Frameline50: A Taste of Heaven: The Ecstatic Song & Gospel of Maestro Raymond Anthony Miles

World-renowned gospel singer and choir director Maestro Raymond Anthony Myles was a charismatic, impeccably dressed, and artistically singular figure in the New Orleans musical landscape. A Taste of Heaven documents Myles’ soul-catching music and complex personal life whose struggles were as unique and human as he was.

Attempting to reconcile seemingly opposing aspects of his identity — sinner and saint, gaudy and elegant, queer and Christian — Myles was unapologetic about who he was. While talent and charisma were a ticket into spaces from churches to international stages, his flamboyant outfits and effusive, larger-than-life character were as much a liability as a magnet when it came to true belonging. With a matchless soundtrack thanks to the Maestro himself — truly a “diva’s diva” of singular talent — A Taste of Heaven intertwines his gospel with insights from close friends, fellow musicians, and producers, including Big Freedia, Cyril Neville, Mahalia Jackson, Allen Toussaint, Wardell Quezergue, Quint Davis, and Harry Shearer.