John Saw de Holy Numbah

“John Saw de Holy Numbah” is a spiritual arrangement for voice and piano by Eva Jessye. The song is the ninth arrangement included in Jessye’s book My Spirituals (1927). In the song’s preface, Jessye describes the song’s association with Uncle “Jake” Dodd—a man so respected that one part of Coffeyville was named Dodd City in his honor. Dodd was born into enslavement in Tennessee, and after being freed he made his way to Kansas, where he became one of the first ordained ministers in the city. Jessye writes, “In the early days his church was attended by white and colored people alike and many of the pioneer white people of the town owe their knowledge of the ‘Sorrow Songs’ to the resonant bass voice of Uncle Jake. It was he who sang such stirring strains as ‘John Saw The Holy Numbah.’”

Date: 1927Composer: Eva JessyeText: SpiritualSong Collection: My Spirituals

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