The Mississippi Mass Choir

The Mississippi Mass Choir emerged as a leading force among gospel ensembles during the closing years of the 1980s and throughout the 1990s. Led by musical director David R. Curry, the hundred-member ensemble delivered powerful performances that secured ongoing visibility on Billboard’s gospel rankings. Every release from the group has claimed the top slot on those listings. Their first project, the live recording titled Live, captured at Jackson’s Municipal Auditorium in Mississippi during 1988, stayed on the charts for forty-five weeks and brought home two James Cleveland GMWA honors for contemporary choir of the year and best new traditional artist of the year. Issued in 1990, their follow-up collection God Gets the Glory ascended to number one within fourteen days of its arrival. The ensemble achieved its greatest commercial peak with It Remains to Be Seen, which held the summit position for twelve months and earned the Soul Train Music Award for best gospel album of 1993. That project marked the final release featuring founder Frank Williams, born June 25, 1947, and deceased March 22, 1993, who also belonged to the Jackson Southernaires and held an executive post in Maleco Records’ gospel division. Intent on assembling Mississippi’s finest gospel talent, Williams persuaded Jerry Mannery, then heading Maleco’s gospel operations, both to offer the choir a recording contract and to assume the role of executive director. On subsequent releases such as I’ll See You in Rapture, Praise the Lord, and Emmanuel (God With Us) issued after Williams’ death, the Mississippi Mass Choir has sustained its stated purpose of “serving God through song.”