January 3, 2008
Gospel Music
Gospel music is arguably the most important African-American musical tradition. Throughout the twentieth century it has managed to instill a vision in African-Americans with its message of hope, love, and compassion through the power of Jesus Christ. Gospel music has also had a profound influence on religious and secular music, enabling it to become a part of the broader American culture.
During the Antebellum period, African-Americans used religious and sacred songs as a tool of liberation in order to help them survive the terrible institution of slavery. Once emancipation had been achieved, they then relied upon spirituals such as “Nobody Knows the Trouble I See,” “Steal Away,” “Didn\’t My Lord Deliver Daniel,” “Ezekiel Saw the Wheel,” and “In that Great Gettin\’ up Morning,” to help them make the transition from slavery to freedom. Beginning in the early twentieth century, however, African-American religious music would enter a new age with the birth of black Pentecostal churches and denominations. With a strong worship emphasis on emotionalism and speaking in tongues, many traditional hymns were instantly “gospelized” by increasing the tempo and, at times, by adding percussion accompaniment. Instrumental in this phenomena was Charles Price Jones of Jackson, Mississippi, founder of the Church of Christ (Holiness) USA, who as the father of African-American Pentecostalism composed over 1,000 songs for his congregation. Jones\’ songs–such as “I\’m Happy With Jesus Only” and “Jesus Only”–were unique in that they expressed the feelings and expressions of African-Americans after slavery.
Beginning in the 1920s, black religious music was introduced to the Quartet movement. Whereas most sacred music was sung by congregations, The Fisk Jubilee Singers of Nashville were responsible for popularizing the groups as they sprang up east of the Mississippi River. Because of their amazing popularity, record companies such as RCA Victor, Paramount, and Columbia, cashed in on the demand for this type of music in the Urban North by recording and promoting the quartet sound. Radio stations also sought to capitalize on the growing popularity of black religious music. Stations such as WLAC of Nashville, with its 50,000 watts, played the music at night to listeners as far away as Chicago, Philadelphia, and New York.
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Seeking to take advantage of the growing popularity of black religious music, Thomas A. Dorsey of Chicago took African-American religious music to a new level by combining blues and jazz rhythms to traditional hymns; he labeled his sound “gospel.” Dorsey, a former jazz and blues pianist, decided to give his talents to “the Lord” in 1932 and in that same year he organized a gospel choir at Chicago\’s Pilgrim Baptist Church. One year later he organized the National Convention of Gospel Choirs and Choruses (NCGCC). Thus, he had begun a career that would eventually lead him to compose over 500 songs. His most famous was “Take My Hand Precious Lord.” In addition to directing and composing, Dorsey also opened a gospel music publishing house and soon thereafter he was labeled the “Father of Gospel Music.” Although Dorsey was indeed a prolific songwriter, he did not operate in isolation. He worked with other artists such as Sallie Martin and the popular Mahalia Jackson. Between 1938 and 1947 Jackson made several recordings, but her most popular–”Move On Up A Little Higher”–catapulted her into gospel music fame. On the heels of the popular recording she secured a weekly CBS radio program and she also made a number of appearances at the famed Apollo Theater and the on Ed Sullivan Show. Since she was one of the first gospel artists to take her work to a secular audience, Jackson quickly became an international star and many today consider her the “World\’s Greatest Gospel Singer.”
Beginning in the 1950s, other artists–the Dixie Hummingbirds, the Blind Boys of Alabama, and the Sensational Nightingales–filled churches, auditoriums, and jazz festivals with their unique style as they followed Jackson\’s lead in taking their message to a broader audience. Again, the media sought to take advantage of the popularity of gospel music by establishing such nationally syndicated television programs as TV Gospel Time. Although the show had a short existence it was nonetheless instrumental in bringing gospel music to a non-religious crowd.
While some artists were bringing gospel to new listeners, others such as James Cleveland were gaining notoriety within traditional gospel circles. Born in 1930 in Chicago, Cleveland served as composer, arranger, and pianist for several gospel groups before starting his own, the James Cleveland Singers, which performed many of his 500 songs. What made Cleveland unique was that he introduced the nation to the “Gospel Choir.” At times, his choirs would number several hundred as they entertained audiences with their hand clapping, dancing, and singing, while arrayed in their fashionable robes. In 1968 Cleveland organized the Gospel Music Workshop of America (GMWA) and because of his success he received three Grammy Awards; in 1981 he was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
All Dat Jazz n More
The National - Boxer Houstonist agrees with many critics about the best album of 2007. We first thought that Brooklyn-based The National reached their pinnacle with Alligator from a couple of years back, but we were wrong. With darker lyrics and the mesmerizing baritone vocals from Matt Berninger, along with Bryan Devendorf’s drumming and the remaining guitar/piano arrangements from band members, The Boxer knows when to rock and when to just be plain beautiful. Listen: 
Iron & Wine - The Shepherd’s Dog Hopes were high for Sam Beam (who is Iron & Wine) this year, after Woman King and his collaboration with fellow Austinites, Calexico. He surpassed those hopes for many. While basically a folk singer, Sam adds enough varying instrumentation to his music to compliment his hushed voice, without over-powering it. ?Boy With a Coin? and “Lovesong of the Buzzard” are standouts. Listen: 
Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga When a band?s album is called ?the most accessible yet,? that usually means it?s the most commercial, mainstream sounding. Not for Spoon. It just means damn good. We argue amongst ourselves if this one is better than Gimme Fiction (which was our 
Feist - The Reminder In 1967, it was the Summer of Love. In 2007, it was the Summer of Leslie Feist. You couldn’t go anywhere without hearing Feist’s wistful voice in a TV commercial or on the radio, and we wouldn’t have had it any other way. The talented chanteuse and multi-instrumentalist struck gold with her third full-length album The Reminder, reminding us of the sheer power of perfect hooks and solid pop songs. The record’s wide appeal landed Feist prized commercial deals and a Grammy nomination for Best New Artist. But the laurels haven’t damaged her indie cred; Feist still finds the time to jam with the Canadian sound collective Broken Social Scene and perform with her musical friends on occasion. She’s still Leslie from the block. Listen: 
Wilco - Sky Blue Sky This Chicago band reached their current plateau with 2000?s Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, but they haven?t fallen since. Sure, Sky Blue Sky isn?t as ?experimental? as their past two studio albums, but with the whole band involved in the writing process this time (the last two were mostly leader Jeff Tweedy compositions), this album is more cohesive and easy to digest. The calmer atmosphere on this year?s Wilco release may have a lot to do with the band?s new found sobriety. Listen: 
The Shins - Wincing The Night Away At he beginning of the year, the music industry was abuzz with the release of The Shin?s follow-up to 2003?s Chutes Too Narrow. Wincing the Night Away even debuted at #2 on the U.S. album charts, with only some minor airplay for the first single ?Phantom Limb.? The band didn?t stray too far from the formula that first got them notice (which for many, was the inclusion of two songs on the Garden State soundtrack), but they did have more funds to use for the production of the album. The Shins also showed that you could stay on an independent label and reach massive success. Listen: 
Radiohead - In Rainbows Speaking of bands that did it their way, despite what the music industry guidelines says ? Radiohead garnered headlines this year with the release of their digital download-only ?pay what you want? album In Rainbows. Fans who?ve grown weary of overboard experimentation with the last few Radiohead studio albums were happy to hear more songs with (gulp) choruses in them. It?ll be interesting to see how the physical CD sales once it?s released in 2008. Listen: SYNC MUSIC
After surviving a coif-graying battle with label execs during the release
of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, frontman Jeff Tweedy has regrouped and crafted
one fine Steely Dan album as his follow-up. Unlike previous releases,
Ghost starts slow and calculating with a pair of sparse ballads. Then the 10-minute-plus Spiders (Kidsmoke) has Tweedys
distorted solos (a whole lot of em) bobbing and weaving with a
tale about a private beach in Michigan. Except for Im A
Wheel, an homage to Replacements-era power-pop, YHF engineer Jim
ORourke has once again gone nuts on a Wilco record. The all-world Sonic Youth collaborator guests throughout this release that feels so live and spontaneous that it could be mistaken for a band-authorized Red Rocks boot, if in fact the band was into waxing the DMB._Matt Rodbard
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The Roots
The Tipping Point
Geffen
Releasing politically angled (yet danceable) records, which for some
reason resonate with the frat boys of the land, is kind of The Roots
bag. After all, the Philly collective is currently touring with fave 311.
Party anthem Boom is the gooey center of The Tipping
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PJ Harvey
Uh Huh Her
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At this point, swimming from art-rocking dissonance to mystical meditations
may seem clichéd for Polly Jean. But it still sounds so damn good. This 13-song gem butterflies and occasionally punks the
audio senses by providing a spectrum of atmospheric sounds layered with PJs tweaking, distorted guitar melodies and sweet vocals. Its 80- to 20-percent on the mellow side, but its 100 percent worth the four-year wait. _Don Sears
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New Year Happenings
Taming The Musical
As artistic director of the celebrated Encores! series at City Center for the past three seasons, Marshall is well-schooled in revivals. She had choreographed Call Me Madam and Dubarry Was a Lady for Encores! before becoming director and The Boys From Syracuse, Li’l Abner, and Babes in Arms (which she also directed) afterward. She says she possesses a deep respect for praised–and sometimes despised– musicals, “not only for their original authors, but also for the show’s original orchestrator and dance arranger.”
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Says Marshall, “From what I’ve learned with Encores/ there’s a great desire from audiences to see these revivals done well but [for directors] not to mess with them too much. With my current show, Kate, I have much more freedom, but I’m also very aware–we make sure this is something that could have been done in 1948. People think with revivals for today’s audiences, `Well, we’ve got to totally reinvent it.’ Obviously it has to be filtered through our contemporary sensibility, but Kate’s such a wonderful show. Yes, we do have to dust it off and give it a lift–after all, this is fifty years later; our clocks tick faster. So we can zip it up. But let’s not throw away what was gold to begin with.”
Working closely with director Michael Blakemore and veteran music director Paul Gemignani, Marshall explains that they started with “what’s on the page and only got away from it when needed.” Kate’s a tale, created by Sam and Bella Spewack (book) and Cole Porter ( music), about divorced actors reunited onstage for the tryout of a musical based on The Taming of the Shrew–a musical brimming with the problems that can attend any new show, not the least of which in this case is the battle of the sexes onstage and off- between the ego-driven leads.
In a subplot, Berresse plays Bill Calhoun, an actor who likes to gamble, and Spanger is Lois Lane, his actress girlfriend. “As I said to the cast,” says Marshall, “it’s about us–who we are and what we do. The trick is to take all the details and heighten them enough and theatricalize them.”