Soul Deep is a journey through music, dance, and spoken word to the source--the origins, forces, and impulses that shape and drive creative expression. Going back to the souce, for Jawole Zollar and David Murray, is a sojourn to the historical memory of field hollers and the spiritual state of revelation called forth in gospel shouts; it is a visit to the primal passion heard in the blues; it is a return to earthy social dances and "blue light" basement parties. Soul Deep is a multipart work that includes movement and music, some of which is improvised, and text from poets such as Langston Hughes and Ntozake Shange.

For years, Zollar and Murray discussed working together on a performance that would express the way music and dance live in the body and the way the voice sings through both. Though the artists have distinct voices, they share deeply rooted influences. Both were grounded in the spiritual and vernacular music and movement traditions of African-American life, with influences ranging from singing in the Pentacostal church to dancing in nightclubs. Over the course of their careers, they have used that grounding as a point of departure for creative experimentation and exploration, and have added to it with contemporary influences and idioms from around the world. Each has won international acclaim over the past 15 years.

Soul Deep will be developed and performed over a 20-month period that began in October 1998. Intensive rehearsals with Zollar, Murray, and their respective dancers and musicians took place in May and June 1999 in New York City as part of the Urban Bush Women's 15th anniversary home season.

The work will be completed in late fall 1999, and will premiere during the winter-spring 2000 touring season. The 10 committed presenters to date are the Rialot Center for the Performing Arts at Georgia State University in Atlanta; Butler University in Indianapolis; Williams Center for the Arts at Lafayette College in Easton, PA; Northeastern University Center for the Arts in Boston; Wexner Center for the Arts in Columbus, OH; Edison Theatre at Washington University in St. Louis; Buena Vista College Events Series in Storm Lake, IA; Performing Arts Fort Worth in Fort Worth, TX; Carver Cultural Center in San Antonio, TX; and Santa Fe Stages in Santa Fe, NM. The New York City premiere is scheduled for late March 2000 at the Majestic Theater in Brooklyn, presented by 651, An Arts Center.