The Hull based radio company Soul City, has received pledges of support from some of the biggest names in Soul music to perform on their upcoming charity compilation album for the Wilberforce 2007 programme ? commemorating the bi-centenary of the Abolition of the Slave Trade in the UK.
Soul City, who are currently applying for the large scale metropolitan radio licence for the Hull area, are working on the project with the Wilberforce 2007 programme?s management team to raise much needed funds for heritage restoration projects in Freetown, Sierra Leone and for the Hull based charity The Freetown Society.
The Freetown society was established in 1981 to support the twinning of Hull with Freetown, one of the first settlements created for African slaves freed from the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. The charity?s work raises funds for twinning projects as well as funding other initiatives including transporting equipment for schools, libraries and hospitals to the area.
The release of the CD marks two hundred years since the Abolition of the Trade in Slaves in the UK, a cause championed by William Wilberforce, son of Hull and its MP at the time. Wilberforce first became the MP for Hull in 1780 and is known worldwide for his fight against slavery.
The album is to feature internationally renowned Soul stars covering such classics as ?Sam Cooke?s ? A Change is Gonna Come? and ?Curtis Mayfield?s ? Move on Up?. Royalties from the album will go directly to the prospective beneficiaries.
Mick Redmonds at Soul City said:
?We are delighted to be involved with such a fantastic project and are pleased to be able to confirm that numerous artists from both sides of the Atlantic, with worldwide album/single sales of more than 50 million, have agreed to perform on the album. Unfortunately, at this stage I cannot reveal their identities, however what I can say is that one of them is the UK?s biggest selling Soul/R&B artist of all time.?
?The music on the album represents what Soul City will offer listeners in Hull and we are hopeful that our application for a metropolitan licence will be approved.?