If you thought you knew all the faces of gospel, it is because you have not yet heard what happens when a group that embodies tradition is fused with the volcanic energy of a Latin band.
Some critic has said that surely Benny Moré, "sonero mayor" of Cuba, and Mahalia Jackson, known as the queen of gospel, smile widely when they hear the sounds that these bands produce together. Thus the experience of mixing classical and contemporary gospel themes with the dynamics of Latin music is, at least, unusual. Such is the proposal put forward by two artists with few complexes and eager to experiment: Bazil Meade, director of the London Community Gospel Choir and Ramon Escalé, a pianist and composer who leads the Barcelona Big Latin Band and who is a very good connoisseur of African-American spirituals, as he was also the creator of the Barcelona Gospel Messengers. All three are ready to offer a show that will shake the foundations of the Teatre Grec with a vibrant celebration of rhythm which combines two apparently antithetic sounds. Actually they have achieved it with the help of extraordinary jazz musicians and voices of world prestige capable of adapting to the most diverse registers.
Starring the night is the London Community Gospel Choir created in 1982 who made history by offering the first concert of a gospel choir in the United Kingdom and, currently, composed of about two hundred singers, many more than the Barcelona Gospel Messengers born in 2008 with a team of all-stars, twenty of the best local gospel soloists. With more than ten years of experience, the Barcelona Big Latin Band puts a Latin accent on a fantastic summer night at the 2019 Grec Festival of Barcelona. Some of the most important names in jazz and Latin jazz of our country are part of it.
A production of Anexa
Musical direction: Ramon Escalé, Bazil Meade Musical interpretation: London Community Gospel Choir, Messengers, Barcelona Big Latin Band Stage space: Joan Segura Costume: Jordi Bulbena Lighting design: Kiko Planas Sound concept and design: David Casamitjana Production: Toni Albaladejo
