Feliz Navidad

For the last 2 years or so I’ve been the official musician for an A.M.E. Zion church just north of Philadelphia, and since then have become a member of this church. If you think the idea of a white Mennonite girl serving as the musician of a historically black church is funny, you would be correct. I started playing as a favour to my “adopted” dad, whose musical coaching included scenarios like the following:

Him: (handing me a hymnal, open to “Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross”) “Ok Larissa, play this song the way you would normally play it..... All right, that was the Caucasian way. Now, put in your cornrows and play it again.”

I do love my choir though. The 9 of us are such a motley crew that you can’t help but laugh. Our members range from the purely amateur to 2 Grammy-nominated singers (really). With a blend like this, you never know what’s going to happen.

Case in point: last night we sang at a Christmas party for the Exchange Club. (I don’t know what an Exchange Club is or does, but it’s clear to me that the minimum age to join must be around 65). Things started out fairly normal – we sang a few gospel numbers, a few Christmas songs, the Exchange Clubbers were tapping their toes, it was great. We started to draw the program to a close with Silent Night when one Ms. Grammy Nominee #1 burst into Feliz Navidad. Unfortunately, she was the only one who actually knew the Spanish lyrics, so everyone else just kinda made something up. It sounded like we were singing in tongues or something. The best part, though, was when Ms. Grammy broke formation and began sashaying among the guests, then plucked a dinner napkin off one of the tables and began swirling it in the air like it was a lasso. And then – I love this – all these little old people in their red Christmas sweaters started swirling their napkins in the air, too! I nearly fell off the piano bench laughing. I know one thing – I’m not in Manitoba anymore!