Blind Boys of Alabama

September 11, 2010

Time(s): 8:00 p.m.
Location: Balloon Park | Map & Directions
Free Admission, Parking $10

Many gospel music singers talk about a promised land, but a very few sing as if they’re already there, making an especially joyful noise. That has been the Blind Boys of Alabama’s gift for over 70 years, one they’ve shared on humble church stages and in the world’s great concert halls. This February, they performed at the White House; this September 11th Orange County Great Park is proud present their music of hope.

When the original members of the Blind Boys of Alabama met at the Alabama School for the Negro Deaf and Blind in Talladega AL, people who couldn’t even see color were segregated by it. Many such schools provided fine educations and lessons in self-reliance, but they were not doorways to opportunity. The blind were expected to weave baskets or do other repetitive handwork, or, if they had the voices for it, perhaps sing in a few small neighborhood churches.

That’s how the Blind Boys started: singing unadorned a cappella in wood-frame churches. By 1949, they were making records and gaining a national audience, known as the Five Blind Boys of Alabama. They became stars in gospel music, but were little known outside of it until 1983, when the group took a chance and agreed to collectively play Oedipus in Bob Telson and Lee Breuer’s The Gospel at Colonus, a recasting of Sophocles’ Oedipus at Colonus set in a black Pentecostal church. The Obie-winning musical propelled the Blind Boys (and actor Morgan Freeman) to international fame, where they’ve continued to take the rough-hewn majesty of their voices into new territory. They record Tom Waits tunes; they perform with Prince, with Bonnie Raitt, with Lou Reed. Their 2004 collaboration with Ben Harper, There Will Be a Light, won the Blind Boys one of their six Grammys, which includes a Lifetime Achievement Award. This summer they are hosting three nights at the Lincoln Center, performing with an eclectic lineup including Yo La Tengo, Ralph Stanley and the Sun Ra Horns. Official Website

Comedy Corner Line-up

Comedy Corner features local stand-up comedians performing outside the Hangar Café at 7:00 p.m. before each Saturday night concert.

Headliner: Tom Clark (Comedy Central, Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, Last Comic Standing)
Special Guest(s): Chris Edwards, Jonny Loquasto (CBS Mobile, Hollywood Improv Regular)