Amazing amazing

Harlem Gospel Choir (19^th April 2013)

Reviewed on April 23, 2013

They are a gospel choir. Yet I still thought they would sing a mix of gospel songs and secular songs; more secular songs than gospel, to cater to a varied audience. Boy was I wrong.

But I had a jolly good time. No, scratch that, I had the time of my life. I am pretty sure everyone in the audience did. We sang, we clapped, we danced in our seats (more worming about actually), we jumped up at the second half of the concert to get our groove on and we raised our hands in praise. Now it may seem like it was a worship session, but there is no other way to say it, it really was! We were praising the Lord unabashedly, proudly proclaiming His presence. I supposed that was the main aim of the Harlem Gospel Choir. Their mission is to spread the joy and celebrate the glory of God.

Harlem Gospel Choir

Now, it must be clarified that I am not a regular church goer, and if I do attend church, it is conducted in Mandarin. So the gamut of English gospel songs that I know isn’t much. However the songs were easy enough to catch on because the choir mostly repeats what the lead sang. The Harlem Gospel Choir is a 9-member choir with six ladies and three gentlemen. Each one took a turn in leading a song with the rest playing backup singers. The concert felt very spontaneous; where the choir will suddenly break into a call-and-response or go off tangent with a display of their vocal prowess. Sometimes when you thought that a song has ended, the lead would be invited back up to repeat the last verse leading to yet another ending. The concert rests on fluidity and has no fixed structure. It was immensely enjoyable.

The repertoire of songs was belted out with voices three times the size of the choir. There was a moving rendition of “Amazing Grace” which sounded heavenly. I teared up for that one. Among the songs they sang, I recognized “Let It Rise”, “Holy Holy Holy” and “Oh Happy Day”, the tune made popular by the Whoopi Goldberg movie Sister Act. It was this song that got everyone out of their seats and onto their feet, dancing along to the impressive voice of the lead, Shakira (not the pop one). It was uplifting to see everyone having a good time.

Amazing Grace rendition

Audience on their feet and enjoying themselves.

                                                                                                                                          

Kudos too, to the simple two-piece band consisting of a female drummer who drums with a wide dazzling smile and a rotund keyboardist who graced us with amazing skills on the keyboard. They did a marvelous job providing musical accompaniment to the remarkable choir. All of them were equally good and no one outshone the other. There was no competition and they were really encouraging of each other’s talent, like when they invited Travis to demonstrate his peculiar talent of hitting the really high and screechy notes.

The two hour concert ended with popular tunes like “Celebrate” by Kool & The Gang in which the audience were invited onstage to dance. It was heartening and stirring to see the elderly, the middle-aged, the teens and the young ones united by the music and a common belief. At the end the choir asked if we wanted them back in Singapore and never have I heard a more enthusiastic chorus of agreement before.

Three words for the Harlem Gospel Choir: COME BACK PLEASE!