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Spiritual-Gospel Connection NewsBulletin^©

A SPECIAL REPORT
Reprinted from the Rejoicensemble! program notes of October 14, 1990. The program featured the spirituals of Hall Johnson, the traditional gospel of Clara Ward and the contemporary inspirational music of Richard Smallwood.

THE ORIGINS OF GOSPEL MUSIC
Two distinctly American musical genres, one sacred, one secular, were spawned when the African was transplanted to the New World. History tells us that in numerous cases the European-American slaveowners tried to eradicate all elements of African culture from the African slave; however, the slave managed to hold on to many of his African traditions through a process of outwardly adapting certain European-American elements, but giving them qualities that were uniquely African; the result was often, as in the case of music, a new entity altogether.

Through this process, African American sacred music developed from:

the "chant" to "field hollars" to "spirituals" to "gospel" to "contemporary inspirational".

On the other hand the secular music developed from:

the "chant" to "field hollars" to "work songs" to "blues" to "ragtime" to "jazz" to "rhythm and blues" to "rap".

Both genres, the fruit of the same African musical tree, are a testament of the African's ability to adapt foreign cultural elements to African practices and traditions.

One such tradition is the functional use of music in African society, i.e., it is music for a particular occasion; for example, music for harvesting, music for rites of passage, music for a wedding. "A Ge Te Kayi B'endendodenau Go Pa Lo Wa" is a chant sung by the Bassari people of Sénégal at the end of day of cultivating the fields. An important element associated with African functional music is the lack of demarcation between the sacred and the secular in traditional African culture. The African dieties are forever present and part of all phases of life. Therefore, it is not surprising that the music of the African in the New World often reflects this element. Both African American sacred and secular music have a "tradition of borrowing" from each other.

THE ROOTS OF THE MUSIC — BLOOM!
Composer/arranger Hall Johnson (1888-1970) combined the "personal" African American spiritual tradition, i.e. , "Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child," with that of European Romantic conservatory musical style to become one of the leading writers of the choral spiritual tradition of which "Way Over in Beulah Land," "I've Been Buked" and "Elijah, Rock!" are representative. Born in Athens, Georgia, Johnson received his education at Allen University, Atlanta University, Knox Institute, the University Of Pennsylvania and the New York Institute of Musical Art. He was the arranger and musical director for the Broadway and film productions of Green Pastures. In addition, for many years, Johnson was the choral director for Harry Belafonte.

Thomas A. Dorsey, the former ragtime/vaudeville pianist and accompanist to Ma Rainey, was being true to his African roots when he combined elements of ragtime piano and blues with the fervent hymn style that had been popularized by composer/minister Rev. Charles Albert Tinley of Philadelphia. Dorsey christened his creation "gospel". Dorsey's most famous composition, "Take My Hand, Precious Lord," was written upon the death of his wife, Nettie Harper, the wardrobe mistress to Ma Rainey. Like so many subsequent gospel songs, the lyrics are a personal testimony of the composer's relationship with God. Consequently, the accompanying music had to take on a flavor and style that would support such a personal testament.

To spread his music, Dorsey and his partner Sallie Martin, along with his disciple-singers Mahailia Jackson, Willie Mae Ford Smith and later Clara Ward, travelled around the country performing his compositions in churches that would allow the new music to be heard. It was generally accepted in the Holiness, Sanctified and Pentecostal Churches which had sprung up during the latter part of the nineteenth century. This was not the case in the traditional denominations, e.g. the Baptist, Episcopal, or Methodist.

No longer under the bans of slavery which prohibited the use of drums by African-Americans, the Pentecostals began to use the drums, along with the tambourine, to accompany their worship music. They also introduced other instruments into their services: the tuba, the trombone and the guitar. However, like in early jazz, these instruments tended to play the rhythms associated with African percussion instruments.

CLARA WARD:
GOSPEL MUSIC INNOVATOR
By the age of five, Clara Ward (1924-1973) had sung her first solo in church in her hometown of Philadelphia. At the urging of her mother, Gertrude Ward, Clara, along with her mother and sister, Willa Ward, became the first version of the Ward Singers. The group became the champions of gospel on the east coast. In the late 1940's, Mrs. Ward added two new singers to the group, Henrietta Waddy and Marion Williams, with Clara singing and at the piano. The Ward Singers were distinguished by a variety of vocal colors including the blues like quality of Waddy to the wide belt soprano of Williams to the reedy, moaning quality of Clara herself. The music of the Ward Singers is characterized by a fiery driving beat in the uptempo numbers and by a downhome hymn singing style in the slower tunes. But no matter what the tempo of the song, it was Clara's distinctive piano style that help to add that special quality to the music.

The repertoire of the Ward Singers consisted of arrangements of traditional hymns as well as compositions by Clara Ward. However, it was a composition penned by the Rev. W. Herbert Brewster of the East Trigg Baptist Church in Memphis that gave the Wards and gospel one of its biggest hits: "Surely God Is Able". Whereas a triple feel has always been the underlying secondary meter to a lot of African derived music, "Surely God Is Able" marked the first time that a clear cut triple waltz rhythm had been introduced into gospel music.

The Ward Singers subsequently appeared in prestigious concert halls around the world including New York's Carnegie Hall. In 1957 the group was featured at the Newport Jazz Festival and followed that appearance with a tour of Europe. In 1963, Clara Ward directed the music for the Langston Hughes Broadway show, Tambourines to Glory. However, in 1961 the grouped created quite a stir with the announcement of its commitment to perform in forty weeks per year in Las Vegas. In defense of the group's decision, Clara reportedly quipped, "If the sinners won't come to me, then I'll go to the sinners."

GOSPEL MUSIC MOVES INTO THE MAINSTREAM
From the late 1960's into the early seventies, both the African American secular and sacred music began major transitions. The varied rhythms of rhythm and blues (r&b) were being usurped by a marching band beat in the form of disco music, while the rhythms and chords usually associated with r&b and jazz start to be heard with increasing frequency in gospel music. Concurrently was the rise in the number of entertainment converts to the "Born Again Christian" movement. Like their forerunner, Thomas A. Dorsey, a number of the new converts brought to the movement and to gospel music their secular musical elements; Al Green is a classic example. One of the proponents of the new gospel music was Edwin Hawkins who strongly influenced his east coast counterpart Richard Smallwood.

Smallwood, the son of a baptist minister, grew up playing piano in church (he currently plays at Metropolitan Baptist Church, Washington, DC) and listening to the music of traditional artists like the Roberta Martin Singers and the Davis Sisters. He earned a Bachelor of Music Degree from Howard University.

Smallwood describes his music as "a combination of traditional and contemporary gospel along with classical music." It is most notable for its outstanding clear melodies, Motown-like bass lines and varied rhythms in the uptempo numbers, transient modulations, shifts from major to minor modes as well as the use of several themes within a single composition. In 1974, Smallwood declined a popular recording contract with RCA Records in order to pursue a career in contemporary inspirational music. In 1982, with the release of his first album entitled Richard Smallwood Singers which includes his compositions "Call the Lord" and "I Love the Lord," Richard Smallwood became a trailblazer in contemporary inspirational music. …CM

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