Stunning Story
Robert Reid, The Record, Kitchener — Friday, February 25, 2000
Black History Month graced by Joe Sealy, Nathaniel Dett Chorale at Square
Considering February is Black History Month, the timing could not have been better for jazz pianist Joe Sealy and the Nathaniel Dett Chorale to perform Thursday night at Centre in the Square.
And in a word, the concert was stunning. Although jazz and blues are associated for the most part with Black musicians, the contributions of Black composers to the sacred and classical music of North America is a story still to be told.
A case in point is Afro-Canadian Nathaniel Dett. Born in Drummondville (now a part of Niagara Falls) in 1882, Dett was a renowned composer, conductor, pianist, poet and teacher before he died in 1943.
However, he is not as well known as he deserves to be. This neglect is about to be remedied, however, thanks to Brainerd Blyden-Taylor, artistic director/conductor of the Toronto-based Nathaniel Dett Chorale.
Formed in early 1998, the 20-voice chorale is winning raves wherever it performs, not only for showcasing the works of its namesake, but for celebrating the full range of Afrocentric choral music, past and present.
The Chorale made an auspicious debut at the Centre, as did Toronto-based composer/pianist Sealy, who performed an abridged version of his Juno Award-winning Africville Suite.
The first 60-minute set belonged to the Chorale, which performed a dozen songs encompassing Dett's tender Ave Maria (the only work in the Euro-classical tradition), arrangements of traditional spirituals, motets in the style of spirituals, contemporary settings of spiritual compositions and anthems.
In addition to performing works by Dett (including Baptism and Let Us Cheer the Weary Traveller), works by the contemporary New Orleans composer/pianist Mose Hogan (Hold On) and Jester Hairston (who wrote the theme song for the Sidney Poitier film Lily of the Fields) were also featured.
The Chorale has a beautiful tone which, if anything, is gorgeously understated. A large part of the Chorale's collective vocal power comes from its ability to harness and channel highly emotional music.
Rather than go with a small number of soloists, the solo roles (both male and female) are shared among the Chorale. On any given night a differ ent soloist might be called on for a particular solo.
For example, Kitchener native Chris Wilson was the soloist on Dett's Go Not From Me, O God - a role he does not customarily assume - and he performed superbly.
Sealy's Africville, which formed the centerpiece of the 70-minute second set, deserves to be as well-known and respected as Oscar Peterson's Canadiana Suite.
It's a deeply moving and a musically inspiring tribute to Canada's oldest Black community. established in Halifax during the 1800s. It's also where Sealy's grandmother and father were born.
Sealy performed six of the suite's 12 sections - Deep Down Inside, Brown Bomber, Train's Comin', Duke's In Town, Sometimes I Dream and River of Dreams - ably accompanied by Paul Novotny on bass, Chris Mitchell on tenor/baritone sax and Steve Heathcote on drums. The Chorale joined Sealy on the opening and closing two compositions.
In response to a thunderous standing ovation. the Chorale and Sealy offered three encore numbers including a request from Highland Baptist Church Choir (The Word is God), in addition to And Still We Sing, the closing composition of a new suite composed by Sealy which debuts in Toronto later this spring.
