Hallelujah Hezekiah!

>>Hezekiah Walker spreads the gospel of the lord

by GERARD DEE

According to pastor and choir director Hezekiah Walker, gospel music's growing popularity is all part of God's master plan.

"I think it's the timing of the Lord," he says. "I think the Lord is getting ready to make his second appearance and gospel music is one of the tools of winning people over to Christ."

A native New Yorker, the 34-year-old Walker, along with the New York based Love Fellowship Crusade Choir, have been working hard to produce gospel converts with over a decade's worth of soul-stirring performances.

"It took us 12 years to get that energy," says Walker. "You can't just get that overnight. We've been rehearsing for 12 long years, every single week."

During that time the choir has grown from its original 14 members to over 100 strong. Past alumni have included Blackstreet's Teddy Riley and Cheryl "Coko" Gamble of SWV.

The choir's good work has taken them all over the globe, including Europe and Japan. Along the way, they've recorded some of the best live gospel in the business, including the 1995 Grammy-winning Live in Atlanta at Morehouse College, and Live in Toronto, three years ago.

"At the time, I was in Toronto almost every six months and I had felt the spirit of the Lord. Then I said to the people in Toronto, how would you like it if we were to come and do a recording up here?"

Walker's most recent and eagerly anticipated recording was done in London last year. The result is the current Live in London at Wembley, recorded before 3,000 enthusiastic fans at Wembley Auditorium, a fairly regular head-count at a Walker affair.

"I think before young people couldn't get with gospel because of the beat," says Walker, whose own sound is a mixture of traditional gospel rhythms and contemporary urban grooves. "But now I think the beat is there and the hype is there. Plus, it's positive."

"The negativity in urban music has been very hurtful and damaging to our society," he continues. "I think the world is looking at it like, look, we're not getting any better and the music's not helping, and you gotta admit there's hope in our music, there's life in our music. It's not music that will make you go home and commit suicide. It's music that gives you get up and go."

Hezekiah Walker and the Love Fellowship Crusade Choir perform at Théâtre St-Denis on Saturday, October 11, 7:30pm, $19.50/$21.50.