This past weekend, a concert coined \u201cArt of a Spiritual\u201d drew a sold-out audience to the Marshall L. Davis Sr. African Heritage Cultural Arts Center, highlighting the enduring emotional and cultural power of Negro spirituals. Beloved songs such as Give Me Jesus, Nobody Knows the Trouble I\u2019ve Seen, and Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho\u00a0filled the Center as expressions of worship, resilience and hope.<\/p>\n
Emerging between the late 18th and mid-19th centuries, spirituals fused West and Central African musical traditions such as call-and-response, polyrhythm, improvisation, and communal singing with Christian hymns and biblical narratives introduced during slavery. On plantations and in praise houses, these songs served as worship, refuge, and at times, coded communication, often drawing on biblical liberation stories. After Emancipation, groups such as the Fisk Jubilee Singers helped carry spirituals from oral tradition to the concert stage, influencing gospel, blues, jazz, and much of American music.<\/p>\n
The concert opened with the New Canon Chamber Collective, setting a reflective tone for the evening. Baritone Angel Refus\u00e9, joined by pianist Kevin Wayne Bumpers and drummer Daniel Washington, delivered a rendition of Witness.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wanted to bring back the drums to our performance because I believe it to be relevant,\u201d said Refus\u00e9.<\/p>\n
Brandii Moore offered an expressive It\u2019s Me, O Lord, while Lady of Harp presented her interpretation of H. T. Burleigh\u2019s Spiritual Meditation.<\/p>\n
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The Center honored Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church of Coconut Grove, founded in 1895, and the Collective Empowerment Group on Saturday.<\/p>\n
(Gregory Reed)<\/p>\n
The Florida Memorial University Ambassador Chorale, alongside Isis Roberts, brought the audience to its feet with performances of There\u2019s a Balm in Gilead\u00a0and Great Day.<\/p>\n
Additionally, in recognition of both the centennial observance of Black History Month, founded by Dr. Carter G. Woodson, and the nation\u2019s approaching 250th anniversary, the Center honored Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church of Coconut Grove, founded in 1895, and the Collective Empowerment Group for their longstanding commitment to cultural preservation and community empowerment.<\/p>\n
\u201cToday, spirituals continue to speak powerfully across generations,\u201d said Center Director Marshall L. Davis Sr., whose birthday coincided with the event. \u201cThemes of faith, perseverance, and justice remain deeply relevant in contemporary cultural and social conversations.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Center\u2019s next major event is Night at the Sir John\u2019s Knight Beat\u00a0on Friday, Feb. 27, 2026 at 7 p.m. Tickets are available on Eventbrite for $28\u2013$50.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This past weekend, a concert coined \u201cArt of a Spiritual\u201d drew a sold-out audience to the Marshall L.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":150852,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[62462,72820,72815,72812,72828,72818,72811,72823,72829,72817,72813,72821,72825,13296,72819,72814,72824,225,227,226,72826,32967,62460,72810,72816,72827,72830,72822],"class_list":{"0":"post-150851","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-hialeah","8":"tag-african-american-cultural-preservation","9":"tag-african-american-music-history","10":"tag-african-american-sacred-music","11":"tag-african-american-spiritual-music","12":"tag-african-american-worship-music","13":"tag-african-heritage-cultural-arts-center-miami","14":"tag-art-of-a-spiritual-concert","15":"tag-black-church-music-traditions","16":"tag-black-cultural-heritage-miami","17":"tag-black-history-month-cultural-events","18":"tag-black-spirituals-history","19":"tag-call-and-response-spirituals","20":"tag-carter-g-woodson-black-history-month","21":"tag-coconut-grove-black-history","22":"tag-fisk-jubilee-singers-legacy","23":"tag-florida-black-cultural-events","24":"tag-florida-memorial-university-ambassador-chorale","25":"tag-hialeah","26":"tag-hialeah-headlines","27":"tag-hialeah-news","28":"tag-macedonia-missionary-baptist-church-history","29":"tag-marshall-l-davis-sr-african-heritage-cultural-arts-center","30":"tag-miami-arts-and-culture-news","31":"tag-negro-spirituals","32":"tag-negro-spirituals-concert-miami","33":"tag-negro-spirituals-influence-on-jazz-and-gospel","34":"tag-south-florida-cultural-arts-events","35":"tag-west-african-musical-traditions"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150851","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=150851"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150851\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/150852"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=150851"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=150851"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=150851"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}