2/22/15 O&A Gospel Sunday: The Canton Spirituals

GOSPEL SUNDAY

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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.

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2/15/15 O&A Gospel Sunday: BeBe and CeCe Winans

GOSPEL SUNDAY

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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

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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.”

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2/1/15 O&A Gospel Sunday: Excerpts from Alvin Ailey’s Revelations

GOSPEL SUNDAY

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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

GOSPEL SUNDAY

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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

GOSPEL SUNDAY
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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

GOSPEL SUNDAY

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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

1/4/14 O&A Gospel Sunday: Donald Lawrence and The Tri-City Singers

GOSPEL SUNDAY

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Donald Lawrence took on The Tri-City Singers after a friend vacated his position as musical director. They derived the name from the three cities that The Tri-City Singers come from are Spartanburg, SC, Gastonia, NC, and Charlotte, NC. In 1993 the group debuted at #2 on the Billboard Top Gospel Charts with A Songwriter’s Point Of View on a then-brand-new independent record label called GospoCentric Records. Continue reading

12/28/14 O&A Gospel Sunday: Richard Smallwood

GOSPEL SUNDAY

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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

 

Gospel Sunday

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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