Gospel in a Mello Tone: Worship wrapped in Jazz…BRILLIANT!

VI (Br)

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I arrived at the H. Lavity Stoutt Community (HLSCC) auditorium on the evening of July 12, 2008 one hour late - on purpose.  I was solely interested in catching the Jazz segment of Gospel in a Mello Tone. 

I fully expected that there would not be an empty seat in the house.  My fears heightened when I drove into the campus; there were so many vehicles in the parking lots.  I was, therefore, quite surprised to see that there were in some seating left for latecomers like myself.  (The BVI has a deserved reputation for a high volume of per capita traffic.) 

I did not take any of the seats, preferring to stand at the back of the hall because I was not sure I would have stayed till the end.  Why?  I did not think I would be interested in any of the acts apart from GMT (Gospel in a Mello Tone).  Of course, I did not realise that my timing was perfect in that the minute I planted myself in place, GMT, under the direction of alto saxophonist Drexel Glasgow and soprano saxist Dalan Vanterpool’s KDV (Katch dis Vibe) Productions were being called on stage.

Within another few minutes, I became acutely aware that there was no leaving the H.L. Stoutt Community College auditorium.  I had walked in on the main act, Drexel Glasgow and Gospel in a Mello Tone, a group comprising of the leader on sax, two percussionists (Andre Braithwaite and Dylan Penn), a bassist (Darren Vanterpool) a guitarist (Warren Olliviere), a drummer (Threcio Phillips), the exceedingly talented pianist Randy McDowell and a choir.

 

GMT Project

 

 

 

 

 

This concert attracted my attention for the concept that it offered, playing instruments and singing songs for the glory of God.  Not only that, the repertoire would be grounded in Jazz, Neo-Soul and of course the emerging Praise and Worship style that has dominated the Gospel landscape this decade. 

But at first, I still remained unsure about what the feel and tenor of the show would be.  Curious to find out what would transpire, I stood invisibly and tentatively to the back to observe, ready to exit the building if the music was not up to the standard I expected.

From the first song, an adaptation of “Psalms 150″ with voices, arranged by Drexel Glasgow, I was hooked.  There was no chance now of turning around and walking away.

Fred Hammond’s “When the Spirit of the Lord” was no less inspiring but for the leader who searched the register of his horn for a range that did not manifest itself right then.  Part of the problem might have been the deficiencies in the sound engineering, which had the saxophone woefully low down in the mix.

I dare say that this might have been disconcerting for the soloist as well as for pianist Randy McDowell who did not readily accept the “hand off” from the saxophonist thus leading to a brief drag in the song.  Sensing this, percussionist Dylan Penn (congas) took the initiative.  The engineer responded by pumping up his volume to add some drama to the solo.

“My Tribute (To God be the Glory”) by Andre Crouch as a statement of unsurpassed balladry, was superb.  Not a feature of the expertise of local BVI drummers, Threcio Phillips broke through the glass ceiling by appropriately dropping the sticks for a pair of brushes to accentuate the hushed sound required to stir the spirit and evoke the emotions.

On “I Must Tell Jesus,” McDowell ran across the ivories to essay an introduction that elicited a massive round of applause from an appreciative audience, by now well in the zone.  Glasgow redeems himself with a controlled, logical solo before McDowell concludes with another spray of notes. 

At that point in time, little did I know that McDowell was really a home grown musician who, having been around all the while, but who remained out of focus on the musical radar all along. 

Imagine how shocked I was to learn afterwards, while digging for background information, that I was wrong in thinking the GMT had brought in a foreign based pianist to complement his septet just for this event.  It was unimaginable to me that this level of talent was available right here.  I look forward to hearing a lot more from this young man. 

As if to emphasise his credentials, McDowell put forth his own composition, “Without You.”  It had a Latin touch that was tailor made to close GMT’s first set and transition to Dalan Vanterpool’s Katch Dis Vybe Productions.

Dalan Vanterpool

Vanterpool, who has formal training on the tenor saxophone, but who has “expanded his artistic palette to include the alto & soprano saxophones, flute and spoken word, kicked off with some “floetry” that spoke of his battle, the tug of war, between the draw of the flesh – so to speak – and that of the redeeming spirit.  

The spoken word merged seamlessly into a vocal rendition that, unlike the vibrancy of the GMT set, was more reflective, even pensive, especially when Vanterpool ministered to the packed hall on the soprano sax and vocals.

    

Frandy Martin is a drummer, percussionist and singer with over 30 years in the music business.  Tonight, he introduced himself as the lead singer on “Blessed Assurance” (“This is my story, this is my song…; words by Fanny Crosby, music by Phoebe P. Knapp).  “Assurance”, a hymn, was arranged to swing on this night, but the drummer did not read the “music sheet” and countered the flow of the song with too much of a pop sensibility.  That though was irrelevant to the audience, which wrapped their collective fingers around this one, hollering with approval at the end.

And just as quickly as the fun had begun, it was over.  The Coconut Sunset Crew (Vanterpool (BVI, as), Steve Lake (St. Croix, g), and Martin (BVI, d, voc) had to make way for the second GMT set.

GMT returned with “Walk With Me,” a neo-soul serving that hit the roof with some call and response trading between the alto sax and one of the female singers.

Next was “Everlasting Portion.”  This song was adapted by the New Life Baptist Church Choir (NLBCC) as a friendly groove that played gently on the mind.  The ’sound’ was much improved by then.  Consequently, the piano and bass solos were absorbed the fullest.  The leader stepped to stage right to give McDowell and Darren Vanterpool the spotlight.

Felix Liu is an international student violinist at the H. Lavity Stoutt Community College.  We first saw him at the college’s Summer Music Fest on May 31.  After “Everlasting,” he stepped forward.  He opened up to the backdrop of McDowell’s strings on the Roland as the voices of the NLBC Choir built up their harmonisation to a crescendo on the front side of the bridge, with Glasgow providing some counterpoint, but without intrusion.

“Alpha and Omega,” a Praise and Worship song, was riveting to the core, mainly due to the extended interlude of violin and strings, punctuated by a couple of choruses with the saxophonist doubling up with the choir.

The violinist stayed on for “I Surrender All,” an adaptation of a song by Judson W. Van DeVenter.

The final song of the night turned out to be a serenade to the audience as they filed out of the H. Lavity Stoutt Community College’s auditorium.  One audience member was overheard saying that the show was too long.  She was exactly right. 

At more than three hours, Gospel in a Mello Tone went too long.  However, like me, no one dared turn a back on the experience of “A Night of Worship in song and the arts.“  Who would deny ”Music to lift your spirit and soothe your soul”? 

For me, it was a thoroughly wonderful experience.  I am absolutely certain that no one, even that one dissenter, would dispute that. 

Bravo Drexel Glasgow and your GMT Project.  Well done.  Well done indeed!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

GMT Photo courtesy of Limin’ Times