Word: kuumba
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...great art. But since I don't care to defend this proposition in public, much less in print, let me just say that this twin insight, this whammy-pop filling the philosophical maw, is the basic assumption of a very fine and sometimes even exciting album by the Kuumba Singers called I'm Gonna Sing. It allows them to sing, without contradiction, exalting jubliees followed by blues that scrape notes out of this lower intestine called life. And sometimes, it allows them a fusion of the two, songs that get you high and low at the same time. It happens...
...three gospel numbers, three soul numbers, a jubilee, two recitations, and a chant. Spirituals and jubilees were the traditional Afro-American forms, out of which grew gospel and soul. Outside of that, I really can't tell you anything about this genre except that, regardless of musicology, it works. Kuumba was formed ten years ago to plumb the genius and majesty of the Black heritage; I'm Gonna Sing accomplishes this...
...best tracks on the album are by an ensemble called The Brothers, a subgroup of Kuumba tenors and basses. On Side One The Brothers sing a gospel, "One More Day," that achieves the fusion I was talking about, what Tennyson called "pleasure and pain in exquisite extremes...
...triumph of the song lies in the haunting variations in the harmonies and the rhythmic creativity of the solo, both the work of Dennis Henderson '79, who arranged the song and performs the solo. Henderson has graduated, but Kuumba will not miss him, not because he isn't talented (he obviously is), but because Kuumba seems to be one of the few campus organizations flourishing in these postlapsarian times...
...stepping stone." Kyriazis also claims SHS floundered because the University wuld not grant them office space. Archie C. Epps, III, dean of students, in January assigned SHS a room in the Memorial Hall basement. Kyriazis marched into Rm 186 only to find it occupied by the Kuumba Singers. Epps said he thought Kuumba had moved a year ago. SHS is still on a list with 12 other new organizations looking for office space. Kyriazis argues that SHS should get special preference because "we provide a special service to the University," but Epps disagrees...