What: First Annual Victoria Gospel Music Festival featuring the Ladies of Gospel, Marvin Matthews, Aaron Scoones and the Universal Gospel Choir
When: Friday and Saturday, 7 p.m. (doors at 6:30)
Where: Alix Goolden Performance Hall, 907 Pandora St.
Tickets: $28 (adult) and $25 (child/senior) at the door or Christian Book and Music, Ditch Records, Lyle’s Place, and ticketweb.ca, rmts.bc.ca, and hightideconcerts.net
The roots of the black gospel tradition can be traced back to a variety of locales, all of which are American.
But that hasn’t stopped a local singer and event producer from staging a two-day Victoria festival centred on the African-American music.
Maria Manna, who sings with local gospel trio Ladies of the Gospel, is the engine behind the Victoria Gospel Music Festival, the first black gospel music festival in Victoria. Though white gospel might seem like a better fit for the Garden City, Manna said she had no reservations about presenting a spiritual, black music to what could ultimately be a secular, white audience.
“I started thinking it was something people would enjoy, especially those who don’t want to go to church but want to get that feeling when you hear good gospel music,” Manna said.
“It’s about a feeling. It’s about a movement that happens in the soul, and that has no colour.”
Heavy with Christian content and propelled by rhythm and blues, black gospel is often associated with singers such as Sister Rosetta Tharpe and Mahalia Jackson, powerhouse vocalists known for their strong conviction.
In the decades since their passing, black gospel has become much more popular, and has played a big role in the early careers of Beyoncé, Whitney Houston and Jennifer Hudson. Once the sole territory of churches, black gospel has a mainstream presence that makes its appeal stronger than ever, according to Manna.
“When it comes down to it, it’s a love of God that we’re singing about. But because it has that Motown feel, it’s something that everybody likes, even people who don’t go to a church. You can’t help but be moved by the music and the words.”
Victoria musician Aaron Scoones, who plays in the Timebenders cover band and the roots collective Electric Timber Co., was exposed to gospel music while studying at Boston’s Berklee College of Music, a prestigious music school.
Scoones, who will appear with bandmates Karel Roessingh (piano), Damian Graham (drums) and Ryan Tandy (bass) during the Friday night portion of the festival, was wowed by gospel after seeing it years ago in Boston.
“Friends invited me to come check out this giant church in the middle of Massachusetts, and when I went it would be like what you would expect to see in the South,” Scoones said. “These massive churches where everybody was singing, clapping their hands and letting loose. It was wild.”
Vancouver’s Universal Gospel Choir will also appear at the Friday portion of the event. Manna will join Maureen Washington and April Gislason (her bandmates in the Ladies of Gospel) and Los Angeles-based singer Marvin Matthews during the closing night of the festival on Saturday.
The concerts benefit the music therapy program at the Victoria Conservatory of Music, of which Manna is a tireless supporter.
Beyond that, Manna isn’t doing the festival to make money for herself. The singer, who attends a black church when she returns to her native Edmonton, is on a mission to see her long-awaited dream come to life.
“I got a message from God about a year ago, and the message was: ‘So when are you doing this?’ I’m finally doing it.”
