Episode 57 Roosevelt Credit, vocalist, composer

For  2019's Black History Month, we are featuring 4 wonderful people, all who have a tie to my absolute favorite dance company in the world: the  Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater. Our first guest of the month sings with the Alvin Ailey gospel choir. The second is a young singer who had never seen Ailey live and came with me as my guest this past December, while the company celebrated it's 60th Anniversary - one of my greatest joys is introducing new people to this magnificent dance company. Who knows, perhaps one day she too will sing with Ailey’s gospel choir! Our 3rd guest is the percussionist for Ailey’s live band and finally we feature a spectacular Ailey dancer, who has been with the company for 26 years!

May you be inspired by Roosevelt Credit, Tahira Clayton, Gary Fritz and Matthew Rushing as we honor Black History month and the legacy and profound spirit of Alvin Ailey!

My guest today is Roosevelt Andre Credit. Roosevelt is a gifted singer, performer, conductor, arranger and music educator. Roosevelt is also one of the most enthusiastic, positive humans I have ever encountered! His large heart, deep spiritual conviction and uncanny ability to find the good in just about every person and situation, plus his natural ability to light up a room and get the party started, truly inspires me. Roo grew up in Oakland, CA, studied opera at Oregon State University, and went to Northwestern University for graduate school. Roosevelt has had a rich, varied career from the Tony Award winning Broadway production of “Showboat”, the touring company of “Porgy and Bess”, to singing in professional NYC church choirs, conducting choruses and festivals, singing with the Alvin Ailey gospel choir for the live music performances of Ailey’s signature piece “Revelations”, helping to write the music for the movie “12 Years A Slave” and appearing on John Oliver’s HBO show Last Week Tonight. Roosevelt also has recorded two of his own CDs: “Old Time Religion”and “Get On Board”.

Roo lives from a place of grace and gratitude, enjoys moments of synchronicity and connection, which delightfully appeared during our conversation, and truly is a vessel of love and light! Check out the show notes below for links to Roosevelt’s website www.rooseveltacredit.com, where you can hear his music, purchase his CDs, find a great video of Roosevelt’s hysterical embodiment of Fats Waller, singing “Your Feets Too Big”! I’ve also included links to videos of Roosevelt's appearances with a gospel choir on John Oliver’s show. “Well done good and faithful servant!!!” Enjoy the podcast!

Links:
www.rooseveltacredit.com
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver - YouTube link
“Old Time Religion”