Boykin, Alabama: Sacred Spirituals of Gee's Bend

by Gee's Bend Quilters

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	1.	Soundcheck 00:26
	2.	Give Me My Flowers 03:09
	3.	Swing Low, Sweet Chariot 03:21
	4.	Sit at Jesus' Feet 03:30
	5.	Remember 02:40
	6.	Amazing Grace 02:13
	7.	Said I Wouldn't Gonna Tell Nobody 02:11
	8.	Jesus Lifted Me 03:34
	9.	Steal Away 04:11
	10.	Satisfy with Jesus 05:38
	11.	Hallelujah 03:08
	12.	Shine on Me 02:29
	13.	This Little Light of Mine 03:35
	14.	I'll Go 02:48
	15.	Do Lord Remember Me 03:01
	16.	Last Miles 03:29
	17.	Moving by the Power 03:50
	18.	Sit Down Servant 03:19
	19.	Old Landmarks 03:06
	20.	Fix Me Jesus 03:29

about

"Music and art have real power to heal, to bring us together,
to lift us up." - Bill Frisell

"It's an honest document of a community's rich social and spiritual life as reflected in songs sung in church and at collective work, quilting." - Living Blues

“The massively uplifting impact of the Quilters’ four earthy, uncannily complementary voices is miraculous, and it’s something of a revelation to receive into your soul such earnest, dedicated performances. Big voices, big time inspiration.” - Folk Radio

"Don't have time to go to church? This is the next best thing." - Elmore Magazine

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This all newly recorded album is a collection of 20 sacred spirituals of the South including “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot”, “Amazing Grace”, “Steal Away” and many others, sung by four of Gee’s Bend quilters, Mary Ann Pettway, China Pettway, Larine Pettway and Nancy Pettway. The recording session has been made at Gee’s Bend Quilters Collective, over a period of 3 years from May 2015 to June 2017. This is the debut recording for these four quilters, and you can hear their unique, emotional, and beautiful singing style, which the quilters have been preserving over centuries, in the isolated African-American community surrounded on three sides by the Alabama River.

Says China: “While quilting, I sing because it’s a sound of whistling humming God gave me. Quilting is a healing, just like singing. I think quilting and singing is a healing for our soul. This record should be heard over the whole world because somebody will see the light. Psalm 100:2 says we serve the Lord with gladness come before his presence with singing.”

The tradition of Gee’s Bend quilts goes back to the 19thcentury. This African-American art is now one of the most important black cultures in the United States. “Boykin, Alabama – Sacred Spirituals of Gee’s Bend” is another side of this great African-American tradition inherited for generations.

credits

released February 15, 2019

Mary Ann Pettway: Vocal
China Pettway: Vocal
Larine Pettway: Vocal
Nancy Pettway: Vocal

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