Ann Caldwell is a vocalist
and performing artist who sing songs about love and loss;
heartache and heaven.
She has the quiet energy of a windmill yet the soulful
voice and power of a locomotive. She brings passion to
every performance, skillfully turning a phrase like, “catfish
in a frying pan!”
Ann has been performing as a fixture on the Charleston
music scene for more than two decades. Her rich, organic
sound wraps around a note, takes it and the listenre to
a different space in time. No two performances are the
same as Ann brings a unique rhythm to every measure, every
beat, and every world!
A native of Denmark, SC, Ann brings
with her the spirits of her ancestors who lived on Oak
lined dirt roads, and used music as a way to commune with
each other, nature, and God. Never one to be “boxed
in”, Ann performs
music from several genres: Jazz, Spirituals, Pop Standards,
Folk and Rhythm & Blues. Ann was a student of the late June Bonner, former Metropolitan Opera singer. Additionally,
she is a gifted song writer.
Ann’s unique vocal style leads her band, “Loose
Fitt Jazz Ensemble”, down the memory lane
of the 1940s, ‘50s, ‘60s, and ‘70s.
She also lends her sweet vocals to the lengedary R&B
band, "Touch of Class". Both bands
have performed during several Piccolo
Spoleto Festivals, The Charleston Blues festival, The
Charleston Jazz Festival, Low Country Legends, Porgy
and Bess, The charleston Symphony Orchestra and various venues regionally. In 2010, Ann
was given the honor of being the opening act for R&B
legend, Al Green.
In 1998, she formed Ann Caldwell & The Magnolia
Singers; an
acapella group that performs spirituals indigenous
to the South Carolina Low Country. The group
has performed for Pulitzer Prize winning author Toni
Morrison, internationally known artist Johnathan
Green and others.
The Magnolia Singers offer a glimpse into the roots
of American music and are highly entertaining.
Gullah music and spirituals are the "life
music" of
slavery. Gullah music sustained and encouraged slaves
through the experience of praise. Listening to Gullah
spirituals, audiences hear anguished voices, sense
the courage to endure and feel the satisfaction Gullah
music offered the soul. Gullah music and spirituals
created community and allowed slaves to pass coded
messages of resistance and escape.
The Magnolia Singers and Praise House bring Gullah
music and spirituals to life. We celebrate the cultural
heritage of this almost forgotten art form. In the
tradition of the call and response, the Magnolia
Singers invite audiences to join the universal experience
of hope that is always the Gullah spiritual's central
theme.
Through Gullah spirituals, audiences also experience
America's most authentic music. Jazz, blues, ragtime,
gospel and "soul music" all have their roots in the
rhythm and improvisational style of Gullah music.
The Magnolia Singers capture this collective experience
as singers branch out in the course of a single song,
each varying verse, tune and tempo, to weave a tapestry
of music. All American music owes a debt to the Gullah
spiritual.
Line-up:
Ann CALDWELL - vocal
Patricia JONES - vocal Yvonne BROWN - vocal
Elaine SINGLETON - vocal
John SMALLS - vocal