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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (April 30, 1997)
I he P ortland O bserver • A pril 30, 1997 Many great men and women— athletes, doctors, m usicians-have risen from the struggles o f the mean streets o f inner-city A merica to achieve great things. And the com mon denominator has always been faith: faith that through hard work, perseverance and trust in God that something better lay ahead. Bom and raised in Dallas, Texas, G o sp e l p ro d u c e r, so n g w rite r, k e y b o a rd ist and arran g er G reg O ’Quin knows all about faith and staying focused on a vision. Hisjour- ney from a six-year-old soloist in a small Dallas Baptist Church to the leaderofthe 15-voice ensemble Joy ful Noyze, -- one o f Gospel’s most cutting-edge g ro u p s-is a testament to just such faith, and is powerfully chronicled on G reg’s debut album, Tryin 2 Make U See. Totally contemporary in his ap proach and instincts, it’s clear Greg has been profoundly influenced by a number o f today’s great producer/ writers, including Babyface, M ichael Jackson, Teddy Riley and David Foster. In fact, G reg’s music stands next to the best o f the best, in both R&B and the church, and with up- to-the-minute, irresistible grooves, and an uplifting Gospel message, he b rin g s to th e ta b le so m e th in g uniquely his own. “ A lot o f the kids in my neighbor hood have gone to church and Sun day School with their parents, but have drifted away from that,” says Greg. “ What catches their attention now is the groove in the music, and w e’ve tried to use that as a tool to get their attention, and then drop in some messages. The title song is just what it says it is: trying to make people see who Jesus is, and once they’ve seen who He is, to see how good He is.” ‘L joyfi Greg O'Quin ‘n Joyful Noyze, Try’n 2 Make U See!! grammed and played keyboards, and wrote and produced the album ’s songs. The selections run the gamut from house-shaking, hip-hop work-outs to reverential ballads. Special stand outs to Greg are all songs that have Though a singer himself, Greg felt so strongly about the vocal talent he had assembled in Joyful Noyze, that he remained out o f the spotlight for Tryin 2 Make You See, turning lead vocals over to various members o f his en sem ble w hile he p ro strong stories behind them. I he stir ring ballad, “Special stand-outs to Greg are all songs that have strong stories behind them. The stirring ballad, "Homeland for the soul: Where I Belong’ arose from a real-life episode in Greg s life. "I had a friend who died sud denly, and 1 was deeply troubled,” Greg remembers. "But my mother, to comfort me, reminded me there’s a homeland for the soul. That really hit me and I immediately sat down and wrote the song. The song is about death, but I wanted to show that death doesn’t have to be a bad or a very sad thing If you have a rela tionship with christ, death is just a graduation.” The moving anthem, “ We Shall Prevail,’ has a feel and a message of brotherhood rem iniscent of" We Are The World,” only related specifi cally to the rash o f church burnings in recent times. “ I want to make it clear that this is not a racial issue,” says Greg “ When you bum a church, you’re burning G od’s church. It’s a song that I hope will bring all Christians together to say that if God be for us, no power can be against us, because we shall prevail. It’s a song ofC hris- tian unity.” The Jazzy “That’s the Way I Love You” on the surface cou Id be a touch ing, romantic love song, but a closer listen reveals a deeper meaning. “There are several types o f love,” explains Greg, "and the song is talk ing about the intimacy I have for Christ which should be the most special love o f all. He requires that we put Him first, and because o f all the things H e’s done for me I love Him with an everlasting love. T hat’s the way I love Him.” Greg grew up in Dallas’s Corner stone B aptist Church o f C hrist, where his mother was and remains the minister o f music, singing, play ing piano and conducting the choir. In addition to his m other, who mentored and encouraged Greg in his own musical talents, the late James Cleveland was the preemi nent influence throughout his child hood As he grew to adolescence, Gospel luminaries Andrae Crouch and the Hawkins Family impacted him as well. fÇ fC d fl ‘RegionalConvention Sehednied Members o f the Oregon and south west Washington Chapters o f the non-denom inational full G ospel Business M en’s Fellowship Inter national have combined efforts to sponsor the 34th Annual Pacific Northwest Regional Convention to beheld May 1 through May 3, 1997 The three-day event, which is open to the public, will be held at the Holiday Inn located near Interstate 205 at 8439 NE Columbia Blvd in Portland. This year’s theme centers on the Scripture text (psalm 30:2): “ I called to you for help and you healed me. The convention will include testi (jancertasite Cfr/es/rcr The Sinfonia C oncertante O r chestra (SCO ) perform s w orks by Puccini, R odrigo, Beethoven and M ozart for its final 1997 concert held at 3 pm on Sunday, May 18, at P ortland’s H illsdale C om m u nity C hurch located at 694 SW C apitol H ighw ay. E stablished in 1990 by Stefan M inde, form er director and c o n ductor o f the Portland, O pera, SCO consists o f professional m u sicians o f the highest caliber and fills the gap betw een sym phony o r c h e s tr a s an d c h a m b e r e n sem bles and perform s works from all eras o f classical and m odern m usic com posed expressly for cham ber orchestras. A ra re m u sic a l d e lic a c y — G ia c o m o P u c c in i’s “ E le g y (C risan tem i)” —opens this co n c e rt. P u c c in i is k n ow n m ost w idely for outstanding operatic w orks like M adam a B utterfly, La Boheme and T urandot, to name but a few. But, as any concert- goer will quickly discover upon hearing “ E le g y ,” Puccini also p ro d u c e d su rp ris in g c h a m b e r music scores and excelled in this genre as well. Joaquin R odrigo, blind from c h ild h o o d a n d still the least known am ong this concert scorn- posers, has provided our century with a choice collection of music p o ssessing a palpable Spanish flare. S C O ’s perform ance o f his “ Tres V iejos A ires de D anze” charm ingly illustrates how eas ily R od rig o ’s w orks fall am ong th e c o m p a n y o f w e s te rn c iv iliz a tio n ’s m ost illu strio u s com posers. SCO co n cert m aster, Karen Bryan, will perform the all-tim e audience favorite, "R om ance for V iolin and O rc h e stra ” by the h ig h ly re v e r e d L u d w ig van Beethoven. And, as SCO closes its season with the perform ance one o f the two W olfgang A m adeus M ozart G M inor sy m p h o n ie s-th e “G reat G M inor Sym phony, his Sym phony N o 40 in G M inor, K55O -it also announces the opening o f this 1997-98 season with a full length perform ance o f its popu lar, traditional holiday perfo r m a n c e o f J o h a n n S e b a s tia n B ach’s C hristm as O ratorio. SCO is a non-profit organiza tion offering the follow ing spring concert ticket prices: Front row s e a ts /p r e f e r r e d s e a tin g $ 1 9 ; adults $16; senior and students $12; and children ages 12 and under $4. T ickets are available at Fred M eyer Fastixx (503) 224- 8499 and at the door. monies, teachings, ministry, music, praise and prayer Many widely-acclaimed speakers and m usicians are scheduled to present testimonies and give minis try o f hope and healing. Included are awarding-winning Gospel soloist, Willa Dorsey, and the musical team o f Ray and Ada Tellis. Thursday evening program (no meal) will fea ture Rev. Jerry' Barnard and will include special prayers in connec tion with the annual observance of the National Day o f Prayer. Scott and Esther Patterson will present their personal testimonies and his dramatic conversion at the IsCamic preacher on triai A preacher close to the Islamist W elfare Party o f Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan went on trial in a Turkish security court on Monday, charged with fostering religious separatism and hatred, Anatolian news agency said. A li Kucuker, imam of the mosque at the Welfare headquarters in An kara, faces up to three years in jail if found guilty, Anatolian said. The start of his trial followed high- profile police raids on illegal Islamic education centres, widely seen as a warning to Erbakan not to stall on an anti-Islamist crackdown demanded by the secularist armed forces. The prosecution told the court that, in a speech on February 14, Kucuker had said: “Those in favor o f sharia (Islamic law), those who are not in favour o f sharia, secular ists, non-secularists...P eople are shamelessly announcing their lack o f religion by hiding behind such underhand words.” The indictment said such a speech in a mosque was against the law and had a disruptive effect on society by talking about secularists as separate from devout people. Kucuker said he used the word "sharia" in a religious and not a political sense. The army, guards of Turkey’s official secularism, two months ago demanded Erbakan s coalition with the conservatives crack down on Islamist zeal. Turkey army piles pressure on Islamic Erbakan . Turkey’s anti-Islamist army on Tuesday rolled up its sleeves in a fight with the government over reli gion and Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan said he was ready for early elections. Erbakan held talks with military chief Ismail Hakki Karadayi after a senior g en eral w arned that the m ilitary’s struggle against Islamist activism was vital to the very sur vival o f officially secularist Turkey. “ Destroying fundamentalism is o f life or death importance,” G en eral Kenan Deniz, head o f internal security, told a briefing for journal ists designed to raise the army s political profile. But Erbakan played down the conflict with the influential army. “ As will be seen, the top ranks o f the state are one, they are together. Our president, our government and our army are one body,” he told reporters after talks Karadayi. He did not say what was dis cussed at the meeting. Karadayi, a nondescript career soldier, made no comment to reporters. Erbakan, the first Islamist to rule Turkey in modem times, challenged his parliamentary opponents to elec tions any time to gauge support for his bid to bring religion into public life. “Tuesday at any moment, w ho ever wants it, we are ready for elec tions," Erbakan told a meeting o f his Welfare Party MPs. Analysts say deputies from all parties are unwilling to risk their seats, and parliamentary privileges, at snap polls. Two pro-W estern ministers quit at the weekend in sympathy with f' . army frustration over r-L,«Ln«'r Erbakan's ro re luctance to carry out an army-in spired crackdown on Islamists. The generals, who have staged three coups since I960, have led a chorus o f secularist uproar against attempts by Erbakan to relax strict restrictions on the role o f Islam. They fear Welfare is planning to turn N ATO-meniber Turkey into an Islamic state like neighbouring Iran but are unwilling to use force against the g o v e rn m e n t for fear o f jeopardising T urkey's prized ties to the West. General Deniz blasted Tehran, with whom Erbakan has made a special effort to patch up strained ties. He accused Iran o f seeking to undermine Turkey by sponsoring separatist Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) guerrillas active in southeast TnrlzAV Turkey. “ Iran ..is continuing with its ef forts to destroy the regime in the Turkish republic," said Deniz, a leader in the security forces’ fight with the PKK. “ It is known to have directed terrorist actions in Turkey .' A nkara’s bid to get closer to the European Union received a further blow on Tuesday when traditional rival Greece said it would not un block EU aid worth 375 million Ecus ($424 million) due to Turkey. Istanbul shares closed slightly down as investors largely kept to the sidelines amid the domestic uncer tainty. The main index was 0.42 percent lower at 1,435. The crisis has sent some political leaders scrambling to find a new g o v e rn m e n t form ula ex clu d in g Erbakan. i-.:j — luncheon, i m .,«, •> Friday May 2. The Friday evening program (no meal) will honor clergy and will feature Rev. Jerry Barnard, who will lead and will invite all clergy that are present to assist in the ministry o f healing. Saturday begins at 7:30am with a gathering o f the people lead by Rev. Don Kennedy followed by a Break fast at 8:30am to honor Chapter leadership. The featured speaker at the B reakfast will be D eC arol Williamson, a successful business man from North Carolina and an International Director o f FGBMF1. Willa Dorsev, Dorsey, globally globally re recognized Willa for her Gospel singing, will lead an o l’time Gospel Sing-along Camp meeting at 2:00pm Saturday. The Convention will close with a Victory Banquet at 6:00pm Saturday night at which Rev. Dean Scovell will deliver a stirring message and lead in minis try o f hope and healing for all. The Convention is nondenomi- national and open to the public. In addition to meal charges, there is a nominal registration fee. For addi tional information or a brochure, contact Peter Reding, Co-chair at 503 292-2161. Lam i visits America The featured pastor in the tower ing Gothic cathedral wore saffron robes, spoke in hesitant English and prayed with the chants o f a monk from the high Himalayas. Smiling from the pulpit high above a packed assemblage from a variety of faiths. Buddhism's Dalai Lama drew cheers and applause with a rare appearance in W ashington's National Cathedral. Be tolerant of each other’s beliefs and accentuate the positive in your daily lives, said the Tibetan spiritual leader and recipient o f the 1989 Nobel Peace Prize. Shortly afterward, Tenzin Gyatso, who fled Chinese rule over his home land in 1959, (lew off to France to continue another part o f his life’s work: pleading internationally for the cultural survival in peace and harmony of the 6 million Tibetans. The slender Buddhist monk re ceived two standing ovations, each lasting more than a minute, from a near-capacity throng o f 3,050 at an interfaith celebration o f religious freedom held in his honor. Noting the diversity of races, fam ily backgrounds, clothing and hair styles in his audience, the Dalai Lama said, "Basically we are all the same human beings (with) the same po tential to be a good human being or a bad human being “The important thing is to realize the positive side and try to increase that; realize the negative side and try to reduce. That’s the way.” Cox Funeral Home 2736 N.E. Rodney, Portland, Oregon (503)281-4891 “Before You Must Make a Decision” Inspect the Beautiful Cox Funeral Chapel “Planning your funeral is our first consideration. Equipped to serve all religions, races, veterans and fraternal organizations. -Jerome Tanner, Funeral Director
