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14 Mar 11 - 03:07 PM (#3113660) Subject: Obit: Sherman Washington RIP March 14, 2011 From: GUEST,Mary Katherine, sans cookie Sherman Washington, longtime Zion Harmonizers member & manager, dies at 86 Dominic Massa / Eyewitness News http://www.wwltv.com/news/local/Sherman-Washington-longtime-Zion-Harmonizers-member--manager-dies-at-86-117937199.html Gospel great Sherman Washington, the last original member of the legendary Zion Harmonizers and coordinator of gospel music programming at Jazz Fest, died early Monday. He was 86. Mr. Washington died at his home in Boutte, according to Brazella Briscoe, manager of the Zion Harmonizers, a role he inherited from Mr. Washington. Mr. Washington had been homebound for the past several months and was unable to walk, Briscoe said, but was able to attend at least part of the act's performance at last year's Jazz Fest. "He was the epitome of our group," Briscoe said. "He was more or less the backbone and sustainer of this group." Mr. Washington joined the Zion Harmonizers when he was just 15 years old, three years after the group was founded in 1939. In 1948, when founder Benjamin Maxon left the group to preach, Mr. Washington took over management of the group. The Zion Harmonizers performed at the first New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival in Congo Square, in 1969, and since that first appearance, Mr. Washington coordinated gospel music programming for the event and its legendary gospel tent. His vision and network of contacts in the gospel music scene helped establish the Gospel Tent, soon after the festival moved to the Fair Grounds in the early 1970s. "He means everything to the Gospel Tent," Jazz Fest producer Quint Davis told Times-Picayune columnist Sheila Stroup in a 2008 profile. "It was a shared vision, but Sherman did it." Mr. Washington's younger brother Nolan was a longtime member of the Harmonizers. He died in 1997. Mr. Washington is survived by his wife, two sons, a daughter and several grandchildren, according to Briscoe. Funeral arrangements have not been finalized, Briscoe said, but would likely include a celebration of life in New Orleans and funeral services in Boutte. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] |