Virginia
"Legends of Gospel" Concert
February 28, 2010,
Portsmouth, Virginia
(Click on flyer to enlarge, then
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On Sunday,
February 28, 2010, Classic Urban Harmony’s Charlie & Pam Horner attended and
helped sponsor the Reverend Brenda Boone and The Higher Praise Community
Choir’s "Legends of Gospel" concert at The Holy Light Church of Deliverance in
Portsmouth, VA.
The Hampton
Roads/Tidewater area of Virginia, that includes Norfolk, Virginia Beach,
Portsmouth, Suffolk, Chesapeake and Newport News has long been a hotbed or
quartet harmony. Beginning with the Hampton Institute Quartet in the 1880’s,
this area has produced such great Spiritual and Gospel quartets as the
Excelsior Quartet (1920 – 1932), Monarch Jubilee Quartet (late 1920’s),
Norfolk Jubilee Quartet (1917 – 1942), Silver Leaf Quartet of Norfolk (1919 –
1979) and the Golden Gate Quartet (1934 – present). In more recent times,
area Gospel quartets like the Vocalaries of Newport News, the Southern
Hummingbirds of Suffolk, the Peerless Four and the Singing Larks of Suffolk
have kept the music going. Reverend Boone entitled this concert “A Legendary
& Historical Black History Celebration featuring the Legends of Gospel” so we
viewed this as an extension of many years of great Hampton Roads Gospel
harmony.
We arrived in
Chesapeake the night before the concert and turned on the car radio to hear
Luther Barnes (Sunset Jubilaires) talking about the concert. Later that
evening we got to meet Reverend Boone in the lobby of our hotel. The
next day, the Reverend Boone provided a bus to take us from our hotel to the
church where the concert would be held. Our friend, Frankie Davis (The Golden
Gate Quartet and Mighty Stars) and Frank’s mother rode with us. Arriving at
the church, the building was already crowded with parishioners and singers.
Reverend
Brenda Boone, Pam & Charlie Horner
Charlie &
Reverend Boone
Rev. Boone &
Pam
Pam getting
off the bus at the Holy Light Church in Portsmouth
Holy Light
Church, Portsmouth
Before the
Gospel music began, we spotted Brother Joseph Wallace of the Sensational
Nightingales. We gave “Jo Jo” a photo taken of him in 1948 when he was a
member of Silveraires (pre-Sensational Nightingales). Jo Jo exclaimed that he
was just a teenager then! He pointed out and named each person in the
photo.
Charlie &
Sensational Nightingales' Brother Joseph Wallace
Our first
impression was how well organized this event was for such a large endeavor.
The band members each had their own equipment set up so there were only small
gaps between groups.
The Reverend
Boone started the program with a prayer and introductions. The main M.C. for the
event was Pastor Melrick Bogier. He’s the pastor of the Virginia Beach
Worship Center and is on the radio at WGH-AM (Star 1310). Pastor Bogier’s
website is
www.melrickbogier.com He did a great job keeping the long program moving
and ministered to the attendees as well as being Master of Ceremonies.
In addition to Pastor Bogier, Steve Alexander and Amelia Simmons also did some
of the M.C.-ing.
Charlie &
Pastor Melrick Bogier, MC for the concert
Fourteen-year-old Kimberly Colona of Accomack County (on Virginia’s Eastern
Shore) started the program. It was amazing to hear such a powerful voice from
Kimberly. She has a promising future as a gospel singer.
14-year-old Kimberly Colona
The Chosen Ones followed. They were three young teenage men wearing sweaters,
jeans and bow ties. The group from the Suffolk area sang acappella. If this
is an indication of Suffock’s young talent, the area has a bright future. The
Chosen Ones were very impressive with great harmony renditions of “Heaven is A
Beautiful Place” and “Running On With Jesus.”
The Chosen Ones
The Chosen Ones
Next we were
treated to two inspirational acappella soloists. Gospel vocalist Tracy
Edwards-Wright sang a compelling version of “He Cares For You”. Evelyn
Morrisette performed an emotional version of the Gospel standard. “His Eye Is
On The Sparrow. There was much clapping and singing along to Evelyn’s
rendition. Steve Alexander, a Gospel comedian then entertained us with his
impersonations of Bill Cosby and Bill Clinton.
Tracey Edwards-Wright
Evelyn Morrisette
Elder Ronnie
Harper & The Harmonizing Echoes, six gentlemen from Chesapeake, Virginia,
dressed in grey-blue plaid suits with red vests sang next. The group sang
three songs, ending with the popular track from their latest “Real Love” CD,
“I Want To Be Real.” The song had everyone out of their seats clapping
along. For more info on the Harmonizing Echoes, visit their myspace page,
http://www.myspace.com/theharmonizingechoes.
Elder Ronnie
Harper & the Harmonizing Echoes
Elder Ronnie
Harper & the Harmonizing Echoes
Harmonizing
Echoes
The Rev.
Boone’s sister Amelia Simmons sang “Soon I Will Be Done With The Troubles of
the World.” She ministered through word and song displaying a dynamic and
powerful voice.
Amelia Simmons
Up next were
the mighty Word Singers from Portsmouth, Virginia. The group consisted of eight
singers smartly dressed in bright orange uniforms, some of whom also played
instruments. They kept the energy high, opening up with “He’s Blessing
Me.” The Word Singers have been singing for the past 29 years.
They
did three songs including a stirring “Anchored In The Lord.” For more on the
Word Singers, visit their myspace page,
http://www.myspace.com/thewordsingers.
The Word
Singers
The Word
Singers
The Word
Singers
The Word
Singers
Minister Paul
Boone and the Mighty TempleAires sang next. Dressed in red jackets and black
pants, the Mighty TempleAires started out with a great vocal harmony version
of the Blind Boys of Alabama’s “I’ll Always Be In Love With God.” From there
they moved up tempo with a stirring rendition of “Operator.”
Minister Paul
Boone & Mighty TempleAires
Minister Paul
Boone & Mighty TempleAires
Minister Paul
Boone & Mighty TempleAires
Minister Paul
Boone & Mighty TempleAires
Danny Hill and Group Determination opened up with “He Will
Answer.” The vocal quartet from Portsmouth had great singers and they also
had a nice band backing them. Their second number was a powerful “If You Move
I Will Follow.” We really enjoyed this group.
Danny Hill & Group
Determination
Danny Hill & Group
Determination
Danny Hill & Group
Determination
We were then
treated to a great solo rendition of “I Can’t Even Walk (Without You Holding
My Hand)” by Maurice Yancey. Sister Amelia Simmons then gave witness to how
the Lord had changed her life.
Maurice Yancey
The next group,
the Voices of Christ, gave us more fabulous harmony with “Doctor Jesus.” The
group is from Suffolk, Virginia. The quintet had sage green suits with black
shirts. The lead on their second song, “Just Hold On,’ displayed a
magnificent falsetto tenor voice.
Voices of
Christ
Voices of
Christ
Next we were treated to a solo by Sister Mattie Wood of
Suffolk, Virginia. Sister
Wood is a member of and represented Reverend Brenda Boone’s Higher Praise
Community Choir. We also know of Sister Mattie Wood for her recordings for
the Pinewood label in 1975 ("Maybe You," "Something Inside Me"). Before she sang Sister Wood mention she was
the founder of the Gospel Travelers. She sang “This Joy I Have (The World
Didn’t Give It To Me),” a song she once recorded for Pinewood. For more info on Reverend Brenda Boone’s Higher
Praise Community Choir and how to sample and purchase their CD, visit
http://www.cdbaby.com/revbbathpcc.
Sister Mattie
Wood. Pastor Bogier on right.
One of the
groups we anxiously awaited was Van Jones and King David’s Harp. We were
familiar with their recent “That’s Heaven To Me” CD and on the way to the
church, we mentioned to Frank Davis that we loved the group’s version of
“Seek, Seek And Ye Shall Find.” By coincidence, members of the group were
Frank’s cousins. Van Jones & King David’s Harp do a mix of traditional and
more modern Gospel harmony songs. Their CD is one of the best Gospel harmony
CD’s of recent years. King David’s Harp opened with an acappella version of
“The Lord’s Prayer,” similar to that done by the Swan Silvertones in the
1950’s! The quintet then asked where Dr. Horner was and said they were
singing the next song as a request for him. Of course, the next song was
“Seek, Seek And Ye Shall Find” and it was spectacular! The group closed with
another fine cut from their CD, “I’ve Come Too Far.” For info on Van Jones &
King David’s Harp’s recent CD, visit
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/kingdavidsharp
Van Jones &
King David's Harp
Van Jones &
King David's Harp
Van Jones &
King David's Harp
Van Jones &
King David's Harp's
New CD, "That's Heaven To Me"
Frankie Davis sang next. We got to know Frank as the
tenor of the world famous Golden Gate Quartet, but the Portsmouth native sang lead for the
Soul Stirrers before that. When singing Soul Stirrers’ style, his voice is
often compared with that of Sam Cooke. Dressed in a pink uniform, Frankie
Davis started with a Soul Stirrers standard, “God Is Standing By.” In a real
audience pleaser, Frankie sang an emotional “A Change Is Gonna Come.” We
understand the song has become a tradition at Reverend Boone’s Black History
Month celebration concerts. Frankie’s backup band and vocalists, the Mighty
Stars, contained some familiar faces including his cousin, Van Jones. By
the way, Frankie Davis has a great new CD out called "Glory Bound Train" that
contains some great sides including "A Change Is Gonna Come."
Frankie's MySpace page can be found at
http://www.myspace.com/frankiedavismusic
Frankie Davis &
the Mighty Stars
Frankie Davis
Frankie Davis
Frankie Davis &
the Mighty Stars
The Sensational
Nightingales are truly Gospel legends – one of the greatest and most
influential Gospel vocal groups of all time! The group was formed in the
early 1940’s and is still going strong thanks to the mentorship of veteran
singer Brother Joseph Wallace. Brother Wallace, now 83 years young, has taken
his evangelist song ministry all over the world. Brother Wallace opened with
a prayer. The Nightingales then began a rendition of “Every Promise In The
Book Is Mine.” The Nightingales were indeed sensational! Their songs included “He’s
Still Working Miracles” and “Standing At The Judgment.” Introduction of the
group members revealed that Horace Thompson had also been with the group a
long time (49 years). The Sensational Nightingales are still one of the top
Gospel groups around and we felt privileged to witness Gospel music history in
person.
Sensational
Nightingales
Sensational
Nightingales
Brother Joseph
Wallace
With all the
Gospel groups and soloists we’d seen so far, it seemed like things couldn’t
get any better. But two of the biggest groups in Gospel music were yet to
come. Damon Little and Nu Beginning were next. Damon Little and Nu Beginning
began in 2000 in Baltimore and are now considered one of the top Nu Wave
Quartet Gospel Bands in the world; the current trend of Gospel music. Blessed
with a fabulous band as well as a vocal group, Damon Little had an energetic
set, concluding with his popular song, “Do Right.”
Damon Little &
Nu Beginning
Damon Little
Damon Little &
Nu Beginning
The final group
of the concert was the ever popular, Luther Barnes and the Sunset Jubilaires.
Luther Barnes and his group are largely credited with keeping Gospel quartet
singing alive in the 1980’s and 1990’s. Born in Rocky Mount, NC in 1954,
Luther joined the Barnes family group, the Sunset Jubilaires. Though the group
has been together 35 years, Luther has taken them to new heights. Luther and
the Sunset Jubilaires did not disappoint anyone. They were great, harmonizing
to all their well known songs like, “It’s Your Time.” Luther Barnes & the
Sunset Jubilaires myspace page is
http://www.myspace.com/lutherbarnesthesunsetjubilaires.
Luther Barnes &
the Sunset Jubilaires
Luther Barnes
Luther Barnes &
Sunset Jubilaires
Sunset
Jubilaires' Haywood Barnes & Pam after the concert
Charlie &
Luther Barnes
The entire
concert ran for over six hours non-stop. It was a concert to remember – sheer
bliss for the Gospel world and an extremely enjoyable education for us. Our
sincere thanks to Reverend Brenda Boone, the singers and all those who made us
feel so welcomed. We look forward to future Reverend Boone Gospel concerts in
the Hampton Roads area.
Soloist
Kimberly Colona & Pam
Group
Determination's Danny Hill with Charlie & Pam
Evelynn
Morrisette, Frankie Davis and friend
Frankie Davis &
Charlie
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