Zimbe!

For sadly what was to be the final concert for Bradley Barlow as Musical Director, prior to taking up a new teaching post, on this occasion Stourport Choral were supported by youngsters from Highclare School Erdington and the Wyre Forest Young Voices, a Kidderminster based choir.

The first half of the concert consisted of five different numbers, the first of which was ‘The Bold Grenadier, by John Rutter and this was followed by two numbers of Irish connection; a rousing ‘Saint Patrick’ when some of the youngsters  joined Stourport Choral, followed by a lilting ‘Mairi’s Wedding’. The choirs then moved to Scotland for ‘The Shepherds Wife’ which was notably both strident and passionate in its performance. The final number in Part 1 concluded with ‘Weeping’, an anti-apartheid protest song written by Dan Haymann in the mid-1980s, which provided the opportunity for the choir to exercise both light and shade beautifully.

The second part of the concert was given over totally to Zimbe! A sequence of choral arrangements of traditional songs from all over Africa in a jazz style. This is a work which forges links between adult choirs and massed children’s choirs, placing singing at the heart of the community as it always has been in Africa. And, since jazz grew out of blues which itself sprang from the mouths of African people, what better accompaniment for these songs than a jazz band consisting on this occasion of drums, electric organ, piano and saxophone.

Zimbe! was a collection of 15 individual pieces and I particularly enjoyed ‘Aleluya / Thuma Mina’ which enabled us to listen to the solo voices of both Bradley and one of the youngsters Cadence Ball, in what was a gentle and beautiful number. ‘Freedom is Coming’ was another number with goose bump producing sequences. Zimbe! was at times touching and moving, at other times funky and groovy and all of the time incredibly uplifting.

Congratulations to all involved and I look forward to where Stourport Choral take us next!

 

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