AME Zion Members Experience the Power of James Weldon Johnson’s God’s Trombones
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Prayer Leader Woman, Janice P. Horton, and Rev. Dr. Lamont Freeman Foster, pastor of Goode’s Temple AME Zion Church Strawberry Plains, Tennessee. Photo: Janice Horton |
Staff Reports
On Saturday, October 1, the God’s Trombones Choir presented God’s Trombones – A Religious Dramatic Work based on the poems of James Weldon Johnson. The Blue Ridge Annual Conference of the African Methodist Zion Church Board of Christian Education sponsored this production at the Dorothy Walls Conference and Retreat Center in Black Mountain, NC.
The God’s Trombones Choir is an interdenominational choir based at the Pine Grove Missionary Baptist Church, pastored by Rev. Leslie A. Hines. The production is an outreach ministry of the church.
Under the direction of Angelyn G. Benton, God’s Trombones takes us back in American history to the turn of the 20th century, when the Negro preacher’s voice rang throughout the church with the musical tones of the trombone. Johnson says in his preface of the book, “The old-time Negro preacher is rapidly passing. I have here tried sincerely to fix something of him.”
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The Spiritual Voices with vocalist Eddie Frank Johnson (far right) leading a musical selection. Photo: Urban News |
Benton gives a unique interpretation of God’s Trombones by adding the songs that may have been sung during that time. This interpretation not only allows us to experience the preacher, but to become immersed in the whole church experience.
Johnson also said that he felt the influence of the spirituals as he wrote these sermons. Because of her extensive musical knowledge, Benton has dispersed the spirituals and gospel throughout the presentation, thus allowing us to experience not only the preacher, but the church meeting itself.
Rev. Dr. Lamont Freeman Foster, pastor of Goode’s Temple AME Zion Church in Strawberry Plains, TN, portrays the old-time preacher, delivering the sermons with the rhythm and the voice of the powerful trombone. He is supported by the Prayer Leader Woman, portrayed by Janice P Horton.
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On piano, Angelyn Benton, Director of God’s Trombones. Vocalist Martha McClain leading a musical selection. Photo: Urban News |
The church choir on this occasion featured the spirit-filled voices of Martha McClain, Linda Jones, and the Spiritual Voices. They were accompanied by director Angelyn Benton on piano, Jerome Martin on bass guitar, and Joseph Smith on percussion.
To book this production, contact Angelyn G. Benton at (828) 582-9080.
