On Friday, August 25, 2006, Bishop
Paul S. Morton, Pastor
of New Orleans’ Greater St. Stephen Full Gospel Baptist
Church, returned to the scene of his greatest nightmare to record
what is likely to go down in music history as one of the best
and most inspirational live albums ever created.
That same time a year before, Hurricane Katrina had begun to
sweep through the Gulf States with a hungry fury that eventually
submerged New Orleans with waves of water and a high tide of
death. Families were destroyed and in the wake of Katrina, Morton
lost the largest of his three church sanctuaries, his home, his
cars and his 20,000-member congregation was scattered across
the United States.
So, when Morton took to the pulpit of the “Mother” church
(it suffered minor damage by the storm) where he first pastored
in 1972, he was sending a message. That message was that the
people of New Orleans would not be defeated but would overcome
their shared adversity through Christ. The new recording, “Still
Standing,” releasing on November
7, 2006 (List Price $16.98
- Light Records/Tehillah Music Group), is a celebration that
the worst has passed and the best is just up ahead. The project
will also be released as a dual DVD set (List Price $14.98 DVD
alone/ $24.98 CD/DVD combo). The first DVD contains the concert
video and the second features interviews with Katrina survivors,
Bishop Morton, Kurt Carr, and other behind-the-scenes footage.
“Working with Kurt
Carr has put me on another level
musically,” says Bishop Morton of the Grammy-nominated
choirmaster, known for tunes such as “Awesome Wonder” and “In
the Sanctuary, who produced the collection. “This
project will surely be a blessing to many.” Backed
by the Greater St. Stephen Atlanta Choir (Morton set up a church
there after Katrina) and his Greater St. Stephen New Orleans
Choir (their first time uniting on one stage), the rousing concert
opened with the vigorous lead single, “I’m Still
Standing.” It’s a personal testimony of the experiences
Bishop Morton has personally overcome, including: a nervous breakdown
in 1998, the sudden death of his infant grandchild, Hurricane
Katrina’s devastation on his congregation and himself and
his victory over colon cancer.
Morton commanded the audience with his trademark preacher’s
squall and also displayed an old school soul singer’s charm
worthy of the Rev. Al Green or Marvin Gaye. Each song touched
on pain but in the end, Morton proclaimed that there’s
no hurt that God can’t heal. He delivered “Not
Me Lord, But You” as a love song to God.
Truly a family affair, Morton’s daughter, Jasmine, joined
him on the up-tempo praise song, “Oh Hallelujah.” Then,
Morton’s elder brother, Bishop James H. Morton of New Beginnings
Baptist Church in Decatur, GA, sparred with his kid brother vocally
on the inspiring “If It Wasn’t For Your Grace.” On
a musical tribute to the late gospel composer, Thomas “The
Maestro” Whitfield, Morton and his sister, Gwen Morton
(who was engaged to Whitfield at the time of his death in 1992),
got together for “Down At The Cross.”
Among the luminaries on hand were singer Desmond
Pringle, Bishop Albert Jamison, Bishop Sam Williams and gospel
legend, Tramaine Hawkins, who joined Morton for the tune, “Holy One.” She
was effusive in her praise of Morton. "Oh MY! Recording
with Bishop Morton was a real thrill,” she exclaims. “I
knew he could preach, and I knew he could sing too; but singing
with him was just an awesome treat for me. And having
MY producer, Kurt Carr leading and producing us was just awesome
and a lot of fun! To God be the glory!"
Perhaps, the highlight of the evening was on Thomas
Whitfield’s “Hold
On (We Made It)” which completely embodied the spirit of
New Orleans and the festive mood of the evening. Morton opened
it as a churchy sing-a-long anthem before Kurt Carr let out a
roar and the song morphed into a second-line dance tune with
the choir and congregation waving white handkerchiefs (a New
Orleans African-American parade tradition celebrating freedom
and victory). In the midst of this celebration, a Born-Again
Bourbon Street musician, Hack Bartholomew (who has played on
sessions with the Neville Brothers), blew the trumpet in Zion
and took the service to a new dimension of power and praise.
Finally, the evening closed on the ballad, “You Can Depend
on Me” which featured an exhortation by Bishop Jamison
that summed up the survivalist theme of the evening.
“We wanted to come back home to do this project,” Morton
said that night to a packed church of people who risked venturing
out at the dawn of a new hurricane season. “Because, I
know God has been good to New Orleans. There are a lot of things
that are not back, but I’m glad church is back!”
CONTACT INFORMATION
Publicity:
Bill Carpenter
Capital Entertainment
202-636-7028
billcarpenter@capitalentertainment.com
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