DENVER -- Charmaine Anderson stepped to the microphone, beads of sweat gathering on her face as her powerful voice filled the hotel ballroom.
"I wanna be ready," she crooned as the Spirituals Project choir hummed softly in the background. "I wanna be ready to put on my long white robe."
At a recent convention of the National Association of Negro Musicians, the soprano's rendition of "I Wanna Be Ready" silenced the rustling papers and few whispers from the audience of about 300.
The song, a newer arrangement of a traditional spiritual, is a sad, slow hymn about preparing for judgment day. People swayed, clapped and occasionally wept while the choir performed spirituals and recited poetry.
"I feel so free singing. It's funny because these songs came from the slaves," she said.
The Spirituals Project was formed in Denver about three years ago by author and psychology professor Arthur Jones to educate the public about spirituals, what he calls the original American music.
He and his piano accompanist, Ingrid Thompson, have traveled the country conducting lectures and workshops on spirituals since 1991. Their programs combine performance of spirituals with presentations on the songs' historical significance and how they relate to modern music.
For Jones, a professor at University of Denver, music has always been a passion. He's been performing most of his life, but until he wrote "Wade in the Water," a book about the history of spirituals, he didn't think to create a group devoted to performing them.
Longings for freedom
"It started as just an outside interest, but evolved into my life's work," said Jones. "I discovered while doing the presentations something permanent needed to be established."
The spiritual style of music has roots in Africa, as folk songs sung during work, worship and entertainment. During slavery, spirituals evolved into songs expressing deeply held religious convictions, especially for converted Christians.
The songs also reflected longings for freedom, often hidden within song lyrics. In "Blow Your Trumpet, Gabriel," for example, the singer asks the angel "...to blow me home / To my new Jerusalem."
"In times of crisis, people want to reach for something with a deep meaning," Jones said. "These songs were created in a time of great crisis, and I think when something comes out of crisis it comes from a very deep place in the human spirit. It ends up with a universal appeal."
James Kinchen, music professor at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside, said groups that work to preserve the spirituals are a necessity.
"The spiritual was this country's unique gift to the musical world. They should be cherished, remembered and taught," he said. "If we teach them with understanding, that these are more than just words and notes, it helps everyone see their social and historical importance."
Jones' choir was formed soon after the project was founded. The 70 members are a multiracial mix of professional musicians, students and amateurs. Members are unpaid, and perform mostly in Denver, but will travel to Greeley and Colorado Springs in the next few months. Jones also hopes to travel throughout the United States.
The nonprofit project is also producing a documentary about the songs for PBS, and is working with the University of Denver to create a Web site.
When Jones founded the Spirituals Project, he was happy to discover others shared his interest, although the spirituals preservation movement is still relatively small; he said only about 20 choirs nationwide perform the music on a regular basis.
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