A legend touches St. Louis at the Sheldon Concert Hall
By Ruth Miriam-Garnett
For the St. Louis American
Mavis Staples has been on stage most of her life. I am grateful she’s still recording and touring. I was warned by friends prior to heading to her recent performance at the Sheldon that her voice had waned, melody and resonance drained from her recognizable rasp.
Whatever my girl may have lost, she has replaced with an execution that brings in perfectly timed rhythmic elements to her singing, including a strut that is part of her accompaniment. Her singing overflows with religious ecstasy, the piquant sadness of a bluesy “Why Am I Treated So Bad?” we were told by the diva to have been Dr. King’s favorite Civil Rights anthem.
The audience was also privy to a civil rights-era history lesson of no small consequence. Though I remember my parents dragging me to picket lines at age four, it was news to me that the Staple Singers created the musical ethnography for the movement (and to this day remain its standard bearer).
Ms. Staples, in Luther Vandross fashion, is kind to her backup sisters, one of whom is her sister Yvonne, an original member of the family group. Pop Staples was mentioned several times, as having bequeathed his artistry to the backup band’s lead guitarist, Rick Holstrom. Likewise, Mavis said backup tenor Donny Gerrard “reminds me so much of Pop that sometimes I forget he’s not standing over there.”
A lovely Chavonne Morris’s rapturous soprano was showcased during the group’s second encore in “Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Around,” striking as this young Brandyesque woman appears to be barely starting her twenties.
Staples’ vocal artistry is clearly a blend of deep Delta roots and, as we always contend, good Mississippi don’t-crack. One hears the James Brown and Bobby Bland shrieks, Mahalia and Aretha’s innate operatic emotive force and her own unique styling – which once or twice suggested Etta James, but also implied that Tina Turner learned a thing or two from this fully-clothed peer.
Unmistakably a monumental achievement, the concert and the lady’s life are a rarity, a present and future gift to us.
A New Cornerstone
A New Cornerstone, Inc. will host “Building on the Dream: Maintaining the Progress,” a gathering after the 40th anniversary of the assassination of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. On Friday, April 4 at 7 p.m. there will be a panel discussion of “Where have we been in the last 40 years?” On Saturday, April 5 at 9 a.m. workshops will be held on “Where do we go in the next 40 years?”
Events will be held at Trinity Mt. Carmel Baptist Church, 11755 Mehl, two miles north of 270, east off of Old Halls Ferry Rd.
A New Cornerstone, Inc. is a faith-based, non-profit organization that interfaces with community organization, corporate and governmental entities in providing services and expertise to help build healthy families and healthy communities.
It has been in existence since 1998 providing services in the areas of: welfare to work case management, recidivism reduction, domestic violence prevention and youth abstinence education. The Rev. Dr. Lynn R. Mims is CEO.
Call A New Cornerstone, Inc. at (314) 521-2243.
Religion and politics
On Thursday, April 3 from 7-9 p.m. Interfaith Partnership/ Faith Beyond Walls will host an educational forum “Religion & American Politics: Then and Now” at Eden Theological Seminary, Luhr Library (Room 102), located at 475 E. Lockwood.
The keynote speaker is the Rev. Dr. Warren E. Crews, professor at Eden Theological Seminary and Episcopal minister. Panelists representing AME Zion, Jewish, Muslim, Presbyterian Church USA, Roman Catholic and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, also will will speak on the relationship of religion and American politics.
Jackson State Chorale
Jackson State University Concert Chorale will perform April 17 at 7 p.m. at Washington Metropolitan AME Zion Church, 613 Garrison. The Chorale is Directed by Willenham C. Castilla. Auditions will follow the performance.