As temperatures fall in Paris and the city heads toward winter, I am reminded of Beauford's first autumn and winter in Paris in 1953.
Biographer David Leeming writes poignantly of this time, which was particularly cold and difficult. He reports that Beauford copied the lyrics of several songs in his sketchbooks "as if to keep the critical voices at bay," and names four in particular: "Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen," "Steal Away to Jesus," "In That Great Getting Up Morning," and "Fix Me Jesus."
I went online to search for recordings of these spirituals and am sharing powerful renditions of them that I believe he would have appreciated.
Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen
Performed by Mahalia Jackson
Steal Away to Jesus
Performed by the Fisk Jubilee Singers
In That Great Getting Up Morning
Performed by Jessye Norman and Kathleen Battle
Fix Me Jesus
Performed by the Alvin Ailey Dancers
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