New York Community Choir

Since their debut in 1970, the New York Community Choir has been on the cutting edge of gospel music.

Their collaborations with Nikki Giovanni put them in the heart of the Black Arts Movement, on the stages of college campuses, performing arts centers and theaters around the United States. Their sub-group, Revelation, toured with the Bee Gees and became a part of an elite group of singers at the epicenter of New York’s recording scene, providing background vocals for Bette Midler, Carly Simon, and others. In the late 70s, the choir leapt into the burgeoning disco scene and found success with tunes like “Express Yourself” and “Keep a Light In My Window” taking gospel music into clubs. Now, for the first time, their story is going to be told.

Gospel music historian, Tim Dillinger, began the task of assembling the choir’s story in 2014, interviewing the choir’s co-founders, Bennie Diggs and the late Arthur Freeman, extensively, in addition to choir members, their musicians, collaborators, industry executives and friends. The book also encompasses the history of their progressive pastor, Bishop William Morris O’Neile, his Christian Tabernacle Church in Harlem and his later ministry in Los Angeles, Universal Tabernacle and his gift for nurturing young people determined to defy tradition and take their whole selves out of the church and into the world.

Tim has published an abbreviated article about the choir’s history, focusing on “Express Yourself,” at his Substack.

Last year, Modern Harmonic, a record company in Nashville, reissued NYCC’s historic collaborations with Nikki Giovanni on vinyl and compact disc, in addition to releasing them to digital and streaming outlets.

The choir’s 1974-1976 recordings with Savoy Records and their groundbreaking disco-gospel projects for RCA Records have been reissued digitally and are available for streaming!

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If you were a member of Christian Tabernacle, Universal Tabernacle, or the New York Community Choir, we’d love to hear from you!

    This site is administered by Tim Dillinger. To email him directly, write timdillinger[at]gmail.com

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