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Spelman-Morehouse songbirds:
sweetest sounds this side of Mason-Dixon

[[5 images]]
[[caption]] A reception was given to parents and friends of the Spellman-Morehouse Colleges Glee Clubs at the conclusion of their Annual Christmas Concert, Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center, New York City. [[/caption]]

BY YUSEF A. SALAAM
The Spelman College Glee Club and the Morehouse College Glee Club, and the Spelman-Morehouse Chorus, gave one of the most satisfying performances this side of the Mason-Dixon Line at Avery Fisher Hall Sunday. These two Atlanta, Georgia-based colleges have traveled to at least five African countries and toured major cities throughout the United States, pleasing overwhelmingly as they go.

The Spelman College Glee Club lit up the evening as they thundered into "Wasn't That a Mighty Day!" Singing greats like Sam Cooke, Mahalia Jackson and Aretha Franklin were born out of the womb of the calibre of singing that this college presents.

"Mary had a Baby" is an old African-American spiritual, but Morehouse College Glee Club put some new musical gymnastic tricks on it and had the audience bouncing spiritedly. Here, tenor Daryl Tompkins, a Morehouse senior, lent his lively leaping voice. Dr. Wendell Whalum, director of both glee clubs for the last twenty-five years, (In 1953, he succeeded Kemper Harreld, who founded the clubs in 1911) seems to be sculpturing fine voices out of these young men's talents.

An outstanding segment of the program was Morehouse College Glee Club's performing with Via (Michael) Olatunji, the African percussionist. Twenty-five years ago Black college glee clubs prided themselves in being able to sing in French, Spanish, German, and the other European languages. It was the Black consciousness movement of the sixties that probably propelled these institutions into singing in African languages of their own forefathers.

On a tune called "Bethlehem," Morehouse sang and chanted in Yoruba, a native language of Nigeria. Olatunji was spanking the mama conga feverishly. Six members of the glee club were churning hard on their bongos like children trying to keep up with the pace of their mother. Results? A monumental standing ovation. My enthusiastic son, Bilal, a member of the Boys' Choir of Harlem, would still be clapping and standing, if I hadn't motioned for him to sit down.

Hearing the Spelman-Morehouse Chorus was definitely having your cake and eating it, too. "Go Tell it on the Mountain," a classical African-American jubilee, was sketched finely by the colorful voice-works of soprano Mary Arttie Reid and tenor Henry Goodgame.

Daryl Dixon explained that the Morehouse College/Spelman College Glee Clubs (and the chorus) do not get scholarships or course credits for their participation in this musical extra-curricular activity. "It's a labor of love," he declared. And good God, what a love!

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