Did I ever report back on the PBS documentary about the spirituals concert?
A fine documentary, and the music is fabulous. Battle and Norman are in top form, as are the supporting chorus and instrumental soloists - Hubert Laws on flute, Nancy Allen on harp, Sylvia Olden-Lee on piano (I didn't know all of these, I'm reading off the recording). The talking heads are great, especially Evelyn Simpson-Curenton who contributes plenty.
There's an awful lot of Peter Gelb, but he was a producer of that telecast before joining the Met. It's hilarious when he alludes to Battle "having had some personal demons to fight" (I'm paraphrasing) in the quickest passing mention you can imagine. There was also a guy on the podium who received not so much as a passing mention, or even a credit. Looked familiar, though. The concert itself was issued on VHS but it looks like it has never made it to DVD. But the documentary is well worth seeing.
