NEGRO CHORISTERS

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 711, 10 July 1929, Page 17

NEGRO CHORISTERS

TALENTED BAND OF SINGERS Eclipsing- any previous performances of similar character, the ForbesRandolph Jubilee Singers are delighting all who hear them in their programmes at His Majesty’s Theatre. Such perfection in part-singing is rarely heard, while each of the soloists is endowed with a magnificent and flexible voice, exemplified in the case of the light tenor, whose silvery notes contribute much of its charm to the memorable rendition of “Sweet Chariot.” In ‘ Old Black Joe,” again, a deep bass-baritone invests the old familiar refrain with a mournful poignancy to which hitherto it has, in the experience of many listeners, been a stranger. “Swanee River” and “My Old Kentucky Home” were other old favourites included last night either in the main programme or in the several encore numbers, but though there is an abiding charm about these haunting melodies, other numbers disclose the same dualities. In particular, a lusty soldier chorus, “If You Want to Know Where the Generals Are,” struck an appreciative chord. “Esekiel Saw de Wheel” was one of those semispiritual harmonies so redolent of the Southern negro’s simple faith. And the.re were many others that echoed the sufferings of slave days on the plantations of Georgia and Carolina, when the auction block, the peck of corn, and the driver’s lash composed for the unfortunate chattel a lot in which only abiding faith could sustain him. These Jubilee Singers have the advantage of something more in entertainment value than even their rare vocal qualities can afford. Alfred Alphonso is one of the best step dancers seen hereabouts for a long time, and “Shorty,” besides being gifted with a fine expressive voice, is a comedian whose comic antics in “Wings” are unsurpassed. The programme follows a thread of logical sequence, and the scene in the front-line dug-out. with shells bursting without, has the adj vantage of fine acting not untinged I with pathos. The programme will be 1 continued tonight.