Space, 14 June

No-one who heard Trace Canini in the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra’s superb Gospel Messiah could be unmoved by the sincerity, as much as the artistry, of this gifted artist, and so it was with a spring in the step that we headed into the space for Gospel Groove. The gig is a masterclass in the special style of singing that is gospel from Canini’s dramatic entrance in flowing black cape, to the ahh-inspiring entrance of the Canini offspring (named, if my ears did not deceive me, Trinity Jazz!), to the toe-curling entrance of the ‘children of the world’, to the getting-up of the audience for a rousing round of “Oh Happy Day”.  Canini’s voice is fabulous, strong and rich, and with a phenomenal range, and she was supported by Mark Simeon Ferguson at the piano, plus band, and a first-class chorus that itself included some of the better singers in town.  Her repertoire ranged from unassailable all-time hits like the opening “Amazing Grace” through classics in the gospel crossover genre, such as “I Feel Alright”, to the full evangelical catastrophe complete with Hallelujahs and hands-in-the-air! Canini takes leaves from many books, from spirituals – “Wade in the water” seldom sounded so good – to the silver screen, and Whoopi Goldberg herself would have loved their take on “Wake Up And Pay Attention”. And like the style or not, “His Eye is on the Sparrow” is as good a song as you can ever ask for.

If the music was a masterclass, so was the stage management, which had more of the Hillsong about it than was entirely to some tastes. And anyone who thinks Gospel Groove was without evangelistic purpose is in error: “repay them,” says the Psalmist, “according to the work of their hands.”

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