We were delighted to recieve a workshop from Andrean Encinas at British Gospel Arts, it was inspirational. Andrea took us a huge step forward in our journey, paving the story of the Gospel project which aims to delve into the Gospel tradition by physically and chorally engaging with the music and stories.
'You need to go through the experience and you need to understand the conditions under which the vibrant musical embodiment of West Africans was put through the mill, squeezed, hammered, lashed, starved, raped and dehumanised and survived to give the world some of its greatest forms of music.' (Andrea Encinas)
Through rein-acting, socialising, listening and most of all singing, our hearts were able to synchronise with a sound, a sense of community and a traumatic part of our global history.
The recordings and content I will post on this page are for the choir to remind themselves of the day and to provide ideas for further investigation and musical musings. The videos all help capture West African Singing and The African American Legacy.
Workshop Oct 2nd The Story of The African American Spiritual
Maya Angelou's Caged Bird
A free bird leaps
On the back of the wind
And floats downstream
Till the current ends
And dips his wing
In the orange sun sky
But a bird that stalks
Down his narrow cage
Can seldom see through
His bars of rage
His wings are clipped and
His feet are tied
So he opens his throat to sing
The caged bird sings
with a fearful trill
of things unknown
but longed for still
and his tune is heard
on the distant hill
for the caged bird
sings of freedom
The free bird thinks of another breeze
and the trade winds soft through the sighing trees
and the fat worms waiting on a dawn-bright lawn
and he names the sky his own
But a caged bird stands on a grave of dreams
his shadow shouts on a nightmare scream
his wings are clipped and his feet are tied
so he opens his throat to sing
The caged bird sings
with a fearful trill
of things unknown
but longed for still
and his tune is heard
on the distant hill
for the caged bird
sings of freedom
No More Auction Block
No more auction block for me, no more auction block for me
Many thousand gone
No more peck of corn for me
No more drivers lash for me
No more pint of salt for me
No more mistress call for me
Oh Mary don't you weep
Oh Mary don't you weep
Oh Martha don't you moan
Pharaohs army
Got drowned in the Red Sea
Oh Mary don't you weep
Don't weep
Tell Martha not to moan.
Go Down Moses
Go down Moses
Way down in Egypt's lan'
Tell ole pharaoh
Let my people go
When Israel was in Egypt's lan'
Let my people
Oppress so hard dey could not stan'
Let my people go
Gullah song: I been walking de road a long time *
I been walking de road a long time
Long time
Long time
Repeat
An I'm not weary yet
I been praying dis prayer
I been working for Jesus
Shouter/baptist (Caribbean) song: Me teacher help me to roll
Me teacher help me to roll the chariot away
Me teacher help me to roll the chariot away
Me teacher help me to roll the chariot
I'm goin-a roll that stone away
And when the trumpet sound we all going home
And when the bugle blow we all going home
And when the trumpet sound we all going home
We goin-a roll that stone away.
Reading
Voice Books (name of book/author)
The Diagnosis and Correction of Vocal Faults. McKinney
Voice Work. Shewell
Singing and Teaching Singing. Chapman
Gospel Books (name of book/author)
We'll understand it better by and by. Reagon
British Black Gospel. Smith
Black Gospel. Broughton
Too Close Too Heaven. Broughton.
Sing for Freedom. Carawan
Happy in the Service of the Lord. Lornell
A Boy, A Journey, A Dream. Meade
The Diasporan Legacy
Trinidad and Tabago
Fulani Girls Singing
The Gullah Singers - Walking that road *
Singing Children in Grand Bassam Ivory Coast West Africa
Singing Fisherman of Ghana
McIntosh County Shouters: Gullah-Geechee Ring Shout from Georgi
Afro-American Work Songs in a Texas Prison
Songs and Readings - Lyrics
Ghana Music, The Sound of Northern Ghana