The Daily Tar HeelFriday, January 10, 19925
Center cements black culture in Durham
: ) 7
The Holmes
Holmes Brothers will
color Carrboro blue
with their spirituality
'By Anne Michaud
Arts Coordinator
People Magazine called their mu
sic "raw-boned virtuosity." Rolling
Stone Magazine applauded their "ur
gency and energy." Billboard Maga
zine called them "utterly astounding."
A band with more than three de
cades of performance experience, the
Holmes Brothers are finally getting
the public approval and listenership
they deserve and have broken into the
recording mainstream with success
and critical accolade.
Showcasing their newly released
album, "Where It's At," the Holmes
Brothers will appear at the ArtsCenter
in Carrboro at 9 p.m. Saturday per
forming their unconventional lyrics to
mixes of gospel, blues, R & B and
country.
The New York-based band began
in the early 1960s when Virginia
raised brothers Wendell and Sherman
Holmes, playing guitar and bass, per
formed in blues bars such as Dan
Lynch's.
Drummer f opsy Dixon was added
in 1980, and together they recorded
and released their 1990 debut album
"'In the Spirit," which catapulted them
into national blues acclaim. Their
southern roots of gospel and blues,
which they performed in churches in
their beginnings as a duet, still linger
in their music, giving it a spiritual
spark.
Using gospel as their cornerstone,
the Holmes Brothers link gut bucket
blues and red-clay soul with rock and
funk in their innovative renditions of
traditional blues standards, obscuri
ties and original material. They are
able to make a swift transition from
Gift
enable us to reach a group of children
who we haven't been able to reach
before," she said.
. The museum also has received
$100,000 from the Nathan Cummings
Foundation, but there is still a long way
to go before the school meets in cam
paign goal, Britt said.
'Things are looking positive, but we
310 W Franklin St.
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Homemade
Brothers
exalted gospel chants to heavy low
down blues almost instantly upon
changing songs.
But the Holmes Brothers are also
able to show their essential musical
link: emotional truth. They draw upon
the common musical heritage of raw
energy and spirituality of both blues
and gospel in songs that cry out to
audiences in exaltation and despera
tion. This is seen especially in their vo
cal harmonies and in the diversity of
the musicians' three distinct voices.
The dominant baritone voice of lead
singer Sherman sets the mood, while
Wendell's gruff soul style combined
and contrasted with Dixon's haunting
falsetto provide an exciting counter
balance to their music.
They have the vocal range to ac
commodate gospel quartet singing and
blues shouting and can bring the "soul"
out of this music so deeply rooted in
their childhood and early years.
But just because their music pours
out emotion doesn't mean the Holmes
Brothers can't pack a solid beat-driven
punch. CMJ Jackpot said, "Just be
cause there's spine-tingling singing
doesn't mean this isn't a rockin' soul
party."
No matter whether they aim to de
liver a message or express emotion,
the Holmes Brothers can do it with
intense showmanship and commit
ment. They've still got that old gospel
fire igniting their music.
Tickets for the Holmes Brothers
concert at 9 p.m. Saturday are $12.50
for the public and $10 for friends of
the A rtsCenter. For more information
call the ArtsCenter at 922-ARTS.
from page 3
are keeping our $2 million endowment
for the campaign flexible," she said.
"We are behind the rest of the Univer
sity, though, because we had to close
last year for renovations."
NCNB Corp. made the largest corpo
rate campaign pledge of $2 million in
October.
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ByBethTatum
Assistant Features Editor
On the corner of Old Fayetteville
Street, its form breaks the horizon
through gray sheets of rain. Inside the
renovated church, rain streams down
the old stained-glass windows and pat
ters on side glass panels. Oil paintings
grace the walls while, in contrast to the
pulse of the rain, a melody drifts through
the building from a set of steel drums.
This is the Hayti (pronounced hay
tie) Heritage Center, an African-American
center located in Durham. Estab
lished in September 1991, the facility
promotes culture, art, health and what
ever else affects black people, said
Dianne Pledger, program directorof the
Hayti Heritage Center and chief opera
tions officer for St. Joseph's Historical
Foundation.
This fall, the center hosted the
Durham Blues Festival, put on a sold
out production of "God's Trombones"
and exhibited art from local artists. The
center focuses on local black artists.
Pledger said. "It 's opened a lot of doors."
Once a woman came in and told
Pledger she could paint, Pledger said.
She asked if she could show Pledger her
work. "That's what this center does."
Pledger said she most wanted to work
with the artists in the community and to
be a support system. "I'd like to see us
be a funder for local artists and even
educators."
Linda Norfleet, involved with the
theater department at N.C. Central Uni
versity, put on a production of "Azusa"
at the center. "The center is a wonderful
facility it's a venue to make things
happen," Norfleet said. "The commu
nity is excited about it and uses it."
Even though the Hayti Heritage Cen
ter emphasizes local art, the center is
also open as a facility for meetings,
ranging from wedding receptions to
seminars about owning your own busi-
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The original St. Joseph's church, which is now the Hayti Heritage Center
ness to Narcotics Anonymous. "We nomic center of Durham.
touch on different issues," Pledger said.
Because it is a non-profit organiza
tion, funding comes from private con
tributions, ticket sales and the city of
Durham. The city of Durham has given
the Hayti Heritage Center $ 1 26,000 for
this year, but the center has to reapply
for the money each year.
The building for the center was origi
nally St. Joseph's Church. After the
church relocated to a new building, a
campaign was started by the St. Joseph's
Historical Foundation in 1973 to make
the original building a national histori
cal landmark. It succeeded.
After a city referendum was passed
in 1986 and money became available,
the Hayti Heritage Center was estab
lished. The center took the name Hayti
because of its location in the old Hayti
neighborhood, the former black eco-
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"This church has been a part of the
community," Pledger said. "But the
center is for the whole Durham commu
nity. It's functional for all groups, and
it's for everyone to come enjoy. It's
important to learn more about each other,
why we are what we are."
Although the center is unique to the
Triangle, similar centers exist in Char
lotte and Asheville. But once the Hayti
Heritage Center is completed, it will be
one of the nation's five largest, she said.
Durham has needed a facility like
Hayti Heritage Center for a long time.
Pledger said. Before the founding of the
center, other arts organizations and pro
grams at public schools tried to educate
others about the black experience, she
said. Now that the center is in place, it
can respond to the community in more
concrete, more focused ways, she said.
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The center also collaborates with
other groups that haven't been able to
reach the black community before,
Pledger said. Such groups include the
Durham Arts Council, Durham County
Health Department, Duke University
and even the Ackland Art Museum.
One result of this collaboration will
be an African-American quilt exhibit
from Feb. 2 to Mar. 22 at Ackland that
will move on Feb. 20 for a one-day
showing at the Hayti Heritage Center.
This marks the first cooperative effort
between the two groups.
"I think this is a good opportunity to
work together," said Beth Shaw, educa
tor for outreach and access at Ackland
Art Museum. "There tends to be a line
between Durham and Chapel Hill. I
hope this program will dissolve the myth
of distance."
As for the future. Pledger has high
goals. "I would like to see the center
become the mecca of African-American
culture on the East Coast," she said.
"We want to develop (the Hayti Heri
tage Center) into a national landmark,
be a visitor's destination point."
For the immediate future of 1 992, the
goals are more solid. The center will
begin fund raising for a St. Joseph's
Performance Center within the build
ing. Hayti will also be staging more
performances, such as the plays "Mother
Love" and "Ladder." In February the
center plans to exhibit the works of
sculptor Barbara Gault.
"We want to uplift the community
with our programming," Pledger said.
"If people come to the center, the com
munity itself will have a better under
standing of what our culture is and
become involved."
The Hayti Heritage Center will put
on "A Night with Dr. Martin Luther
King Jr." at 8 p.m. Saturday and Sun
day. Tickets will be $6 general admis
sion, $4 for students and senior citizens.
Call (919) 683-1709 for information.
GIF
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