Rejoice - Page 4

In 1993, Alphonso Brown recruited members of the Mt. Zion AME Gospel Choir to recreate the traditional camp meeting-style spirituals: the raw, unarranged songs of long ago. “We didn’t practice things like harmony, because then it wouldn’t be real, it’d be unoriginal,” he says. “It has to come from your heart.” Camp meeting spirituals found a home at the Piccolo Spoleto Festival, where they became an annual favorite. “The second year we did the camp meetings at Spoleto, the crowd was so big that the fire marshal had to turn people away. People were lined up from Mt. Zion all the way down to Wentworth,” Brown says. “That’s when we started doing three shows.”

The traditional spirituals recall simple wooden churches, lit by oil lamp, in which the stories of the King James Bible met with rhythms that compelled participation. The celebration of worship sparks cries of joy and praise in the congregation, and when the spirituals are sung, emotions are raw and open to God. “The music just lifts you up to new heights and you go away feeling fulfilled, spiritually fulfilled. Now, being human, it doesn’t last,” Brown adds. “You’ve got to go back the next day and get some more.”

Vocalist Ann Caldwell, whose Praise House performances with the Magnolia Singers at the Circular Congregational Church celebrate the heritage of the spirituals, recalls her early experiences of traditional music at Mt. Zion AME. “I’d like to see the spirituals preserved,” she says, “so young people can know where most of the music in America got its start. My main purpose is to see that our ancestors are remembered.”

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