Black Bear (band)

Black Bear, sometimes credited as Black Bear Singers, are a Canadian musical group from Manawan, Quebec, who perform traditional First Nations music.[1] They are frequent collaborators with the group A Tribe Called Red.

History

Black Bear started in 2000.[2] They showed their pride in their Atikamekw culture and heritage by singing in their language, which is still commonly spoken today.[3] They began forming in the style characterized as northern contemporary, which features high-pitched singing, songs that speed up after 2nd, 3rd and 4th song repetition (three levels of speed) and honour beats that occur at the end of the first phrase of the tail.[4]

In 2015 Black bear recorded an album, Come and Get Your Love: The Tribe Session, which was a shortlisted Juno Award nominee for Aboriginal Album of the Year at the Juno Awards of 2016.[5]

The group collaborated with A Tribe Called Red on their albums Nation II Nation and We Are the Halluci Nation.[1]

The group's album Out of Hibernation was the winner of the 6th Annual Aboriginal Peoples Choice Music Awards (APCMA) in the category of Best Contemporary Powwow in 2011.[6]

In 2016, a collaboration with A Tribe Called Red was the subject of a short documentary called The Manawan Session.[7] They group was featured on A Tribe Called Red's album, Welcome to HalluciNation.[8]

Black Bear, along with A Tribe Called Red and Tanya Tagaq, performed a medley of "We Are the Halluci Nation", "Indian City" and "SILA" at the 2017 Juno Awards show in Ottawa, Ontario.[9]

The group often performs in powwows in Ontario and Quebec.

Discography
  • Out of Hibernation (2011)
  • Spring Medicine (2012)
  • Rez Road (2013)
  • Come and Get Your Love (2014)
  • Notcimik (2017)

References
  1. "A Tribe Called Red collaborates with Black Bear Singers, releases short doc". CBC News, July 12, 2016.
  2. "Black Bear Singers - Powwow Drum Music". www.blackbearsingers.com. Retrieved 2018-03-22.
  3. "Black Bear | Tribal Spirit Music". tribalspiritmusic.com. Retrieved 2018-03-22.
  4. Hoefnagels, Anna (2004). "Northern Style Powwow Music: Musical Features and Meanings". MUSICulture. 31: 10–23.
  5. "The Weeknd, Drake And Justin Bieber Lead The 2016 Juno Nominations". Forbes, February 2, 2016.
  6. "2011 APCMA Award Winners: Aboriginal Peoples Choice Music Awards - RPM.fm". rpm.fm. Retrieved 2018-03-22.
  7. "New doc captures collaboration between A Tribe Called Red and Black Bear Singers". CBC News. Retrieved 2018-03-22.
  8. "8 Artists Exploding the Concept of Native American Music". Paste, By Devon Leger | September 16, 2016
  9. "We are witnessing Indigenous music's next wave". Now Magazine, Jarrett Martineau, August 2, 2017
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