When we talk about “Gospel”, in Germany we often think of traditional spirituals like “Amazing Grace”, “Go Tell It On The Mountain”, “Amen”, “Oh Happy Day”, and the traditional “stomp” songs with walking bass.

But in the last decades, Gospel music has developed into all kinds of different directions. Today people use “Contemporary Gospel” or “Black Gospel” to refer to a mixture of traditional Gospel music, Soul, R'n'B, Funk and Hip Hop. It's actually not so easy to differentiate all this, because the different styles and scenes influence each other.

When talking about pop stars like Beyoncé, German media sometimes write things like “…at the age of x she already sang in the local church choir…”, which makes me smile. In Germany, we tend to imagine church choirs to be traditional, singing classical music. And it makes you wonder how some one can develop a style like Beyoncé in such a choir. I guess people would find it easier to understand if they were to write “gospel choir”. And that is where you can learn all those ad libs, the range, the stage presence, the moves and everything that you need as a pop star on stage (minus the wardrobe malfunctions, I guess). If you take some time to research, you'll find out that many, many singers and instrumentalists in the US grew up with this gospel culture or were influenced by it directly or indirectly. Take a look at live DVDs of current R'n'B or pop singers travelling with bands and you'll know what I mean.

Gospel music inspires me with its enormous depth and diversity and the energy that is used to play this music. Gospel always makes me give my everything and not just play the gig as a job. (A funny example is this soundcheck video. Yes, the drummer will play this much during the gig. Yes, good gospel drummers tend to be off their rocker, I guess.). Basically, gospel concerts tend to border on jam sessions (at least in the US, I guess). But you shouldn't think the musicians just do what they want. Quite to the contrary, they always know what's going on and what they're doing, and they enjoy adding yet another voicing and yet another lick, without compromising the essentially simple core of the music below.

When I started to play Gospel music, it really challenged me as a bassist. On the one hand, you have to be 100% in the pocket – you're supposed to be the foundation. On the other hand, as a Gospel bassist you get to travel your fretboard a lot (which is good for us Swabians, known for our thriftiness: you get to play every fret you paid for :-)). I had to practice a lot of technique and timing (and am still working on it). Gospel music is the most fun, when you play interesting, groovy songs with a Choir that's top notch rhythm-wise – and if you also have a brass and a string section, that leaves nothing much to desire musically.

However, you shouldn't just look at Gospel music without considering its root in the church service and in the history of Blacks in the US. For the suppressed slaves, music was absolutely not just a spiritual pacifier, a hope for a future better world only (something that people like to say about faith), but an expression of their faith and their hope that God will vindicate them in the present time. This foundation of faith, love and hope is what gives Gospel music its enormous energy.

It seems this essay got a bit longer than I thought. To finish off, here's a few sample videos. Kirk Franklin is one of the most famous Gospel artists, and he has earned a reputation as arranger even outside the Gospel scene (his arrangements can be heard on Stevie Wonder's “A Time 2 Love”, for example).

A very nice example is September, his contribution to the Earth Wind & Fire tribute album. Another wonderfully arranged piece from one of his older albums is Hosanna. Imagine me is a wonderful ballade Declaration (This Is It!) can be found on his current album (go on listening a bit, the style changes quite drastically).

Israel Houghton is known fur sucessfully blending many different styles of music. As Israel & New Breed, he has published a few impressive CDs and live DVDs (take a look at Alive in South Africa). On YouTube, you can found a few titles from his current album “Deeper Level”, for example Say So. This Jam is also quite impressive.

Other well-known artists are Kurt Carr, Fred Hammond, Tonéx, Tye Tribbett and Hezekiah Walker

To finish this list, I also want to mention Andraé Crouch who should be considered the father of modern Gospel music.

If you want to know what kind of Gospel music I'm doing, take a look at the Diversity Praiz! Youtube channel.