The Heavenly Light Quartet will perform in Auckland on March 3 and 4.
The group comprises four men who got together in 1996 purely to sing the tightly-arranged, yet passionately-sung Black gospel style of the ‘40s a cappella gospel quartet. The gospel quartet had a major influence on R&B, soul and popular music that has lasted to this day. The Heavenly Light Quartet formed to explore the intricate, rhythmic and fiery songs by such seminal groups as the Golden Gate Quartet, the Dixie Hummingbirds, the Swan Silvertones, the Spirit of Memphis Quartet and the Soul Stirrers.
The members of the Heavenly Light Quartet are professional singers and musicians who have all sung with Australia’s premier a cappella gospel choir, the Café of the Gate of Salvation, (which toured NZ in 2007), and who now run several choirs of their own. The group has sung at all the major music festivals in Australia including WOMADelaide, the Melbourne International Festival, East Coast Blues and Roots Festival, and in many jazz and rock venues. In 2003 they toured Spain and the south of France, and toured and recorded with Canadian blues artist Harry Manx in NSW in 2004. Heavenly Light Quartet are: Tony Backhouse- baritone/lead, Stuart Davis- tenor/baritone/lead, Rob Maxwell Jones:-bass/lead and William Selwyn:-tenor/baritone/lead.
Saturday March 3: All Saints Anglican Church, 284 Ponsonby Rd. 8pm with Heaven Bent. $25 Door sales only. Sunday March 4: The Bunker, Devonport, 4pm (Mt Victoria Summit, off Kerr St) with a cappella trio M*Lasses. $25 Door sales only.————————————————————————–
Heaven Bent’s 15th Anniversary celebration and end of year concert was a memorable night of song at a filled-to-capacity Holy Trinity Church in Devonport on December 3. Choir mentor Tony Backhouse was guest vocalist for the night. Later he cut the special 15-candle cake featuring the choir’s new logo.
————————————————————————————————————————————————————————-Singing on Great North Road to RWC fans walking the fan trail to the Australia-Wales match proved the choir could compete with all manner of distractions including merry fans and traffic noise.
More choir pictures under Photo Vault
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The choir rehearse at Boric's packing shed before singing at Allely House, Kumeu to a full house on May 28
