Blind Boys of Alabama Play Symphony Space Tonight

Symphony Space will welcome the season with the iconic gospel group Blind Boys of Alabama tonight, December 3 (8 pm) in the Peter Jay Sharp Theatre. Their holiday program, "Go Tell It On the Mountain," features an inspired selection of traditional spirituals, Christmas standards, and original tunes, all rendered in the soul-stirring vocal harmonies and funky instrumental backings that have brought them five Grammy Awards and international renown. Reviewing their CD of the same title, Mojo magazine wrote, "There's nothing remotely schmaltzy or cloyingly sentimental about this seasonal offering from the veteran gospel group."

Tickets are $65 for preferred seating, $47 for standard seating; $55 and $40 respectively for members; and $25 for those under 30, available through www.symphonyspace.org.

The Blind Boys of Alabama are recognized worldwide as living legends of gospel music. Celebrated by The National Endowment for the Arts and the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS) with Lifetime Achievement Awards, and inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame, they have attained the highest levels of achievement in a career that spans over 60 years. The Blind Boys are known for crossing multiple musical boundaries with their remarkable interpretations of everything from traditional gospel favorites to contemporary spiritual material by songwriters such as Ben Harper, Eric Clapton, Prince and Tom Waits. They have appeared on recordings with Bonnie Raitt, Tom Waits, k.d. lang, Lou Reed, Peter Gabriel, Willie Nelson, Susan Tedeschi, Solomon Burke, Aaron Neville, Ben Harper and most recently Justin Vernon, Patty Griffin, Merrill Garbus and Sam Amidon on their latest recording I'll Find A Way. The Blind Boys of Alabama have made appearances on The Tonight Show With Jay Leno, Late Night with David Letterman, The Grammy Awards, 60 Minutes, The Colbert Report and their own holiday special on PBS.

The Blind Boys of Alabama first sang together in 1944, in the glee club at the Alabama Institute for the Blind in Talladega, Alabama. The founding members, who were about nine years old at the time, included Jimmy Carter, who is still singing with the group 70 years later. The current lineup includes includes Carter, Eric 'Ricky' McKinnie, Joey Williams, Tracy Pierce, Ben Moore, and newest addition Paul Beasley. The Blind Boys' discography runs to more than 40 albums, from their 1948 release Can See Everybody's Mother But Mine to their latest record, Talkin' Christmas, a collaboration with blues legend Taj Mahal.