Seeking: A Concert Dedicated to the Painting Seeking

On March 8, 2008, a historic concert was held at the Circular Congregational Church in Charleston, South Carolina. The concert "Gullah Expressions" was a visual and aural experience designed to celebrate the work of Gullah artist Jonathan Green and his painting Seeking, a metaphor for spiritual quest and personal discovery. In true Gullah fashion, the resulting concept is an extension of that seeking for spirit and purpose in life.In "Messages," composer Trevor Weston of the College of Charleston paints a sound picture of the seeking experience that Green captured on canvas. Weston's work, while classical in form, draws directly on Gullah traditions. With "I Know the Lord Got His Hands on Me," the current generation of the Moving Star Hall Singers--an a capella group that sings, claps, and stomps traditional lowcountry music--rattle the floorboards and send out sonorous waves of life, joy, and music. Drawing on South Carolina's jazz roots, trumpeter and bandleader Charlton Singleton and his quartet performed several of their original compositions to interpret, improvise, and personalize the structured Gullah themes in a free-form, jazz experience. Singleton's finale, "The Seeking," is a work in progress started and named long before Singleton knew of Green and his intricate painting of the same name.Produced by jazz historian and writer Jack McCray and renowned jazz drummer Quentin E. Baxter with the support of Arts Advocacy, LLC, the concert's audio CD serves as a testament to the universality and connectivity of the human experience central to Jonathan Green's inspirational artwork, and to the sense of discovery and hope that can spring from music and art.