Black Gospel

Black gospel is the sacred music of African American churches, fusing blues feeling, jazz harmony, and sanctified church practice into singing of unmatched emotional and technical power. From *Mahalia Jackson*'s commanding contralto and *Thomas A. Dorsey*'s gospel blues compositions to the mass-choir era of *James Cleveland* and the contemporary praise of *Kirk Franklin*, the style spans quartets, choirs, and soloists, all built on call-and-response, handclaps, Hammond organ, and voices testifying in real time. It is the root system of soul and R&B and remains a living worship music, recorded by church-rooted artists across every generation since the 1930s.