Sips from the Sipp
Episode Archive
Episode Archive
42 episodes of Sips from the Sipp since the first episode, which aired on November 2nd, 2023.
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Episode 39: Season 2: Gospel Music in the Black Church Tradition - Debra Mays-Jackson
April 15th, 2026 | Season 2 | 40 mins 57 secs
In the Season Two premiere, host Jean Greene welcomes former Utica Vice President Dr. Deborah Mays-Jackson, whose family legacy at Utica runs deep. She shares how the mentorship of Dr. Cooper redirected her path from accounting to music, shaping not just her artistry but her character. The conversation also explores gospel music as a living language of the Black community — rooted in the spirituals, carried through the church, and resilient enough to carry its message into the future.
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Episode 40: Season 2: Gospel Music in the Black Church Tradition - Frank McGriggs
April 22nd, 2026 | Season 2 | 36 mins 58 secs
Mr. Frank McGriggs, founder of the Voices of Reason quartet, traces his musical journey from childhood rehearsals in Utica to forming a gospel group on the battlefields of Iraq — and ultimately back home, where music and ministry led him into a career in education. The conversation explores how gospel quartet music has served as a lifeline of hope for a community that has weathered significant economic and institutional loss. Mr. McGriggs closes with a commitment to mentoring the next generation of singers and musicians, ensuring the rich gospel tradition of Utica continues for the ages.
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Episode 41: Season 2: Gospel Music in the Black Church Tradition - Maurice Morgan
April 29th, 2026 | Season 2 | 45 mins 25 secs
Mr. Maurice Morgan Sr. is a gospel guitarist and songwriter whose career took him from rural North Carolina to performing overseas with the Five Blind Boys of Alabama and touring with some of gospel's greatest names — before love and music brought him to Utica for good. Now settled here with his wife Angela James and their family, Maurice has just released his debut solo album Rightful Heir, a milestone decades in the making. He shares his deep conviction that gospel music is most powerful when sung from the spirit rather than just the page, and speaks to his commitment to mentoring the next generation of artists in the Utica area.
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Episode 42: Season 2: Gospel Music in the Black Church Tradition - Curtis Shears
May 6th, 2026 | Season 2 | 35 mins 57 secs
Mr. Curtis Shears grew up just down the road from the Utica campus in a singing family, and his musical path — shaped by Dr. Bobby Cooper, Opera South, and a scholarship to Tougaloo College — eventually led him to a founding membership in the Mississippi Mass Choir, where he has been singing for nearly four decades. That ministry has taken him to Spain, Japan, and before the Pope, yet Curtis has never stopped claiming Utica as home. He closes the conversation by sharing the story of the Utica Community Choir, a cross-church ensemble he helped revive that continues to bring voices — and hope — together across the area.