Add Love Divine: A Sylvian Moore Memorial Concert to your social calender if you’re looking for a new event to attend next year.
Love Divine II, held Sunday evening at Frank Collymore Hall, sits at the junction where the past meets the present for a musical matrimony, a fusion of two eras as it were, that everyone can appreciate and enjoy.
Generation X, or those individuals for whom attending Sunday School and both morning and evening church services was not an option, do you remember that time when your grandparents would sing hymns, songs and choruses, word for word without the hymn book during church services, as they did household chores, walked along the street or attended cottage meetings if you grew up in the Wesleyan Holiness household?
Now imagine hearing songs such as In The Cross, Great Is Thy Faithfulness, Amazing Grace and And Can It Be with modern, lively arrangements, some with distinctly Caribbean sounds of calypso and reggae and beats of the djembe and conga drums that are guaranteed to get you moving in your seat, nodding your head, tapping your feet and singing along and you have a good idea of what happened during the three-hour show.
There was nothing dreary or mournful about the musical selections; they were more celebratory in nature like Love Divine All Loves Excelling, from which the event gets its name, thanks to the mastery of musician and arranger Kevin Moore of Trumpet Boy Entertainment, the executive producers of the concert.
Patrons enjoyed themselves at the concert, held in memory of his Kevin’s father Sylvian Moore, who died on September 17, 2020, two years after his prostate cancer diagnosis.
The event, first held last year, was conceptualised to honour the former organist and choirmaster at Selah Methodist Church in St Lucy, who served in that role for more than 50 years.
The first half had mainly instrumentals, including the theme song played by the 11-member band comprising some of Barbados’ best musicians.
There was In The Cross, O Perfect Love, Sweet Sweet Spirit/God Is With Us, a joyous rendition of Lead Me To Calvary featuring drummer Richard Salief Smith, Amazing Grace/My Chains Are Gone, which started with the mournful sound of bagpipes before seguing to a reggae beat. And Can It Be was joyful while Lord We Lift Your Name/Oh Praise Ye The Lord was a rocking rendition and Great Is Thy Faithfulness/ Great Is Your Mercy was exciting and crisp, with every note the band played filling the venue.
All Hail The Power Of Jesus’ Name, the prelude of which saw young organist David Scott playing the Hall’s new Allen Digital Computer Organ, brought the first part to an end on a upbeat note. In this segment, Selah Methodist Choir sang an uptempo version of Lift Up Your Hearts, and The Marlon Legall Voice Project’s Elite Vox gave an amazing rendition of Lift Every Voice and Sing that earned them robust applause.
Vocal performances (all accompanied by the band) were the highlight of the second part of the show that also featured a rousing song service, led by Pastor John Yarde, which the audience eagerly participated in.
It opened with Fiona John who gave a beautiful rendition of The Prayer, accompanied by an eightpiece orchestra which augmented the show’s band and included a surprise performance from Kevin’s eight-yearold son Khai Moore, who played You’re My All In All on violin – garnering cheers and robust applause from patrons.
Emerging singer Mikel Gooding was good in Days Of Elijah, The Marlon Legall Voice Project’s Elite Vox were delightful with their performances of Come See and Hallelujah, Salvation And Glory.
Yarde and Mikey sang Peace, James Leacock sang his classic Raining, and Shem White sang a Ron Kenoly medley comprising Ancient Of Days and Mourning Into Dancing. During the latter, acclaimed musician Andre Woodvine was engaging as he played the flute.
Saxophonists and brothers Kofi and Kymani Gilkes, whose parents died within months of each other, played a stirring rendition of Goodness Of God while the Love Divine Band played Hear Oh Lord and Nara, the latter being the final selection for the show.
Kymani (left) and Kofi Gilkes’ rendition of Goodness Of God was touching.
Apart from the performances, there were touching video messages from some of the musicians and performers who shared stories of their late loved ones and their battle with cancer.
Additionally, four patrons – two females and two males – won vouchers for free screenings compliments Cancer Support Services, the beneficiary of the proceeds of this year’s concert. (GBM)
