Tuesday, June 04, 2002

WILMINGTON, NC – The Persuasions, dubbed the “kings of a cappella,” will perform at 8 p.m., Saturday, June 22, in UNCW’s Kenan Auditorium, as part of the university’s Summer Fun Jam 2002.

Tickets for the concert are $10 for general admission, free to UNCW faculty, staff and students with ID and are on sale at the auditorium box office. Tickets are required for admission. The university’s Office of Campus Diversity is sponsoring Summer Fun Jam.

The Persuasions have combined Motown, doo-wop, rhythm and blues, gospel and other musical styles since 1962. In addition to singing with numerous performers such as Ray Charles, Patti Labelle, Bette Midler and Frank Zappa, the Persuasions influenced the work of contemporary a cappella groups Boyz II Men, Take 6 and Rockapella. Featured on soundtracks for the films E.T. and Joe and the Volcano, the Persuasions produced the children’s album On the Good Ship Lollipop in 1999 as well as CD tributes to Frank Zappa (2000) and the Beatles (2002).

The five-member group, which began singing on the stoops of brownstones in Brooklyn, N.Y., continues to tour worldwide. The four founding members, Jerry Lawson, Joe Russell, Jimmy Hayes and Jayotis Washington, added Ray Sanders as their fifth performer in 1999. Original Persuasions member Toubo Rhode died in 1988.

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For more information, contact Dr. Joanne Nottingham, director of the UNCW Office of Campus Diversity, at 910/962-3832.