From the start of its concert benefiting the Renaissance Foundation, Washington, D.C., a capella ensemble Sweet Honey in the Rock embodied the spirit of community that they talked about in between several of the evening’s songs. For 35 years, the ladies whose voices form the bulk of the group’s sound have sung songs of the civil rights movement, songs of faith and songs for families; before this night ended they would touch on all of those corners of their repertoire.

A wordless, chanting mantra opened the show, with the singers’ hand motions emphasizing the African tribal origins of the melody. After another pair of songs with similar origins, the program moved into a section of gospel songs, performed with the fervor and fever pitch of the African-American church tradition from which they are derived.

The gospel songs showcased the considerable vocal strength of the group, not just from the lead voices but within the accompanying parts. On “Trouble at the River,” a deep, rumbling bass-level vocal served as an anchoring undercurrent to the melody.
 
The show progressed naturally from gospel to songs of the civil rights movement, including “Freedom Never Dies”, an adaptation of a Langston Hughes poem detailing the lesser-known but no less important sacrifices of Henry and Harriet Moore (“The Ballad of Harry Moore”), set to a haunting melody that had the audience virtually hypnotized and totally silent.

The group then lightened the tone, if not the mood, with a contemporary reworking of Bob Marley’s “Redemption Song” that even featured an approximation of beatboxing in an extended coda to the classic protest song.
 
When the second set opened with an upbeat gospel number, the audience was ready, clapping and singing along like old friends in a congregation on a long night of revival sermons and songs. The ladies of Sweet Honey in the Rock joined in that revelry, loosening up and delivering songs from their catalog of music for children, including “I Like It That Way,” another instant audience sing-along that comes from a popular Nickelodeon program, Jack’s Big Music Show.
 
They weren’t done with the serious stuff yet, however, offering up “Rise in Love,” an ode to what they felt ought to have been the world’s reaction to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Current political topics also got mentioned, from health care to the economic crisis, mostly around the bluesy “Trying Times,” a song which the group proceeded to alter into “Better Times” on the chorus by the time it ended.
 
Ending the show as it began, with a plea for the community to get together and help out not only each other but also the Renaissance Foundation and its mission of bringing cultural events such as this one to Columbia, the group closed with “Give Love,” a song commissioned for the Alvin Ailey Dance Company on its 50th anniversary year.
 
As noted at one point during the program, the songs and the styles which Sweet Honey in the Rock perform are rooted in many things, most of them much older than the group itself. Keeping those traditions alive in spectacular vocal performances such as this one means that the community which the ensemble so diligently promotes is made more aware of not only where they have been but also of where they still need to go. As the third in an ongoing schedule of benefit concerts for the Renaissance Foundation, I’d say one of those places to go would be to the rest of the concerts in the series.