| Gospel
Music Comes To The Fox Cities
by Bob
Lowe
October 18, 2005
As
black gospel music is undergoing significant changes to
appeal to younger audiences, Anna Moore will bring her "traditional deep blues gospel" to
Appleton to give area listeners a chance to experience
this type of music in its purest musical form.
Moore,
a gospel singer based in Los Angeles, will be the headliner
in a benefit concert for the A Better Chance (ABC) educational
program. The program, titled "Praise Is
What I Do," is at 6 p.m. Sunday Oct. 23 at the Lawrence
University Memorial Chapel, 500 E. College Ave., Appleton.
Performing with Moore will be the Appleton Area Schools
Elementary Honor Choir, comprised of about 200 fourth- to
sixth-grade students from Janet Berry, Edna Ferber, Richmond,
Johnston and the Classical Charter schools. This ensemble
was coordinated by Kevin Meidl, choral director at Appleton
West and director of the Appleton Boychoir.
The
choir will perform two selections with Moore, including
a song from the movie, "Sister Act II."
"I am just glad to be involved in the program," said
Meidl, a former member of the ABC Board of directors. "It
has done so many wonderful things for young men for decades,
bringing them to Appleton to attend high school."
Among
the songs Anna Moore will sing are "How
Great Thou Art," "Center
of My Joy," "Sunshine," "He’s
Done Enough," "Tell The Story," "View
That City" and "Praise Is What I Do," from
the Shekinah Glory Ministry 2001 live double CD of the same
name. The concert takes its title from that CD.
"I heard them rehearsing when I visited the Appleton
schools last Friday," Moore said in a telephone interview
Monday from her L.A. home. "They were beautiful. I will
get a chance to rehearse with them for the first time when
I come back this Friday."
Moore was raised in Colfax, La., and was the lead singer
of a group consisting of her two sisters and father. She
moved to Los Angeles, where her musical career flourished
as the lead singer for the Sanctuary Choir. It was there
that she met Margaret Pleasant Douroux, a noted gospel songwriter
and arranger, who became her mentor.
Moore
has appeared on several albums with other gospel artists.
In 1995 she released her own CD titled "Anna
Moore Sings For Jesus." Some songs from that CD will
be included in the program, she said.
Moore
said Gospel music is enjoying resurgence lately since the
release of the movie, "The Gospel," which opened
strongly at fifth place with a gross of $8 million the weekend
of Oct. 7-8.
Directed
by Rob Hardy, it stars Boris Kodjoe as David Taylor, a
successful R&B musician whose decadent lifestyle does
not sit well with his father (played by Clifton Powell),
bishop of his hometown church.
Taylor
is forced to choose between his secular life or fight to
preserve his father’s legacy and reconcile
with his family and his beliefs. The movie features some
of the top names in black gospel music, including Yolanda
Adams, Delores "Mom" Winans, Donnie McClurkin,
Martha Munizzi and Fred Hammond, co-executive producer of
the film.
Gospel
music has also risen in popularity because of the new sounds
added to the genre by performers such as Kirk Franklin. "Young people are understanding it better
than the traditional blues gospel because Kirk Franklin has
put hip-hop in it with some of his recent songs, like ‘I’ve
Been Looking For You,’" Moore said. "Some
of the artists in ‘The Gospel,’ are from the
old school of gospel music but they are repackaging the sound
to appeal to a younger audience."
Moore
admits to some mixed feelings about the trend. "I
know we have to reach out to the younger generation and I
don’t mind, as long as the music is not using words
that you don’t understand," she said. "I
am from the school where you needed words to take you through
the moment. The new sound is based on a beat. I don’t
have a problem with that. But sometimes I don’t understand
a word they say."
She
said she was brought up on the lyrical gospel songs like "His Eyes Is On The Sparrow," popularized
by such artists as Shirley Caesar. "Even she is changing
her style," Moore said. "She keeps her own flavor
but she uses rap in her songs. But it is a rap you can understand."
According to Moore, she has not yet made that transition.
Moore will be accompanied on the piano by Ron Ranard Lowe,
a choral music, piano and music theory instructor at San
Bernardino High School in California, and Joel Bond, a bass
player and Milwaukee native. Lowe will be directing the Honor
Choir during the concert.
With
Tony Davis, Lowe has recorded the songs "My Everything" and "They
That Wait On The Lord," and is an active member of his
church musical programming. Bond has been an entertainer
for more than 40 years in a musical formats including gospel,
jazz, R&B, hip-hop, reggae and rock.
According to Linda Meyer, a Spanish teacher at Appleton
North and the coordinator of the event, the idea for the
concert came from Pat Tate, a member of the A Better Chance
Board of Directors and a longtime friend of Moore. She said
Tate persuaded Moore to come to Appleton and share her music
because she said local audiences would appreciate it.
"Kevin
Meidl is very excited about it," said
Meyer, also an ABC board member. "He would like to turn
it into an annual event and make it a concert to include
former ABC students like Ken Daniel and Tim Dorsey."
The ABC program has operated in Appleton since 1968 and
brings academically promising multicultural students to local
high schools to better prepare them for college and a career.
Although affiliated with a national organization, ABC does
not receive funding from the Boston-based national ABC headquarters
nor from federal, state or local governments.
The program is funded through voluntary contributions and
fund-raising events.
Tickets
are $12 for adults and $8 for seniors and students. They
can be purchased at Heid Music and Henri’s Music
Store and at the door. Call 920-997-9816.
***
Other
upcoming concerts you may want to check out:
The
Weidner Center for the Performing Arts has three major
shows this week.
- Celtic Woman, a five-member vocal group, will appear
at 7:30 p.m. Thursday Oct. 20. Tickets are $39-$49.
- The New Orleans Jazz Orchestra, whose music takes on
new meaning since the devastation of Hurricane Katrina
on the Gulf Coast, will perform at 7:30 p.m. Saturday Oct.
22. Tickets are $20-$31.
- Wayne Brady, TV actor and comedian, will display his
improvisational antics and hilarious humor at 7:30 p.m.
Saturday Oct. 29. Tickets are $46-$57. For information
and reservations, call 1-800-328-8587.
Lawrence
University is hosting a 70th birthday musical tribute to
Winneconne jazz pianist and composer John Harmon at 8 p.m.
Tuesday Oct. 25
at the Lawrence Memorial Chapel. Harmon will be joined
by vocalist Janet Planet, guitarist Tom Theabo, trombonist
Kurt Dietrich, saxophonist Tom Washatka, bassist John Gibson
and drummer Mike Hale and Harmon’s wife, Linda, a pianist.
Harmon is a Lawrence graduate who has established himself
as one of the Midwest’s premiere jazz musicians. The
concert is free and open to the public.
The
legendary Academy of St. Martin in the Fields Chamber Ensemble
also will be appearing at the Lawrence Memorial Chapel
at 8 p.m. Friday Oct 28. The ensemble was created in 1967
to perform larger chamber works and has achieved worldwide
fame for its stirring renditions. Tickets ($15-$22) can
be obtained from the Lawrence box office. Call 832-6749
for reservations.
The
Fox Cities Performing Arts Center in downtown Appleton
will host The Wisconsin Singers at a benefit concert at
7:30 p.m. Saturday Oct. 22 in Thrivent Financial Hall.
Tickets are $20 for adults and $15 for seniors and students.
The 150 voices from Appleton High School-East, Hortonville
and Neenah high schools will be featured in the 2005 Fox
Cities Choral Music Festival at 7 p.m. Tuesday Oct. 25 in
Thrivent Financial Hall. Tickets are $9-$12.
Yamato: The Drummers of Japan are booked for 7:30 p.m.
Friday Nov. 4 in Thrivent Financial Hall. Tickets are $25.
Call (920) 730-3760 for reservations.
The
Grand Opera House in Oshkosh and Paine Art Center and Gardens
will be presenting "The Mystical Arts of
Tibet" at various times and locations in that city from
Oct. 23-29. The show consists of 10 Tibetan Buddhist monks
from Drepung Loseling Monastery in South India performing
ancient dances and music believed to promote world healing
and peace. Tickets range from $18-$29 and can be reserved
by calling (920) 424-2350.
This year’s Jazz Celebration Weekend at Lawrence
University will be held Friday and Saturday Nov. 11-12. Friday’s
guest artist will be vocalist Jane Monheit, who will perform
following an opening set by the LU Jazz Singers. On Saturday,
trumpeter Kenny Wheeler will perform with the Lawrence University
Jazz Ensemble. Tickets ($15-$22) can be obtained by calling
(920) 832-6749.
***
It is time to get those flu shots. Valley VNA Senior Services
has set up several public flu vaccine clinics, beginning
this week. Call 920-727-5555, Ext. 243 to get more information.
For
comments or questions, contact boblowe@juno.com or
by phone at (920)-731-4603.
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