According to WB, Rock and Roll was born from a blend of R&B, Soul, and Gospel music. If that’s the case, then we got a true experience of that on Sunday June 27th with the visit of gospel-playing John Lee Sanders to the Worship Cafe.
Raised in Memphis Tennessee, and with years of the Louisiana and southern States gospel music scene under his belt, John Lee Sanders has been a blues man for years. He tours either on his own or with a band, primarily playing the piano but also adding in powerful blues tenor sax from time to time.
His “played-with” list reads like a textbook on who’s who in the music business, with John Lee Hooker, Long John Baldry, Stevie Wonder, Willie Nelson, Jimmy Page, and Huey Lewis among the names you’ll see there. John Lee actually replaced Elton John as the music director/keyboard player with the touring Long John Baldry outfit.
John Lee says the heart of what makes him tick musically is Gospel Music. Raised in the church but then experiencing years of the lifestyle of a touring blues musician, Sanders told us, on Sunday, how he was faced with a crisis of soul several years ago when his new record label encouraged him to do a Gospel album. John Lee knew he wouldn’t be able to record the songs with any degree of authenticity if his life didn’t line up with what he was singing, so he grabbed the opportunity that was presented to him and got back on track in his life with God.
On Sunday John Lee started off with the classic gospel song Mary Don’t You Weep and followed that up with number after number of gospel tunes, ranging from originals or songs written by friends to gospel arrangements of hymns such as Amazing Grace and His Eye Is On The Sparrow. Confident piano playing that supported a perfect blues voice made for an afternoon of great Gospel music... it was a perfect way to wind up the Spring session of Worship Cafe prior to our summer break.
John Lee will be rebroadcast all this week at www.worshipcafe.net
- Malcolm
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