Saturday, November 5, 2011    1:00 p.m.-7:00 p.m.                                  FOOD AVAILABLE 

FREE                                                                                                                          by  Jackson Olin Athletic Boosters

 Discovery Alabama Event Center at WaterMark Place                             Hot Dogs ($2.00) and Hot Fish ($3.00)

4500 Alabama Adventure Parkway;  Bessemer, Alabama                       (1 more dinner dish TBA)

                                                                                                                                   Drinks/Water plus Candies/Chips

Press Release           R.S. V.P. on the Facebook event page- right side- "I'm Attending"                        

Program

1:00 p.m.:  "Trainers and Training in the Jefferson County Gospel Quartet Heritage" by author and independent researcher, Doug Seroff, whose work with African American gospel quartets includes the 1980 landmark Birmingham Quartet Reunion.  In collaboration with Lynn Abbott, he has written two books, Out of Sight:  The Rise of African American Popular Music, 1889-1895 and Ragged but Right:  Black Traveling Shows, "Coon Songs," and the Dark Pathway to Blues and Jazz, published by the University Press of Mississippi in 2002. 

15 minute break

2:15 p.m.:  Documentary Film by Robert Clem.  The Jefferson County Sound profiles five Alabama quartets who are still performing today: The Blind Boys of Alabama, Fairfield Four (based in Nashville but led by Jefferson County native Isaac Freeman), Four Eagles, Delta-Aires and Birmingham Sunlights. The film includes concert footage of all five groups – including the Sunlights in their NEA Award concert in 2009 -- as well as interviews, rehearsals and daily life of these very dedicated artists – a tribute to Alabama’s historic contribution to quartet music.  The Blind Boys of Alabama are not from Jefferson County but do contribute to the broader understanding of the tradition across the state of Alabama.

Robert Clem graduated from Anniston High School and Birmingham-Southern College and later received an M.F.A. from NYU Graduate Film School. He has been a fellow at the Sundance Institute writer/director’s lab and his films include Company K; Big Jim Folsom: The Two Faces of Populism; Eugene Walter: Last of the Bohemians; Malbis Plantation: From Greece to America, and In the Wake of the Assassins.

15 minute break

3:30 p.m.  Roundtable Discussion featuring members of the group, The Pillars. 

4:45 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.:   Long break - sound check -  eat, refreshments, restroom, etc.

5: 30 p.m.-7:00 p.m.  Concert featuring The Birmingham Sunlights and The Pillars

The Pillars:  The Pillars gospel quartet includes seven members, four veterans of the tradition and three representatives of the next generation, who are practicing and performing as part of the learning process.  Younger members are Vincent Witt, Sam Wilkerson, and Larry Ford and senior members include Norman Wooding, Jr., Reverend Don Solomon, Henry Burton, and Bob Friedman, all of whom have over fifty years of experience singing, recording, and performing.

The Birmingham Sunlights:  Wayne Williams, Reginald Speights, James Alex Taylor, Bill Grave, Steve Taylor and Barry Taylor.  Several members of the group developed their a cappella singing style in the Church of Christ and then joined with other singers who came from similar traditions.  Having apprenticed with the Four Eagles and the Shelby County Big Four of the Birmingham area, the group combines the work of their mentors with their own unique style.  In 2009, the National Endowment for the Arts honored them as National Heritage Fellow.  They have toured internationally and performed at the National Folk Festival, the Library of Congress, and Carnegie Hall.

The event center is accessible.