AFRICAN AMERICAN MUSICIANS SPOTLIGHTED ON KING HOLIDAY

"My Country 'Tis of Thee" is more than a song Phillip Mentor will sing Monday night during his concert celebrating the birth of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The tune reverberates through the civil rights movement, back to King's frequent use of the lyrics in his speeches, and back even further to 1936, when Marian Anderson sang it before 250,000 on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial after the Daughters of the American Revolution got her concert banned from Constitution Hall.

That was the same year Benny Goodman integrated his orchestra, Mentor notes. "The arts have always brought people together...in a positive way."

That's what Mentor, a native of Trinidad who came to the United States as a youth, means his concert to do.

"From the beginning of the program to the end, that is the idea -- that we are all Americans," he said.

A baritone who lives in New Jersey, Mentor will perform briefly at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Breakfast Monday morning at the Show Me Center, and will give a full recital titled "Spiritual Odyssey" at 8:15 Monday night in Academic Auditorium. He will be accompanied by pianist Trudi Super, who also will solo.

Performing separately Monday will be violinist Adrian Walker, an instructor of music at Southeast. Accompanied by pianist John Shelton, Walker will play music by African American composers along with spirituals and hymns during a concert from 2:30 to 3:15 p.m. in Academic Auditorium.

Mentor, a graduate of Montclair State University, made his reputation singing sacred recitals. Monday's program will range from lighthearted Jamaican folk songs sung in patois to "Porgy and Bess" to message-laden Negro spirituals much in keeping with the occasion.

Included in the program will be "Joe Hill," the union-organizing song written for Paul Robeson, and "Simple Gifts," a Quaker tune arranged by Aaron Copland.

Super will play tunes by ragtime legend Scott Joplin and Oberlin-trained R. Nathaniel Dept, the first African American composer to construct music in classical form.

Walker plans to build his performance around a contemplative movement from the suite for violin and piano by African American composer William Grant Still.

He also will play spirituals and traditional hymns, including "Amazing Grace" and "Rock of Ages." Some are familiar tunes with unusual, often atonal arrangements, Walker said.

Spirituals are very important to the African American experiences, Walker said.

"Spirituals have their beginnings in the cotton fields of America. African Americans memorized these songs and sang them to hold themselves together spiritually, to give themselves hope under the oppression of slavery."