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BOB ABERNETHY, anchor: This week marked the release of a new CD called CHURCH: SONGS OF SOUL AND INSPIRATION. It features top African-American female vocalists singing classic pop and jazz favorites ... with a gospel twist. All of the singers grew up in the church and wanted to show the broad range of the church's musical influence. The project was the idea of opera superstar Denyce Graves, a mezzo-soprano who is well known for her performances at the Metropolitan Opera and at 9/11 memorial services. Kim Lawton spoke with her.
KIM LAWTON: In Maestro Julius Rudel's Manhattan apartment, opera star Denyce Graves is rehearsing a secular song about love. But she says no matter what she sings, she's come to believe the sacred is always there.
DENYCE GRAVES (Opera Performer): I did a concert about two years ago and a young fellow came up to me -- he must have been about nine or 10 years old -- and he said to me, "Ms. Graves, did you grow up in the church?" And I said, "Yes, I did." He said, "I can hear the church in your voice." And I said, "What?" He said, "Yes, I hear it -- it sounds like the church." And this was an operatic concert.
LAWTON: The conversation got Graves thinking about how her church background shaped her not just spiritually, but musically as well. And then she discovered how many other leading African-American singers also came from the church.
The result is a new CD, CHURCH: SONGS OF SOUL AND INSPIRATION, spearheaded and coproduced by Graves. The disc features songs by some of the leading ladies of R&B, pop, classical, and jazz -- all paying tribute to their beginnings in church gospel music. Artists including Patti LaBelle and Chaka Khan.
The CD also includes a spoken-word composition by poet Maya Angelou:
MAYA ANGELOU: The breadth and depth and width and height of church cannot be defined, but church can define me always.
KIM LAWTON: In Maestro Julius Rudel's Manhattan apartment, opera star Denyce Graves is rehearsing a secular song about love. But she says no matter what she sings, she's come to believe the sacred is always there.
DENYCE GRAVES (Opera Performer): I did a concert about two years ago and a young fellow came up to me -- he must have been about nine or 10 years old -- and he said to me, "Ms. Graves, did you grow up in the church?" And I said, "Yes, I did." He said, "I can hear the church in your voice." And I said, "What?" He said, "Yes, I hear it -- it sounds like the church." And this was an operatic concert.
LAWTON: The conversation got Graves thinking about how her church background shaped her not just spiritually, but musically as well. And then she discovered how many other leading African-American singers also came from the church.The result is a new CD, CHURCH: SONGS OF SOUL AND INSPIRATION, spearheaded and coproduced by Graves. The disc features songs by some of the leading ladies of R&B, pop, classical, and jazz -- all paying tribute to their beginnings in church gospel music. Artists including Patti LaBelle and Chaka Khan.
The CD also includes a spoken-word composition by poet Maya Angelou:
MAYA ANGELOU: The breadth and depth and width and height of church cannot be defined, but church can define me always.
