From there, I reunited with Marianne in New Orleans. We stayed in a mansion in the uptown area with new chums Peter and Meryt Harding and our longtime friend from Auckland Ali Duffey, ate African food and the usual New Orleans fare, bought hot sauce, and ran into pianist Tom McDermott at a fun but loud Jon Cleary gig. This was a new Jon Cleary project, a trio (piano, double bass or tuba, and busy drummer) and I kinda prefer the Absolute Monster Gentlemen.
I was keen to catch up with old church contacts, some of whom I hadn’t seen since Katrina, I talked to John Lee and Ivan Lee of the Heralds of Christ on the phone, and spent an afternoon with the energetic and generous Rev Malcolm Collins of Pressing Onward BC, eating our own weight in fried catfish and gumbo and hanging on his porch. I managed to see my friend Pamela Landrum from Ebenezer MBC, one of the loveliest people I know, just before we left town, but while our meeting was brief at least we got to sing together.
TB and Pam Landrum sing by the pool
After New Orleans, Paris. We stayed in a tiny apartment in the 15th arrondisement, and I ran a couple of workshops, one for the choir Croq Notes, and one for the public, both of which seemed to go pretty well, even when I tortured the participants with what I fondly think of as my French. Thanks to Emmanuelle Zagoria for translation, advice and good humour, and to Dominque Bonnin, Lionel Cloarec, Alexandra, Michel for your help to and everyone who sang so beautifully.
I went one night to a concert in Paris at the Cathedrale Americain, where the church’s choir Gospel Dream were performing. They’ve been sing since 1990 and are directed by Rev. Michel M’Passy. A robed-up 10-voice choir of Africans, Caribbeans and African Americans (3 altos, 3 sopranos, 3 tenors and 1 bass (2 or 3 male members were missing) with keyboard and sax, they sang without mics—which, in the lovely acoustic of the venue, was a sensible way to go, although the soloists got buried in the sound at times. The vocal sound was rich, the solos were generally tasteful and always passionate and heartfelt, and the choir had an relaxed but unshakeable groove that kept the vamps alive and hypnotic, often driven by a pair of egg-shakers played by the bass singer. However I hated the sax player who was often in a key and time of his own devising, and was mostly underwhelmed by the repertoire of predictable pop spirituals and gospels (This little light of mine, We shall overcome, When the saints etc). They did do a couple of favourites of mine: Highway to Heaven, Richard Smallwood’s Total Praise, and the Swahili Lord’s Prayer, but the more obvious songs got the huge Parisien and tourist audience going. Which is not a bad thing, and I came away with the good feeling that the choir was all about inclusion and sharing the music (and the message).
And to be fair, they sound great, and put their own stamp on things: some things like the vamp on Glory glory hallelujah were really gorgeous. At the end, the choir took the opportunity to promote their ongoing gospel workshops (two sessions every Monday night), so if only a small percentage of this audience show up, they’ll be big sessions, and if Gospel Dream are getting more Parisiens singing, more power to them.
The other gospel choir I've heard about in Paris (but didn't get to see) is New Gospel Family, a huge choir who do a mix of traditional and urban contemporary gospel (like Kirk Franklin songs- and Total Praise of course) with funk band.
I stayed in Paris for 12 days, and when not doing workshops, really just strolled the streets looking for a good coffee, practising French and going to the occasional event. I also went to the Église St Eustache for mass, mainly to hear the choir directed by my friend Lionel Cloarec, who sang Josquin and Palestrina beautifully. The church organ there is the loudest I’ve ver heard, (see: humunguous, earth-shaking etc) it’s a bloody wonder the cathedral is still standing. I attended a concert of Renaissance polyphony at Notre Dame, also pretty good, with some nice moments when the choir left the front of the church to come sing in the middle of the audience. Other than that, it was crepes, gallettes, baguettes and catching up with friends: Laurie Makomell, a singer and designer from Cameroon, singer and voice-over actress Jospehine Varret, Lionel, Giselle, Thomas, Karima and other members of les Chanteurs du St Eustache. Merci à toute le monde et bonne continuation.
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