Projects

Full Circle: New Orleans Gospel Night

Ringing Rocks Foundation co-sponsored "Full Circle: Journey Back to Gospel" at the First Thessalonians Missionary Baptist Church on April 30, 2004. Hosted by noted singer, Kim Prevost, this special event featured internationally renowned gospel and jazz musicians performing in the traditional setting of a Black Church in New Orleans.

In keeping with the mission of the Ringing Rocks Foundation, this special event helped conserve and express the ancestral roots of this spirited healing culture.

The celebration created a special elders choir, whose members' minimum age was 90 years. Influential musicians who honored their elders, community, and gospel roots included Leah Chase, Fred Sanders, renowned jazz organist Jimmy Smith, and the legendary gospel group, the Zion Harmonizers.

Film makers from Chicago and New York, comprised of several Emmy award-winning directors, are presently producing a documentary film of the event. Watch our website for further details of when these will be aired or available for purchase.

We look forward to sponsoring next year's Gospel Night on May 1st as it occurs during the week of the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival.

"It's a feeling that’s totally in the moment, linked by the rhythm of a collective energy. Maybe you felt it at a Grateful Dead concert, as you whirled in free-form dance that seemed to go on for hours – or in church, when a gospel song made you stomp and jump with the rest of the congregation. This kind of transcendence – linked to movement and community – can be traced to an ancient society still active just a hop, skip, ocean and desert away. " (From Natural Health Magazine, June 2004, Getting Down With the Divine, by Eric Hiss.)

Photos by John Myers