Traditional Black Gospel

Traditional Black gospel is the sacred music of African American churches, fusing the spirituals, hymns and blues intonation of the South with fervent, virtuosic singing. Developed in Chicago and other northern cities in the 1930s by *Thomas A. Dorsey*, it pairs a lead singer given to melisma, growls and shouted testimony with mass choirs, piano, Hammond organ and, later, full rhythm sections. Its classic repertoire — quartets such as *The Swan Silvertones*, soloists such as *Mahalia Jackson*, and choir directors such as *James Cleveland* — privileges live, congregational intensity over studio polish and forms the vocal foundation of soul music.