Black music:

MOTHER F-

hy Jon Gray

Grinnell College’s Black Al‘tS En-
semble, better known as Motller F,
has introduced to the Grinnell coni-
Ilillnity the Jazz aspect of Black
music. The ensemble has been lol‘~
med tor the last two years, and is
steadily gaining recognition on came
pus and outside of the Grinnell
community.

Mother F members include Way
hington Alston, bass; Jon Gray,
trombone; Barry l-luil, percussions;
Russell McGregor, trumpet; Dennis
Muss, congas; Elliot Lewis, key
boards; Preston Gould, trumpet; and
niglehorir and Sylvia Wallace, voce
alist, Cecil Lytle mm;

Mother F has periormeo on seVr
ei-al occasions on Grinnell’s came
pus and also at The Numher, a
Grinnell nightspot. Theversatileeir
ght member jazz group has also tra-
veled to surrounding places such as
Cue College in Cedar Rapids, la,
and Simpson College in lndlanola,

Iai
Mother F has Just recently com~

pleted a Midwestern states tour
during spring vacation to Madison,
Wisconsin, Janesville, Wisconsin,
and Elmhurst, Illionis where they
competed in a jazz festival. Mother
r represented Grinnell College in
the Midwest College Jazz Festival
at Elmhurst College, Elmhurst, lll-
inois. Headlining the festivalasjudr
gas were musicologist, David Baker
and artists Rufus Reid, Nathan Dar
ViS, Rich Matteson, and Julian ‘Car
unonhall’ Adderly. Mother F fared
well in the combo division placing
very high and leaving a lasting lnr
delihle mark in the hearts and minds
oi the Judges, participants, and tes-
tival oiiicials. When asked

The Gospel Choir liils its voices.

of his impressions oitlle tour, one
member stated, “Tlieliighlight otthe
tour to me was the Madison gig,
playing two nights oi alternate sets
with the Cecil LytleJaZZ Collective,
featuring Charlie Davis, on salt;
Tommy Cheathan on trombone, Tony
Callender on traps, That was dEr
iinitely a learning experience that
I ieel was very valuable to me. They
were dellnltely some jazz giants."
Mother 1-" will be playing engage-
ments in the near iuture at Kirkr
wood Community College, Cedar
Rapids, lowa, ili Iowa City, lowa
at the University at Iowa and Core
nell College in Mt. Vernon, lowa,

GOSPEL CHOIR-

by Careda Rolland

It’s kind of awkward to come to a small
college and iind that there’s no Black Bap~
tist church to attend and you aren‘t Metr
hodist or Catholic. Eight students iound
this dilemma very annoying. So they dee
cided to organize a Black Gospel choir.
Who would ever think that small group oi
noise makers in Younkers lounge would
bring about such a dynamic choir as the
group that periormed in Roberts on April
first {or the Alumni Beneﬁt show.

i believe it was Just about eight Black
students who met every Sunday alternoon and
commenced to playing a few notes on the
piano and trying to make pitches blend.
All members from this small group were
iron-l dliierent churches and backgrounds.
Surprisingly they all knew the words to the
songs but there were at least five different
arrangements over which to argue. The
choir decided to choose one leader and ﬁnd

a.
Members at Mother F in concert.

a pianist who had time to fit us into his
schedule. They chose Milton Rolland, our
present director. The choir asked Cecil
Lytle, the new Black Music instructor tube
the pianist,

There were Stlll problems that had to be
tackled. When the director and the pianist
met there was a bit otcontusion. ThedireCr
tor could not read music therefore how could
he relate to Mr. Lytle what was tobe sung?
There was no sheet musicat hand. Somehow
this mountain became an ant hill, when the
two began to communicate through humming
and singing the desired tune, Anotherprob-
lem arose. Mr. Lytle is a jazz musician,
it is true that the modern churches ottoday
are getting a hit jazzy, out this was not
what Milton wanted, They had to inspire
some religious notes on the key hoard.
This problem also dwindled away when Mr.
Lytle announed that he’d played with his
rather in a church ten years ago, He admit-
ted he was a little rusty, out once he began
to catch the tune or a song his “old time
religion” came back to him

The choir was iinally organized, All we
needed now was a song, and it was approp-
riate to learn the Black National Anthem
ﬁrst. with etioi't and overflowingdetermin-
ation the song was learnedinone rehearsal.

We practiced every Thursday night and
sang in the Black Music class every other
Wednesday. When it began to look like the
choir was well on lts way to success,
Mr. Lytle and Milton began to look for en—

gagements to spread some oi this talent.
We have come a long way and we are still

going with inspiration trom God and PRIDE.
Today we stand torty strong, with tour
pianists, Cheryl Cole, Durry Morris, Elliot
Lewis. and Cecil Lytle. We are accompan-
ied by one bass guitar playedliy Washington
Alston and our director Milton Rolland.
Our continuing endeavors will he to spread
the beauty at music to all ot those who will
accept us as the young GIFTED AND
BLACK CHOIR oi Grinnell. with the grace
ot God and the determination ot the choir
we will succeed.

 

