The Lumzy Sisters ( USA )
GOSPEL

The Lumzy Sisters

African Americans today have a heritage of songs called Gospel – God’s Word – which are characteristic of the faith of their African ancestors deported as slaves to America in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Heard mostly in protestant Baptist churches, gospel music and the ancient ‘negro spirituals’ from which it stems, is alive and well today and is the focal point of every Sunday for hundreds of thousand of believers who come to celebrate their faith in God with music and singing.

The symbolism of exile and of a possible return to the Promised Land as described in the Old Testament, in relation to the Jewish People’s history, fuelled the imagination of the exiled African slaves and their descendants. In their quest, the Promised Land was represented by liberty and became a mythical dwelling place, something aspired to as a blessed abode where one could throw off the chains of oppression.

In the course of time, the ‘negro spirituals’ which were sung in church during services, became influenced by secular music such as blues, jazz and rhythm 'n blues to the extent that one can talk of two distinct varieties: sacred gospel, true to its ancient roots and most often sung a capella, and secular gospel, strongly influenced by modern sounds.

The Lumzy Sisters find their place in the latter variety. Natives of Columbus, Massachusetts, the Lumzy Sisters have been one of the key groups on the gospel scene in the United States for more than thirty years.

Singing in the ‘Quartet Style’ that is mostly a male preserve, the Sisters overwhelmingly prove that women are able to sing this style just as brilliantly as men.

Their gospel, overlaid with soul and blues, has received numerous awards through the years. In 1990 and 1991, the Lumzy Sisters received the Gospel Academy Award for the best traditional group of the year. In 1996, they were named best female group by the Annual Quartet Convention.

Supported by a band with very modern tones (percussion, bass, guitar, keyboards), the powerful and melodious voices of the Lumzy Sisters take the public on a harmonious journey of enjoyment