Truly a family affair, Morton's daughter, Jasmine, joined him on the up-tempo praise song, "Oh Hallelujah." Then, Morton's elder brother, Bishop James H. Morton of New Beginnings Baptist Church in Decatur, GA, sparred with his kid brother vocally on the inspiring "If It Wasn't For Your Grace." On a musical tribute to the late gospel composer, Thomas "The Maestro" Whitfield, Morton and his sister, Gwen Morton (who was engaged to Whitfield at the time of his death in 1992), got together for "Down At The Cross."
Among the luminaries on hand were singer Desmond Pringle, Bishop Albert Jamison and Bishop Sam Williams and gospel legend, Tramaine Hawkins, who joined Morton for the tune, "Holy One." She was effusive in her praise of Morton. "Oh MY! Recording with Bishop Morton was a real thrill," she exclaims. "I knew he could preach, and I knew he could sing too; but singing with him was just an awesome treat for me. And having MY producer, Kurt Carr leading and producing us was just awesome and a lot of fun! To God be the glory!"
Perhaps, the highlight of the evening was on Thomas Whitfield's "Hold On (We Made It)" which completely embodied the spirit of New Orleans and the festive mood of the evening. Morton opened it as a churchy sing-a-long anthem before Kurt Carr let out a roar and the song morphed into a second-line dance tune with the choir and congregation waving white handkerchiefs (a New Orleans African-American parade tradition celebrating freedom and victory). In the midst of this celebration, a Born-Again Bourbon Street musician, Hack Bartholomew (who has played on sessions with the Neville Brothers), blew the trumpet in Zion and took the service to a new dimension of power and praise. Finally, the evening closed on the ballad, "You Can Depend on Me" which featured an exhortation by Bishop Jamison that summed up the survivalist theme of the evening.
"We wanted to come back home to do this project," Morton said that night to a packed church of people who risked venturing out at the dawn of a new hurricane season. "Because, I know God has been good to New Orleans. There are a lot of things that are not back, but I'm glad church is back!"
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