Adventures in sight-reading and other musical feats!

Hope everyone's weekend was productive, peaceful and poetik....

Mine was eventful - to say the least. A member of my singing ensemble called me last Sunday night to ask for "help". Her sister-in-law, a songstress and vocal group leader, needed some voices to add body to their performance that was scheduled for this past Sunday evening in Los Angeles, my old stompin ground. I said, "suuuurrrrrreeee, what we sangin?" And the way it usually happens is this: I get a copy of a CD with the songs on them, make some copies for the other folks who will participate, and we have approximately 6 days to learn that music! Because the songs were contemporary gospel numbers, there was no "sheet music" readily available - which would have helped only a few of us, anyway. Not everyone reads music. So, it happened the usual way.

My singers and I had done this type of thing before - even down to hooking up with the OTHER singers ON the day of the performance; it was no biggie. Our concern was that the other group had their parts right when we got there, because we were gonna be on ours! (not braggin, just fackin) My main hope was that we'd have enough time before the function actually started, to run over the songs with the other group..I do hate performing cold - without benefit of a run-through with the muscians (so ghetto!). And why was the pianist late? It started to look like our time and effort was going to turn out looking tacky macky! Well, we were able to go over the songs a few times with the CD - not the same, but better than nothing. Our voices were well matched, and thankfully, we had singers there who could fill in where needed (I'm usually an alto, but they needed another tenor, and another sista came down from soprano to alto, etc.)

On one of the songs, there was a mild dispute about what notes the tenors were supposed to hit during the chorus... so the lady in charge pulled out a sheet of paper with keys (the names of the keys, not a musical score - what I'm used to) that corresponded to the song in question, with the words written beneath..looked something like this:

B flat C A D F A Dsharp (the musical symbols wouldn't post, yikes!)

may have some scars, but I'm healed

Don't get me wrong, I'd seen this before, just wasn't ready to read it like that - especially without a keyboard present. (oh, I forgot to mention we were in a room with no piano of any kind - so, had the pianist been on time.....???)


It all worked out to the good. The brotha on keyboards did come and sat in on the last few minutes of our vocalizing. And we were able to go over some special instructions with him because one of the songs featured a soloist (with a sweet soprano voice). The occasion was the 18th anniversary of a Missionary Baptist Church literally in the heart of South Central Los Angeles (the street address is on S. Central Avenue). The event began on time and I must say I was proud of my people for that.

There was much praise and worship in the preliminaries, reminding me of years gone by when I was more involved in "concert and church hopping" with my girlfriends back in my single days. The flavor was familiar....and wonderful. It had been a long time since I'd heard hymns sung in long meter, with that call and response going on. BEAUTIFUL! The atmosphere was filled with sincere folks who seemed devoted to their Lord, their mission in the community, and their sacrifice of praise and worship last night.

When it was time to perform, I believe the angels showed up and showed out for us. Because when we opened our mouths to sing.... something else happened, and I heard a full choir (there were only 8 of us). The sound system at the church was impressive - the mics were hot - and that can sometimes be the death of a group that isn't up to par. But I could tell from the congregation's response that something special was going on. And it wasn't about us on the platform. Even brotha on the keyboards was working it out (he had jumped on the Hammond organ earlier during the praise session - ridiculously talented!).

Experiences like this make me very happy to say "yes" when someone needs music. Being used as an instrument to bring messages of encouragement, peace, and love, ministers to my soul. It is my life's joy.

Have a great week everyone! I'll be scarce for a minute... got to get on my projects for the year. I'll be updating with info from time to time. (and getting my read on at my favorite blog sites here)

Blessings!

I Music Because I Must!

Music has been part of my life since I came from the womb. My parents are musicians, my sister... And my formative years in the Greathousehold were full of piano lessons, band practice (I played clarinet in elementary through to high school), and choirs, choirs...and did I mention I sang in the choir? (alto voice) In college I formed a ladies trio, and we performed some of my original joints - I was blessed to have a great keyboard player, Clarence Benjamin (WHERE ARE YOU, MY BROTHA?), and he brought along his band. We rocked quite a few college events (the most memorable, the gala for the graduating class of '77 - my class).

Today, I'm director and cofounder of the singing group known as Revived! We've been together since 1999 - and have performed around the 'high desert', the Inland Empire and the greater Los Angeles area. Putting a CD together of original contemporary gospel music is yet another project in the works. (Did I mention a sista had too many irons in the fire this year?) It's been a slow process, mostly because of the actual musical compositions/arrangements that we're working with. Recording is, thankfully, not the problem - and that is due to two major things: 1. the studio owner is also one of my musicians and therefore...the project is almost a 'gratis' situation (we have a sweet deal!) 2. technology has fixed it so everybody doesn't have to be present to lay down tracks! And my crazy mix of singers (12) and musicians (3) love to remind me that they're "grown" and have "lives"! (when I send out my emails about rehearsals and calendar controls) But it's going a little slow - slower than we'd planned. And now the holidays are upon us and our annual musical events are on and poppin. This weekend we're doing a holiday concert on Saturday evening... but I'll be participating in a mass choir Messiah event that morning and again on Sunday... Needless to say, a sista is rehearsaled out! (is that a word?)

But I do it because I must... it's like the air I breathe on the real.