Sister Gertrude Morgan (1900-1980) was a painter, singer, and self-proclaimed "bride of Christ" whose visually explosive folk art is celebrated on the museum circuit world-wide. But her one album, made in New Orleans in the 1960s, is one of black gospel music's secret relics. Those recordings were unearthed and a limited number of copies were released to unanimous and widespread critical acclaim in 2003.

Ropeadope Records procured the master rights and enlisted internationally acclaimed DJ and producer King Britt to create an entirely new and ground breaking work, putting musical tracks behind the Sister's previously unaccompanied vocals. In the studio for over 12 months working on this project, King and co-producer Tim Motzer hired a crew of stellar musicians to create the ultimate backing band and produce one of 2005's most promising releases.

King began his DJ tenure in 1992 when he became the wax poet for the Grammy award-winning (and Vegoose performers) Digable Planets. While touring the globe with Digable Planets, King continued to develop his love of the dance music culture by making numerous appearances in house music clubs all over the world. With his gifted knowledge of music past, present and future, he crafted timeless sets that remain legendary. He continues to deliver performances as a house, hip-hop, funk and even 80's DJ, to adoring fans the world over.

As a remix producer, King has flipped and funked everyone from Macy Gray and Tori Amos to Yoko Ono and Femi Kuti. He is included amongst Masters at Work and Joe Claussell on Verve Records' "Remixed" compilation (2000). He has recently completed remixes for the likes of Curtis Mayfield, The Ojays, Gamble and Huff, Destiny's Child, Everything But the Girl, Chic, Edwin Starr and George Duke.

The cycle of ten songs that is "Sister Gertrude" mixes gospel hymns with funk and soul melodies and Britt's deep percussive beats. The live ensemble includes King Britt on turntables and samplers, Tim Motzer on guitar, Chuck Treece on drums, Mark Boyce on keyboards and Barry Meehan on bass, as a full multimedia performance, featuring live video mixing by the Absent Productions VJ crew. The project debuted at the Flow Festival in Helsinki Finland and had its US premiere at the Painted Bride Art Center in Philadelphia.

More info: http://www.ropeadope.com/music/record/king_britt_presents_sister_gertrude_morgan/

The Contemporary Arts Center is a NPN Partner of the National Performance Network (NPN). This project is made possible in part by support from the NPN Performance Residency Program. Major contributors of NPN include the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, Ford Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts (a federal agency), the MetLife Foundation and the Nathan Cummings Foundation.

This project is supported by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts.