May 4th, 2009 by Black Gospel Choir
Hundreds of people are remembering Grammy-nominated gospel singer the Rev. Timothy Wright at the Brooklyn church where he was pastor.
Wright died April 24. The 61- year-old “Godfather of Gospel” had been paralyzed from the neck down and in poor health since a July 4 car crash that killed his wife and grandson.
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May 4th, 2009 by Black Gospel Choir
Based in St. Louis, Missouri she was one of the early associates of Thomas A. Dorsey and an innovator in gospel style, introducing the “song and sermonette” style that other singers, such as Shirley Caesar and Edna Gallmon Cooke made popular. She married in 1929 and, shortly after that, began traveling in musical revivals. Dorsey heard her in 1931 and asked to help him found the National Convention of Gospel Choirs and Choruses, his organization devoted to spreading gospel music by training singers, choirs and composers. Smith became the principal singing teacher for the NCGCC as head of its Soloists’ Bureau in 1936. Among her students were Brother Joe May, who gave her the affectionate name “Mother”. Teaming with Roberta Martin, Smith demonstrated how to make even familiar hymns such as “Jesus Loves Me” into deeper personal statements by slurs, note bending and other personalized adornments. Smith was also a major figure within the Baptist Church as the Director of its Education Department of the National Baptist Convention before she became a member of a Pentecostal denomination. She considered herself a preacher and imbued her singing and sermonettes with an evangelical fervor. She was noted for her finesse, control and subtlety, but could also, like her protégé Brother Joe May, belt out hymns.
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May 4th, 2009 by Black Gospel Choir
President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle have not yet decided where they will worship while in Washington.
Since the election last November, the Obamas have attended services at a number of churches in the capital, including black and racially mixed congregations, The Washington Post reported
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May 4th, 2009 by Black Gospel Choir
Thurgood Marshall (July 2, 1908 – January 24, 1993) was an American jurist and the first African American to serve on the Supreme Court of the United States. Before becoming a judge, he was a lawyer who was best remembered for his high success rate in arguing before the Supreme Court and for the victory in Brown v. Board of Education. He was nominated to the court by President Lyndon Johnson in 1967.
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May 4th, 2009 by Black Gospel Choir
Macon, Georgia
Formed in 1983, the 150-voice Georgia Mass Choir came to prominence through highly visible appearances in the Whitney Houston film The Preacher’s Wife and at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. Lead voice, songwriter, and founder Rev. Milton Biggham had spent time organizing Savoy Records, but returned to his home state to organize the choir from over 600 applicants. Naturally, the Georgia Mass Choir began recording for Savoy, and released their first album Yes, He Can in the mid-’80s. Additional albums followed, and by the early ’90s, the group began to be recognized around the nation as one of the leading gospel choirs through Grammy and Dove Award nominations, and the gift of the Keys to the City of Atlanta. Film director Penny Marshall cast them in The Preacher’s Wife in 1996, and the choir also received a Gospel Music Workshop of America Excellence Award.
Biography by John Bush, All Music Guide
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