Daniel gets Leigh singers swinging to sound of gospel (From Echo)

Daniel gets Leigh singers swinging to sound of gospel

4:50pm Saturday 18th February 2012 in Leisure By Tom King

THE polite and the passionate met to sing for two hours on a dull Sunday afternoon in Leigh. By session’s end, a remarkable conversion had taken place. Only the passionate remained.

On one side of the line stood a charismatic figure, Daniel Thomas. On the other side of the line were the cast and chorus of Leigh Operatic and Dramatic Society’s next production, Aida.

Daniel was there to give the Lods a gospel workshop. He is a former director of the London Community Gospel Choir. He worked to turn the London choir into a gospel singing group almost without rival, even in the USA.

Now he helps to carry through the choir’s founding mission. Back in 1982, the task was expressed by one of its founders, the Rev Bazil Meade, who said: “We will take gospel music into venues where it has not travelled before.”

Lods president Andre Seal admits: “True gospel is fresh, unexplored territory for us guys. We wanted to get it right.”

The Lods cast are well drilled, experienced singers. Their shows, like the Witches of Eastwick and Our House, have regularly won awards and fulsome reviews, not least in the Echo. But their natural territory, musically speaking, is the West End and Broadway show-song.

Their Aida production is a Disney musical with numbers by the mighty team of Elton John and Tim Rice.

In the original version by Verdi, one of the noisiest operas in the repertoire, the vocals are delivered in grand classical style.

The Elton-Rice version can give Verdi a run for his money when it comes to noise, but the music style discards classical harmonies in favour of pure gospel music, as well as styles with their seminal roots in gospel, like Motown and reggae.

Andrew says: “We could have delivered a technically competent show just working from the sheet music, but we wanted to offer a bit more,”

At Christmas, Lods members went on an outing to Hornchurch to see the London gospel choir in action.

“We were just blown away by their music and the passion they brought to it,” says Andrew. “We discovered they offered workshops and grabbed the opportunity.”

Two months later, Daniel arrived in Leigh and, in the space of two hours, left a permanent mark on the sound of south Essex. First, he listened to a sample rendition from the Aida cast. “Very nice,” he said. “But you are, so...” He paused as if looking for the right word, although he knew it perfectly well. “So English.”

He meant, of course, the song was word and technically perfect, but delivered politely, with restraint. It was never going to change anyone’s life.

“But every song, I believe, is a conversation,” said Daniel. “You are speaking out. Arguing, Your voice rises and falls. You wish your words to carry conviction as you talk. The sound is never repetitive.”

Next, Daniel taught the choir the words of a simple gospel hymn, I Have a Message from the Lord. The group sang it once, carefully, the second time with more of a sense of near-abandon.

In between, Daniel paced in front of the choir. The hall shook as he elaborated his tutorial with stunning piano riffs. Even his spoken words carried a gospel rhythm.

He clapped, the choir clapped with him, and the clapping went on and on, until the singers were visibly tired.

Then came the third run-through of the song, and an unexpected thing happened. The singers all swayed from side to side. They hadn’t been invited to do so, but they were caught up in the rhythm of their own sound and gospel message.

Aida runs from May 9 to May 12 at the Palace Theatre, Westcliff.