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Alvin Slaughter In Concert
Canada Christian College
Saturday, December 3rd
Alvin Slaughter is one of those big teddy bear type of guys who just happens to be blessed with awesome vocals, a great sense of humor and isn't shy about sharing his life story or that of his family. Saturday December 3rd at Canada Christian College in Toronto before a packed house Slaughter was full value for the price of admission.
Performing in a formal dinner club environment, Slaughter's songs ran the gamut including prayerful tunes, spirited gospel numbers, and R&B. He even sang a few songs from The Stylistics "You Make Me Feel Brand New.”
On this night Slaughter was accompanied on piano by his friend and music director Bobby Soverall. His piano solo "Amazing Love" and accompaniment on "Shout Hallelujah" were Carnegie Hall worthy. Soverall also provided backup vocals for the song "Shout" a different tune than the aforementioned song (they must have run out of titles).
The audience was obviously familiar with many of the songs and did not need to be coaxed into singing along with this gifted troubadour. From the opening song, ladies in their long gowns and men in their suits were dancing in the aisles and clapping their hands to keep beat with the music. As Slaughter's Luther Van Dross like voice filled the auditorium with the words to R&B tune "Who Can Satisfy," many in the audience raised their hands in praise.
I had been enjoying my conversation with the sound guy when midway through the song "Shout" he appeared on stage doing an awesome rap! Thinking he was pretty good for a sound technician, I was soon to learn that he is Slaughter's son, Sean, who has released his own rap CD. He appeared later in the concert rapping out the Book of Job. Sean Slaughter's own troubled teenage years are a testimony of God's grace and how He uses vessels from various backgrounds to deliver His message. Sean has an active prison ministry that consists of his rap / hip hop music as well as preaching.
The senior Slaughter used the opportunity to tell the audience to make sure they didn't try and restrict God's work to certain genres of music. He also told them to keep their biases in check when it came to how the young people today dress. It wasn't delivered in a style of a father defending his son but presented from the perspective of the struggle he had with the very same issues.
Alvin Slaughter sings songs of faith with passion and pure joy, the way they were meant to be presented. Although he packs a lot of mini sermons into his concert he does so without being intrusive and keeps the dialogue spiced with humor.
Local acts Shingai and Craig Nelson, a Michael Keaton look-a-like opened for Alvin Slaughter. The rich textures of Nelson's baritone voice were particularly noticeable as he sang "Jesus Has His Hand On Me.”
By Joe Montague, exclusive rights reserved
Joe Montague is an internationally
published journalist / photographer. His ministry is dedicated to the memory
of his late son Kent David Montague who went to heaven at the age of 18.
All copyright and distribution rights remain the property of Joe Montague.