It’s little known that the very first public performances of African-American music in Britain took place as long ago as 1873. The Fisk Jubilee Singers – a group of freed slaves from Tennessee – became a national sensation during the following decade, drawing vast crowds around the country and invitations to sing for Gladstone and the Royal Family. Queen Victoria was so moved by their voices that she commissioned the Singers’ portrait, which today hangs in Fisk University in Nashville – built with the proceeds of their historic tours. Roll Jordan Roll celebrates these extraordinary events from the perspective of the Fisk Jubilee Singers themselves. Their sheet music archive of spirituals inspires a new suite by award-winning contemporary jazz and gospel composers, Abram Wilson and Nicky Brown – collaborating together for the first time – recounting the individual and collective journeys of the Fisk Jubilee Singers, and focussing on their first trip to London and their explosive impact on British society.