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I called so many people to join me in the V.I.P. section for this concert that R&B and gospel great Mavis Straples was giving for the charitable Mary Lou Mahone Foundation (it was the time of year to give out college scholarships to deserving, if challenged, high school graduates) that I lost track. An editor friend, one of the few people I called who knew who Staples is (another reason for some new pals?) would have if he didn't have stomach flu. 

But maybe Staples' intimately raw and soulful voice, familiar since the 1950s from her work with her dad and siblings as The Staples Singers and a lesser-heralded catalog of solo singles and albums, could have cured any ailment, of the stomach or elsewhere. With minimal accompaniment of guitar, bass drums and sister Yvonne on some background vocals, Staples' set relied mostly on tunes from her R&B and pop crossover heyday with her family group.

Within that context, however, she surprised with material related to her kin's successes. After opening with "Come Go With Me," she went back to the first song her dad taught her and her siblings, "Will The Circle Be Unbroken," by another group of relatives, The Carter Family. Perhaps more surprising, but receiving more audience recognition, was her rich take on The Band's "The Weight," on which she and her fam' backed up The Band in their farewell concert movie, The Last Waltz.

Before leading her band to a bluesy extended workout on an elongated bridge in "Respect Yourself" (one of the most darkly, deeply funky songs ever), Staples regaled the nearly full Catholic high school auditorium with the title cut and the achingly hopeful "God Is Not Sleeping" from her latest long-player, Have A Little Faith. Funny to think that her current affiliation with Alligator Records almost had her playing a blues bar last she was in Wisconsin, eh? 

This gig couldn't have been much more different, but no matter the venue, the good money says she would have bust out the semi-reggae-fied trip to heaven "I'll Take You There" and "Touch A Hand, Make A Friend" either way. Whether she'd have gone into a fiery breakdown of who the Lord is to her or have sung an impromptu "Happy Birthday" to an audience member in a smoky tavern is up for more debate. Since tonight was billed as a gospel extravaganza, it's understandable that she refrained from indulging in the borderline raunch of The Staple Singers' last pop chart #1, "Let's Do It Aagin." 

Though she played a relatively short set, to hear the voice which has comforted and excited me since the early '70s was enough of a treat. To hear her joke about how  major R&B labels nowadays only want female singers who can compete with Beyonce' without realizing that Ms. Knowles and her ilk will one day be less stereotypically sexy "Mavises" was the jest of someone who knows her endurance as comeuppance in action. 

Multi-ethnic children's choir The Colorful Creators opened with African and Celtic vibes before covering the Sister Sledge unity anthem "We Are Family" with Brittany Lemay, a sassy blonde with "American Idol aspirant" written all over her melisssmatic take on the disco oldie. Holding up the middle of the bill, between the numerous awards presentations, was the delightfully monikered Friozene Hayes with vocal group Darren Wilson and the Voices of Truth. Apart from being the most Christocentric of the evening's singers, Hayes has the goods that could give Shirley Caesar a run for divahood should Hayes' exposure expand beyond her Northern Illinois/Southeastern Wisconsin environs. 
 
Jamie Lee Rake