The Fredösphere

I saw an article that introduced me to Jacqueline Hairston, a choir director and preservationist of Spirituals.  I suspected, and confirmed, that she is related to the legendary Jester Hairston who died just shy of his 98th birthday, in 2000.  (Jacqueline Hairston is his cousin, and therefore not his widow, right?  Right???)

Among singers, Jester was famous as an arranger of Spirituals and as a clinician (boy, I hate that word; can we come up with another?) whose enthusiasm could transform a choir after only a few minutes in his presence.  Surprisingly, he also kept quite busy as an actor, appearing lastly as "Lester's Friend" in Being John Malkovich of all things.

I used to get Jester Hairston confused with William Dawson, another enthusiast who arranged Spirituals and lived to great old age.  If you've sung in a choir for any length of time, you will have sung Dawson's Swing Low or Ev'ry Time I Feel the Spirit or Ain'-a That Good News.  I had the pleasure of speaking to William Dawson once on the phone, not long before he died.

I was directing a small choir and we were putting a CD together.  We were singing Ezekiel Saw de Wheel, a piece we really had no business singing, since it ends by breaking into more parts than we had singers.  Anyway, this was my first time dealing with copyrights, and not knowing any better, I found Dawson's phone number and called him up to ask how to get permission to record his piece.  He quickly explained I should contact ASCAP or whomever, then he settled down into a nice long, rambling (yet fascinating) reminiscence of his career.  (So I told Mr. Stokowski, "the trombones ain't playing that phrasing right," and Mr. Stokowski said, "if they were Europeeeeeeans, they would"....)  Oi, if only I had a tape of that conversation!

Neemi Jarvi and the DSO have recorded Dawson's Negro Folk Symphony.  You can also listen to a bit of Soon Ah Will Be Done, although I prefer it sung much faster.  The soft parts are spooky, and the loud sections knock you out of your seat.  In fact, don't listen to that excerpt; it will only confuse you.  Soon Ah Will Be Done became the signature piece of that small choir I mentioned; when we would nail the final B major chord (a picardy), voiced high and tight, our first soprano topping it off with an unwritten high B, well -- how can I describe it?  That's the kind of moment that keeps me believing.