“America’s Got Talent” Stars, Sainted Trap Choir, Bring their Magic Back to the Queen City as Part of the Black Notes Project Festival

You may have caught them last year at the Super Bowl and the Grammy Awards or watched their “Golden Buzzer” performance on “America’s Got Talent: Fantasy League.” Now, you can check out the incredible music of the Charlotte-born Sainted Trap Choir in person for their show, “The Evolution of Jazz,” at Knight Theater on Saturday, January 25 at 8pm.

 

The group will perform alongside Atlanta’s Trap Jazz (subjects of a 2023 HULU documentary film) as part of the Black Notes Project. The week-long festival, now in its second year, is dedicated to amplifying Black American music and features multiple events around uptown Charlotte January 19 - 26, 2025.

 

This year’s Black Notes Project festival focuses on innovative approaches to jazz and “The Evolution of Jazz” double-bill is a prime example of what to expect during the week, according to BNP co-founders Amy Carleton and Michael Kitchen.

 

Because the jazz canon is so strong, Carleton says sometimes traditionalists may forget that jazz is the “innovation genre.”

 

“Folks out Saturday night will really get to see that in action, like what is the 21st century evolution of jazz? What does that look like? …Our selection of Trap Jazz and Sainted Trap Choir was very deliberate because both musical groups are very much known for their genre-bending approach to music and their ability to see the cross-pollination of musical genres and then create something, you know, incredible out of that.”

 

 

 

 

 

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Sainted, which has performed with superstars like Andra Day, Fantasia and Sara Bareilles, is known for its unique musical sound that combines elements of gospel and hip hop as it takes on all sorts of music. The group has performed R & B, rock and pop songs to much acclaim.

 

Now, for the first time, Sainted will show off another aspect of its creativity, performing music with a jazz flair, including standards from the Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong songbook, like “Misty” and “A-Tisket, A-Tasket,” and putting their spin on songs from more recent artists like Kendrick Lamar’s “Alright.”

 

“We have such a gift to reinterpret all styles of music,” says Sainted co-founder DJ Fannie Mae. “And so we're staying true to Sainted in that we're taking some hip hop and R&B songs and turning them into jazz renditions as well as doing a few standards… and reinterpreting them into, like, a trap version.”

 

(Sainted Trap Choir co-founder DJ Fannie Mae)

 

Mae, who also serves as Charlotte FC’s official DJ, founded the group alongside Dennis Reed, Jr. in 2020. Reed is an award-winning composer and recording artist, as well as CEO of “Inspire the Fire,” a Charlotte-based non-profit that provides arts training and mentorship to hundreds of local youth each year.

 

Reed says although performing for major platforms like the Super Bowl and other TV appearances has been incredible, the most thrilling thing for him personally has been seeing their concept of a trap choir come to life, combining his choral arrangements and Mae’s “creative genius” to pull together sets and merge songs together.

 

(Sainted Trap Choir co-founder Dennis Reed, Jr.)

 

“There's a spark when I get a chance to arrange those things and then bring it to the choir to see how they're going to react,” Reed says.  “...To go from her vision of how she sees these songs flowing, to my vision of the vocal arrangements, to then hearing it on their voices, to then creating physical movement, choreography to it, to then practicing all those things and then presenting it to an audience and seeing their reaction in real time. That, ultimately, is so fulfilling.”

 

This show is particularly exciting, he says, because it’s the first time they are adding jazz to their repertoire. Along with DJ Fannie Mae on her turn-tables, Sainted’s two-dozen or so singers will be backed by a 5-piece band, composed primarily of Charlotte musicians whose individual touring credits include playing with big name artists, like Missy Elliott and Usher.

 

“It's a testament to the talent that this city has always had, you know, and so I'm just so excited to create with them,” Reed says. “… Something special happens when you can collaborate with likeminded people but who can bring something different to the table.”

 

Mae and Reed are also excited about sharing the stage with Trap Jazz.

 

“[We’ve] been super fans of them,” Reed says, noting the similarities between the groups’ styles and origins.

 

“A lot of them are church musicians or came out of that church tradition… but are on the road, you know, have experience playing for some of your major touring artists and just bringing that soulfulness to everything that they do. So I thought this… was a great opportunity for us to, you know, share the stage with them and see what happens.”

 

And Reed says he’s not only looking forward to what Sainted will bring to the show in their first ever trap jazz performance but how the audience will respond to what they hear and see.

 

“The energy of this night,” he says, “is going to be history-making.”

 

More about the Black Notes Project

 

In addition to “The Evolution of Jazz,” other ticketed and free events are happening at various uptown locations throughout the week. Black Notes Project co-founder Carleton says many other music festivals lack “connective tissue” between the various featured artists and programming. But Charlotte audiences can expect BNP’s events all to be thematically tied to one another, from a jazz celebration of the music of Prince to Charlotte Symphony Youth Orchestra’s family-friendly performance of jazz standards to Sainted’s and Trap Jazz’s innovative interpretations.

 

(Black Notes Project co-founders Michael Kitchen and Amy Carleton)

 

“We also have a robust schedule of free, community programming and we are doing that together with our cultural partners,” says Carleton, an MIT professor whose research focuses on the intersection of race and digital culture. She created the festival alongside her partner Michael Kitchen, whose live music company — The Sol Kitchen — has a long history of producing high quality events in the Charlotte area.

 

“We're very proud … that we have not only the support but the engagement of the five major cultural institutions in Charlotte,” Carleton says, “which I think until we did it last year, it has not been done before.

 

“So, from Blumenthal to the Bechtler, to the Mint Museum, the Gantt Center and the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra and … [we’re] giving a stage for not only these national touring musicians but also having them perform alongside talented local musicians.”

 

That includes performances from drummer and accomplished music director Tim Scott, Jr. as well as a duet from Charlotte Symphony Youth Orchestra youth violinists as part of the MLK Day 2025 celebrations at the Gantt Center on Monday, January 20.

 

Other community events include a Kick Off Party at Lorem Ipsum, a reception at the Bechtler Museum of Art, and a free documentary film screening and Q & A session on “Trap Jazz” at The Mint Museum.

 

You can find the full festival line up, info on tickets and reservations for free events by clicking here.