Love
I Fell In Love With An Alto
A tribute to a classic woman, a classic voice
I grew up singing in the choir. Two choirs to be exact.
My home church choir was Tabernacle Community Baptist Church where my little sister, Yvette, and I were a part of the youth choir.
Yvette and I were also members of a city-wide, traveling youth choir, Unity in the Community, that performed at church programs around the city.
Yvette was a soprano. I was a tenor.
But, I had a thing for altos.
At church, our high-spirited choir director, Ms. Bass, stood about 4'11 in height with a 7' foot high-pitched voice. I remember her voice — tinged with a rasp — and her loving smile, and her enthusiastic clap.
Choir directors will clap on you.
Our flamboyant community choir director, Rev. Saffold, was ambitious and passionate. He was well-known for his high-energy piano play and his juicy Jheri curl.
Juicy is the only way to describe his curl.
I loved sitting in choir practice and watching those choir directors dissect the sections…