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More than just a musical production, the two-part concert series Ebony Roots has also been an ongoing history lesson for the man who helped create it.

“This whole process has been such a learning experience for myself,” says singer Brandon Thornhill. “It’s only been in the last few years that I’ve really tapped into, and immersed myself, in the Black history of Vancouver. And I’ve learned the most from doing the Ebony Roots project.”

The beginning of the production can be traced back to a post-show dinner conversation, where Thornhill’s friends included Sound the Alarm Music/Theatre director Alan Corbishley.

“I was telling him about this concept that I’ve always wanted to do in Vancouver,” Thornhill recalls. “It basically started off with me wanting to sing some musical theatre and opera repertoire that’s essentially African-descent inspired. Operas like Porgy and Bess and musicals like Showboat, and even ragtimes that deal with the struggles and despair and racism of that time. He really liked the idea, and so we challenged ourselves to take it even further.”

The goal of Ebony Roots, which is presented by Alarm Music/Theatre, became to take audiences on journey through the history of Black music, starting with the tradition of work songs. For a good idea how daunting that endeavor can be, consider that pretty much any pop-music genre you can name—rock, hip-hop, jazz, metal, disco, funk, R&B, and even punk rock—can be traced back to the spartan blues of pioneers like Sylvester Weaver and Papa Charlie Jackson, and the field hollers, work tunes, and spiritual hymns that informed them.

Ebony Roots: Concert, Part 1 took place at the Roundhouse last December, with this month’s second edition expanding on that show, including a strong local component thanks to the inclusion of music by Vancouver legends like Jayson Hoover and Bobby Tayor.

“We’re really trying to focus on bringing the audience on a journey that shows the despair and the frustration and the pain,” Thornhill says. “But also showing the hope and freedom and the liberty as well.”

He stresses that the music which has soundtracked the Black history experience is also about empowerment, that connecting Robert Johnson and Blind Lemon Jefferson to Bessie Smith and Nina Simone, and Miles Davis and Jimi Hendrix to Bad Brains and Public Enemy.

Thornhill has his masters in opera, but grew up singing all kinds of music, his deep loves including R&B and soul. Joining him onstage for Ebony Roots: Concert, Part 2 will be a support cast that includes musical director and guitarist Olaf de Shield, bassist Russell Jackson, keyboardist Wayne Stewart, and percussionist Carlos Joe Costa. As they work their way through history on the musical side of things, covering everything from the earliest blues to pioneering hip-hop, projections will provide a visual history lesson. 

“One of the core things that I thought was extremely important was that we do our best to touch on every single genre that has had an impact on the Black community, and that has been inspired by the African descent community,” Thornhill says. “We’ve taken a unique approach—dare I say that it’s not done often, the way that we’re doing this. I think we take real pride in the versatility of this concert.”

Born in England and raised in Florida, Thornhill became fascinated by the history of Strathcona’s Black community after landing on the West Coast. His education continues today, aided by local historians such as Yasin Kiraga at the African Descent Society.

“The wealth of knowledge there is just incredible,” Thornhill notes. “I met with him last week, and he was teaching me about the true Black history of Vancouver. A lot of people believe that history starts in the early 1900s. But actually it predates that—it was in the late 1850s and early 1860s when the first African-descent people settled in Vancouver. I found that really interesting because this story, and history, is not really known.”

If all of this resonates deeply with Thornhill, it’s because Ebony Roots has helped him along on his own personal journey. Knowledge is power, and he’s thrilled to now be a part of Vancouver’s Black history story.

“I am biracial—African American and Caucasian,” he says. “Our singer, Leo D.E. Johnson, is also bi-racial. Speaking for myself, growing up, I had my own identity issues from time to time. I gravitated to where I gravitated. I grew up with African-American influence as well as Caucasian influence. I was born in England, but spent most of my life in Florida, where I had a Black family and a white family. Without getting too much into it, there were people out there who would try to dictate what I could, and couldn’t, sing.

“But at the end of the day,” Thornhill continues, “I know that this is my culture, and it is my history as well. I have a huge respect and passion for it, and that was one of the driving forces of doing this. I’ve learned something about myself as we’ve gone through the process of creating Ebony Roots.” 

“Ebony Roots: Concert, Part 2” is at the Yaletown Roundhouse Performance Centre on February 9.