Strong and Graceful Oaks

Track Listings

1. Requiem

2. Kyrie -- Lord, Have Mercy
I Am Resurrection

3. Beauty for Ashes

4. Will Lift Mine Eyes Unto the Hills

5. The Word

6. Hear Us, Lord -- Prayers of the People
Holy, Holy, Holy

7. Lord's Prayer, The

8. Give Rest, O Christ, To Your Servants

9. Jesus Is Waiting

Editorial Reviews
About the Artist
What began in 1984 as a routine telephone call from Harry Belafonte to Carl MaultsBy to contract an ad hoc group of singers for the movie Beat Street has evolved into an emerging arts institution and chamber vocal group known as Rejoicensemble! Incorporated in 1992 as a not-for-profit, 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization, Rejoicensemble, Inc., is dedicated to commissioning and performing works by contemporary African American composers, the preservation and performance of music of the African Diaspora, and increasing the general public awareness of the cultural significance of music of the African American experience.

The company has appeared at Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center in New York City, the Mt. Fuji Jazz Festival, New York City's Paramount Theater with Ashford & Simpson (A&S) for the debut live concert performance of the A&S-Maya Angelou collaboration "Been Found," and at the Shubert Theatre, NYC, with Harry Belafonte (1985). In addition, the company was featured on the WNBC-TV programs Positively Black (1996) and Today in New York, "Tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King" (1993), and the Belafonte film Beat Street 1984. Rejoicensemble! is Artist-in-Residence at St. Mark's Church in the Bowery, New York City.

Band members: Carl MaultsBy
(Executive Artistic Director & Conductor),
Priscilla Baskerville, (Soprano),
LaTanya Hall, (Mezzo Soprano),
Paula Tann, (Alto),
Kenneth Harmon, (Tenor),
Lynn Randolph, (Tenor),
Michael Neal, (Baritone),
Bertie Ray III, (Baritone),
Ben Brown, (Contrabass),
Frank Derrick III, (Drums),
Doug Harris, (Soprano Saxophone),
Gail Hightower, (Bassoon),
Ron Metcalf, (Pianoforte)

Product Description
Strong and Graceful Oaks is a Sacred Jazz Requiem composed by Carl MaultsBy. It is a cyclical work that is an extension of the music found in the Duke Ellington, Sacred Concerts: jazz melodies and harmonies with an inspirational or sacred text. However, Strong and Graceful Oaks uses elements based on African and Gregorian chant, gospel, contemporary inspirational, and conservatory compositional techniques. Recorded live at City College of New York, the CD is a jazz, popular, and classical tour de force that defies traditional music categories.

Strong and Graceful Oaks,Rejoicensemble!,Carl MaultsBy

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