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The legacy of Gospel music explored
Gospel music evolved from antebellum spirituals into a distinct genre in 1920s Chicago, serving as both a "weapon of worship" and a foundation for modern R&B and Rock 'n Roll.
MILWAUKEE - Songs of survival, defeat and hope swept through cotton fields in the antebellum south. Slaves used them to navigate a brutal life on the plantation. Their war cry became a weapon of worship that the Black community knows today as Gospel music.
Legacy of Gospel music
What they're saying:
Gospel music is what brought Antoine Reynolds to the light, when he was in his darkest hour.
"It is my comfort, it is my correction, it is my therapy," said Reynolds, worship leader at Christian Faith Fellowship Church in Milwaukee.
Antoine Reynolds
It is the reason Reynolds said he's still here.
"I recently went through a really, really rough time in my life," said Reynolds. "I was to the point of contemplating suicide; depression had taken over."
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A hymn of hope emerged from those shadows, motivating Reynolds to keep singing Gospel music at his church.
"It's the soundtrack to our life," said Reynolds.
Antoine Reynolds
Hymn of hope
Dig deeper:
Gospel was inspired by Negro spirituals, like "Go Down Moses" and "Wade in the Water." It is rooted in slavery, but took shape in the early 1900s.
"It becomes an identifiable thing around the 1920s in Chicago, where Thomas Andrew Dorsey, who is rightly recognized as the Father of Gospel music, begins to make music in this style," said James Kinchen, Professor of Music and Director of Choral Activities at University of Wisconsin-Parkside.
Thomas Andrew Dorsey
Dorsey famously wrote "Take My Hand Precious Lord."
Mahalia Jackson, widely known as the Queen of Gospel, popularized it. She also sang it at Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s funeral, underscoring its role in the Civil Rights Movement.
"People gained inspiration from that music, people had their spirits lifted, in spite of all the oppression around them," Kinchen said.
James Kinchen
Gospel's impact on other genres
Big picture view:
Gospel not only influenced the civil rights anthem, "We Shall Overcome," it laid the foundation for R&B, pop and Rock 'n Roll. It's where Aretha Franklin, Sam Cooke and Whitney Houston got their start.
"That's how pervasive, that's how important Gospel music has been," Prof. Kinchen said.
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It's also a life-line Reynolds uses, as a musician, to be closer to his director.
"Without God, I am nothing," said Reynolds. "If I don't have connection with him, I don't have anything."
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