Jeri Brown: The Spirit Comes Through (2005)

The exceptional acoustics and soaring architecture of St. Matthews United Church in downtown Halifax provides the setting; the show is part performance and part documentary. We watch Jeri choose fifteen talented young singers from Nova Scotia's black communities, mentor them through a rigorous rehearsal process, and perform with them in front of the television cameras at St. Matthews. The music she selected for them to perform - gospel classics in vibrant new arrangements - originated in the Southern U.S., but it flows naturally from these youngsters, who have grown up performing it in the churches of their own communities. The range of talent exhibited by the young singers in the show is exceptional - especially given the fact that they have all been drawn from just a few small black communities within a 90k radius of Halifax, Nova Scotia. From a rousing duet on "Thank You Lord", to moving solos such as "In The Garden" and toe-tapping choral renditions of "Children Go Where I Send Thee" and "His Eye Is On The Sparrow."