Foot-Stomping Gospel in Oakland Honors MLK Jr.

Gospel music often conjures up images of Southern Baptist churches like West Hunter Street in Atlanta, not necessarily downtown Oakland and the hallowed art deco hall that is its massive Paramount Theater.

Foot-stomping, hand-clapping, soaring gospel music made an evening of sharing the dream for the exuberant crowd that filled 3,000 seats at the Paramount to celebrate and honor Martin Luther King Jr with a tribute aptly called, "In the Name of Love".

Jennifer Holliday headlined the evening on January 19 - the 11th year that Oakland and Living Jazz have given a musical tribute to MLK Jr. Her passion was steamy and the performance electrifying. Holliday is a Grammy Award winner best known for her Broadway hit Dreamgirls, and to its credit Oakland produced an ad hoc group of local musicians - two back-up singers, three brass horns, drummer, pianist, two guitarists and a synthesizer - to rock the Paramount with a world-class singer like Holliday. The musicians had one three-hour rehearsal with her, and together it was an amazing event.

Holliday capped an evening with Terrance Kelley leading the Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir and the Oakland Children's Community Choir. A special treat was the veteran jazz duo of Tuck and Patti, her velvet voice and his mellow guitar closing out the first half of the program and setting the stage for Holliday.

For those of you who were staying in to prepare for the NFL conference playoffs, or those who just felt it was not worth making the trip downtown, it's your big, big loss. A wonderful and amazing, uplifting evening for Oakland and everyone who could share the dream.