The third annual Icebox live R&B music and spoken word poetry event will be held on campus this year in Webb Hall in the Memorial Union. Last year’s Icebox was held at Wheat State Pizza, and the overwhelming success of the event filled the pizza parlor nearly to maximum capacity, so a larger venue was needed for this year, said Jason Brooks, director of Multicultural Affairs.
The event is hosted by the Office of Multicultural Affairs and the Diversity Education Committee at 7 p.m. April 12.
Brooks said Icebox’s name came from Emporia State communication alumni LaToya Williams-Green.
“Your grandparents would ask you to go grab something from the icebox,” Williams-Green said. “Whatever you took out of the icebox may not have looked that great, but you knew after a while it would turn into something magical.”
The Icebox will feature vocalist Wanda Jae from Kansas City, Kan., and Lee Langston of neo-soul band Prototype from Kansas City, Mo.
Jae and Langston performed at last year’s Icebox. Langston said they “enjoyed performing here in Emporia.” In an interview with The Bulletin last year, both artists said they “would gladly perform here again.”
Jae, a veteran of the Kansas City music scene, has worked with local artists O’Dell Talley of Groove Agency, Jason Betts and the Esquire Band. Jae said her musical influences include Whitney Houston, Fantasia, Ledisi, Patti LaBelle, Marian Anderson and Ella Fitzgerald. Her energetic vocal style blends classic soul with rhythm and blues and neo-soul.
Langston, born in Tulsa, Okla. but raised in Kansas City, Mo., is the founder and lead singer of the neo-soul and R&B band Prototype. The band frequently performs at several historical Kansas City venues, such as the Juke House and the Blue Room on 18th and Vine in the Kansas City jazz district. Langston has facilitated numerous themed shows and tributes in the Kansas City metropolitan area.
Five ESU students will also perform spoken word poetry on Friday night. Shalyssa Mitchell, senior integrated studies major; James Jones III, senior health and recreation major; Cameron Gee, graduate health and recreation student; Taylor Bullock, senior sociology major and Elijah Smith, political science major and columnist for The Bulletin, will recite original poetry.
The cost of admission is $10 for students and community members, which includes a meal, and the event is also taking donations. The event is open to students and community members.
Brooks said that all remaining proceeds of this event will go toward the Office of Multicultural Affairs Diversity Scholarship that is open to all under-represented racial groups recognized by the federal government, regardless of citizenship status.
“Our job as the office of Multicultural Affairs and ESU is to provide a high quality education to any person who is seeking one,” Brooks said. “My job is to make sure the students have the resources they need to be able to attend.”
