“The Potters House Church”

One of the key cultural-musical elements of African American gospel music performance is the capacity of the choir/musicians, to instantly recall and realise songs from African American church/cultural history, performed to professional standard, without prior rehearsal. Also, their capacity to spontaneously invent, embellish, make-work and improvise music in a manner which - to outsiders - suggests significant rehearsal and preparation, is extremely challenging to people outside of this community. Potters House director of choirs, Myron Butler, asked the SGC to learn 5 new tunes immediately prior to their televised performance. The SGC were expected to instantly memorize lyrics, notes, phrasing, forms and structures in one 30 minutes rehearsal, and then perform these tunes at professional standard in a live broadcast and performance venue. The capacity of the SGC to manage this demand to such a high standard is a key ‘evidence’ supporting the depth to which Legg has been able to translate the complex nuances and gestures contained within both musical and cultural practices of the African American community into an Australian context. The broadcast performances in conjunction with the survey statistics, part published in a book chapter (in-press, This Is My City, Rowtledge) and Cambridge Popular Music refereed article underpin the key findings of my research, and continue to shape and inform our transformative immerging choral and musical practice.