God's Trombones December 6, 2008

'God's Trombones,' created by acclaimed composer/trombonist Craig Harris, comes back to Harlem after last spring's work-in-progress presentation at the Apollo Theater. Directed by celebrated film and theater artist Avery Brooks, Harlem Stage presents the work for a limited run as a special production of its 'WaterWork's series. With 'God's Trombones,' Harris has realized a longstanding dream - to create a music- theatre work that reinterprets and reinvigorates James Weldon Johnson's 1927 classic collection of poems based on the inspirational sermons of Negro preachers. Johnson was one of the giants of African-American cultural history and his book pays poetic tribute to a unique African-American cultural tradition. Harris' musical extravaganza features a jubilant trombone choir, vocalists and musicians and an explosive score that captures the rhythm and cadence of Johnson's poems.