The Canton Spirituals are regarded as pioneers in the genre of traditional gospel music. Founded in Canton, Mississippi in 1943, the original Canton Spirituals were Reverend I.S. Watkins, Claude “Bubba” Nichols, Warren G. Ward, Isaac Bolton, Eddie Jackson, Theo Thompson, Roscoe Lucious and founder Harvey Watkins, Sr. (December 5, 1929 – November 16, 1994). The present group is fronted by Watkins’ son, Harvey Watkins Jr., and consists of Cornelius Dwayne Watkins, Billy Voss, David Curry, Merlin Lucious, Shannon Lee, and Rodrick Jones.
Category Archives: Gospel Sunday
2/15/15 O&A Gospel Sunday: BeBe and CeCe Winans
BeBe (Benjamin) and CeCe (Priscilla) Winans are the seventh and eighth of “Mom” and “Pop” Winans’ ten children, most of whom have had gospel music careers. Together, they have received several awards, including three Grammys. While BeBe and CeCe were in high school, four of their elder brothers formed the successful Gospel music group The Winans. Continue reading
(Repost) 2/25/16 O&A NYC DANCE: Mourner’s Bench- Talley Beatty Choreographer
Talley Beatty choreographed and performed Mourner’s Bench in 1947. It represents the anguish and loss for former slaves, now free men, killed during the Reconstruction Era at the beginning of the rise of the Klu Klux Klan. Beatty explained to me, “People were murdered by the Klan and at daybreak their relatives would find their bodies in the fields still covered in the morning dew.”
2/1/15 O&A Gospel Sunday: Excerpts from Alvin Ailey’s Revelations
Revelations tells the story of African-American faith and tenacity from slavery to freedom. This enduring classic is a tribute to that tradition, born out of the choreographer Alvin Ailey’s “blood memories” of his childhood in rural Texas and the Baptist Church. Continue reading
1/25/15 O&A Gospel Sunday: Gospel Mime
Mime has developed into another mainstream form of religious expression for members of the black church. In recent years, the black church has taken up the art form, reinterpreting pantomime and combining it with a Christian message. The gospel mime trend ignited in the 1990s as K&K Mime, twin brothers Keith and Karl Edmonds from Pittsburgh, began to popularize the art form. Continue reading
1/21/14 O&A Gospel Sunday: Andrae Crouch Tribute
O&A NYC Magazine honors Gospel legend Andrae Crouch with Let The Church Say Amen featuring Marvin Winans, an excerpt from The Journey documentary and one of his last interviews with Bishop Charles E. Blake. Continue reading
1/11/15 O&A Gospel Sunday: Andraé Crouch
Andraé Crouch died on Thursday, January 8, 2015 after being admitted to the hospital last weekend following a heart attack. The Grammy-winning gospel singer, songwriter and choir director graced songs by Michael Jackson and Madonna and movies such as The Lion King. Continue reading
12/28/14 O&A Gospel Sunday: Richard Smallwood
Richard Smallwood is the Black Brahms of Gospel music. His lush orchestrations and choral arrangements are the hallmarks of his signature sound. An accomplished pianist, composer, arranger, vocalist and choral conductor Smallwood graduated cum laude from Howard University with degrees in both vocal performance and piano, and graduate work in the field of ethnomusicology. He finished his Masters degree in Divinity from Howard University in 2004 and was inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame in 2006.
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12/21/14 O&A Gospel Sunday Holiday Series: Soulful Noel
Soulful Noel is an original holiday musical conceived by Walter Rutledge. The production was in response to the lack of entertainment offer to, and featuring the underserved African-American population of the Low Country South Carolina. It premiered in 1994 at the Garden Theater in Charleston, S.C. Continue reading