Tracy Anne Travis is the Missouri Folk Arts Program's newest graduate intern who hails from Wichita, Kansas. A Masters student in the University of Missouri's Department of English, Ms. Travis studies Folklore. Beyond her studies, she is a tutor and a musician, who plays and studies old-time, Irish, and Baroque music.

 

On February 20th, the Missouri Folk Arts Program hosted Saint Louis-area master artist and African-American gospel musician Doris Frazier at MU's European & American Gallery in the Museum of Art and Archaeology. The concert emphasized that gospel music is rooted in community even though the museum gallery contrasts the style's more typical habitat--church.

After an introduction by Deborah Bailey, who coordinates Missouri's Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program (TAAP), Mrs. Frazier in turn introduced her craft. She noted gospel's roots in the days of American slavery and that its purpose is to express devotion to Christ, but also to tell the community’s story.

Mrs. Frazier serves as music director at a church in the community of Westland Acres in Chesterfield.The historic community was named for Mrs. Frazier's late husband's ancestor, who was a freed slave who originally purchased and settled the land in St. Louis County.

Doris Frazier invited the audience to sing Down at the Cross and Down by the Riverside.
Photo Credit: Alex W. Barker

“I like audience participation,” Mrs. Frazier said. She started the concert with Down by the Riverside, saying “I’m gonna teach it to you, and it won’t take but two minutes.” And she was right. It wasn’t long before nearly the entire audience was taking part as Mrs. Frazier directed with her hands and voice.

The event also showcased the efforts of TAAP to encourage traditional arts in Missouri. Mrs. Frazier was one of the original master artists when the program began in 1985, and took on another apprentice again in 1992. With any traditional arts, much of its meaning and success lies in the student-teacher relationship, and this is what TAAP helps to cultivate and support. This year, Mrs. Frazier took on another Saint-Louis area resident, Peyton Boyd, as her TAAP apprentice in order to teach him gospel-style piano.

Peyton Boyd played gospel versions of hymns such as It Is Well With My Soul and Precious Lord, and concluded with a classical piano solo.
Photo Credit: Alex  W. Barker 

Mrs. Frazier and Peyton Boyd prepare to perform a duo of Thy Word is a Lamp Unto My Feet.
 Photo Credit: Alex W. Barker 

As the concert came to a close, Mrs. Frazier included two of her own compositions about personal insights and events in her family's history, accompanied by two of her daughters. She closed the concert with the hymn In the Garden, and again led the audience as they sang along.

Stay tuned for upcoming events presented by the Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program this Spring!