GREENSBORO – The East Coast Inspirational Singers from Harlem came to the Highland Center for the Arts last Saturday evening and gave a highly energetic performance that was over the top in inspiration and audience participation. One could feel the deep roots in the characteristic call and response mode where music means physical movement and is a fundamental way of expressing spiritual beliefs.
The five men and five women of the group were all born entertainers with beautiful voices and they were individually featured in turn with leading the others, accompanied by an amazing pianist Jarreau Pitts, who played all 17 selections from memory without any sheet music before him, along with a skilled drummer, Caleb Brown.
photo by Paul Fixx
The singers wore different t-shirts celebrating Juneteenth, the day (June 19th) in 1865 when the last slaves were liberated in Texas after the end of the Civil War. On the large screen behind them were projected images relevant to the songs.
They began with “Amazing Grace,” a gospel tune with a fine melody and powerful lyrics, followed by “Oh Happy Day,” a joyous piece to which the singers got the audience clapping in sync. “Ride On King Jesus” proclaimed that “No man can hinder me,” and to never give up striving for the good of all. The audience was really revved up by “Give Him Glory” with its repetition of the word “praise.” “Hallelujah” by Leonard Cohen got much of the audience to their feet and waving their hands back and forth like in a revival meeting. “Come Go With Me,” popularized by the Staple Sisters, had a great driving beat that made dancing by the singers irresistible. “The Goodness of God” provided the opportunity for one of the performers, Keisha Whitney, to make a personal testimonial of her deliverance from an initial diagnosis of cancer, and she really belted out her gratitude to God. The Beatles classic tune, “With a Little Help from My Friends,” closed out the first half of the program, always an engaging piece.
After the intermission, the East Coast Inspirational Singers continued their concert with “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough. James Taylor’s “Shower the People You Love With Love” was another classic work whose melody and lyrics are perfect, to which the singers added another delightful element, which was for the members of the audience to wave their lighted cell phones along with the music.
“Satisfied Mind” had an inescapable thumping beat that was a real toe tapper, while James Cleveland’s “Lord Do It” was in a slower temp.
The five women of the group got together for “Black Woman,” a song by Nina Simone in praise of all the features of such a person. Similarly “Grateful” was a joyous appreciation from the heart for everything that the Lord does. “How Great is Our God” continued the theme, as did the last number, “Total Praise,” with the words, “You are the source of my strength,” a moving finale to an inspirational journey. The audience then gave them a standing ovation and they repeated “Ain’t No Mountain to keep me from getting to you” as an encore.
The following Sunday morning the East Coast Inspirational Singers attended the United Church of Christ in Greensboro and sang several gospel songs. From the concert on Saturday night they helped raise almost $2,000 for the Greensboro Nursing Home from audience contributions.
Let’s hope that this dynamic group returns to Greensboro regularly in the future.
David K. Rodgers
David K. Rodgers is a writer, mason and card carrying dilettante, who dabbles and babbles in art. He has lived in East Craftsbury for the past 40 years.
