, “Retribution,” where she and her colleagues sing in harmony, “What you gonna do? Retribution coming,” on this funky rap song which is interpreted in American Sign Language by Barbara Hunt and accompanied by Mendez on electric bass.
‘50s-style doo-wop backup harmonies support Kahlil as she sings, “Won’t you help to sing/These songs of freedom?” on the Bob Marley reggae tune, “Redemption Song.” Then, Mendez’s upright bass and rolling vocal arpeggios accompany Rice as she leads the soulful R&B ballad, “Sometime,” where voices rise and fall together and then separately in waterfalls of sound.
The group follows up with “I Like It That Way,” where group members scat-sing after audience members echo sing with Robinson on this swinging jazz tune.
Casel cries, “Folks would never suffer/If there was more love for your sisters and your brothers,” on the bluesy Roberta Flack tune, “Tryin’ Times,” before she inspires cheers from the crowd when she sings, “No war, no tweets.”
Rice starts off a soft and sweet rendition of “Hallelujah,” after which Robinson announces, “We’re going to suspend the idea that this is a concert,” and asks everyone to join her in singing “Hallelujah” — the “highest praise” — as a community and “send it out across New Jersey, across the country, and over the waters to all the lands that are suffering.”
The ensemble concludes tonight’s performance with the upbeat swing tune, “Zabba Du Bay,” where each member of the ensemble is introduced and featured. Audience members stand and cheer and the group takes a bow before performing an encore of “The Midnight Special” where the ensemble cries, “Let the Midnight Special/Shine the light on me/Let the Midnight Special/Shine its ever-lovin’ light on me,” to enthusiastic cheers and applause.
As concertgoers make their way out of the theater, several share their thoughts on this evening’s Sweet Honey in the Rock’s performance. Comments Susie from Mount Laurel, “They were just fabulous — amazing! I loved the politics, I loved the music, I loved everything about them. They had me in tears.” Susie’s husband, Kevin, agrees, adding, “It was an absolutely fabulous show which exceeded my expectations. It was transformative.”
Sandra from Philadelphia acknowledges, “I love Sweet Honey in the Rock! I’m a long-time fan — I’ve been following them for at least 40 years — and they’re still just as good as they were the first time I heard them.”
Jennifer from Brooklyn, NY contends, “They have the most powerful, moving voices. I’ve listened to them my whole life, but to see them in person and feel the energy in the room was really healing.” Kelly from Detroit, MI concurs, explaining, “‘Hallelujah’ was really special — hearing all the voices in harmony and, then, sending the music out into the world was something, I feel, is very necessary at this time.” Zaina from Paris, France declares, “I loved everything about Sweet Honey in the Rock! They said everything I wanted them to say, and I loved getting to sing with them, too!”
Lastly, Roberta from Lawrenceville suggests, “It was engulfing — the group hooks you in and your body feels the music and absorbs the spirit of the show,” before her friend, Debbie from Lawrenceville, concludes, “It was wonderful, it was uplifting, and it was good medicine!”
To learn more about Sweet Honey in the Rock, please go to facebook.com/SweetHoneyInTheRock. For info on great upcoming performances at McCarter — including Madeleine Peyroux on May 14, Catherine Russell and Sean Mason on June 5, and Christian McBride and Ursa Major on June 7 — please go to mccarter.org.
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