The McIntosh County Shouters
In Concert
Friday, April 3rd, 2026 7:30pm
Miller Theatre
2960 Broadway at West 116th Street
New York, NY 10027
The McIntosh County Shouters are the principal exponents—and one of the last active practitioners—of the ring shout, one of the oldest African American performance traditions surviving in America.
Rooted in the Gullah Geechee communities of coastal Georgia, where the ring shout endures as a community-rooted sacred practice, they have carried this tradition to major festivals and concert stages across the Eastern seaboard, including the National Black Arts Festival, the National Folk Festival at Wolf Trap, the Kennedy Center, and the Library of Congress Homegrown Concert Series.
Their performances weave call-and-response singing, hand clapping, a stick beat on the floor, and a signature counterclockwise dance.
They have made landmark recordings on Smithsonian Folkways, and their work has been featured in numerous PBS documentaries, as well as HBO’s “Unchained Memories” and Oxygen’s “Who Needs Hollywood?”
Named NEA Master Artists in 2008, recognitions include the NEA National Heritage Fellowship and the Governor’s Award in the Humanities.
This concert is presented by the Columbia University Center for Jazz Studies in collaboration with The Center for Ethnomusicology, which will also present a one-day symposium on the ring shout, featuring a workshop by members of the Shouters.
This event is free and open to everyone but a registration is recommended.
Please REGISTER HERE
For more information about the Center for Jazz Studies and to support our activities,
please visit jazz.columbia.edu or call 212-851-9270.
