Various Artists – Salute to the Masters
Featuring L.C. Cooke, Otis Clay, The Soul Stirrers, Tyrone Davis
Sagebrush Productions, Inc.
85 minute run time
by MARK THOMPSON. This concert video was recorded at the Mercy Seat Missionary Baptist Church in Chicago on April 22, 2001. Mixing interview segments with live performances, the video pays tribute to the rich vocal traditions of gospel music and some of its greatest singers. The opening discussion has two of Chicago’s most celebrated vocalists, Otis Clay and the late Tyrone Davis, along with L.C. Cooke, the younger brother of Sam Cooke. Clay names Claude Jeter (Swan Silvertones), Ira Tucker (the Dixie Hummingbirds), and Julius Cheeks (Sensational Nightingales) as influences, adding that it wasn’t enough to have a powerful voice. He makes the emphatic point that the best singers were stylists, each one unique in their approach. READ MORE