Description:
Here is a skillful tracing of two tracks in the evolution of musical genres that have evolved from black religion. Songs of protest developed from the spiritual through social-gospel hymnody to culminate in songs of the civil-rights movement and the blues. Born in rebellion, they envision the Kingdom of God.
Songs of praise, by contrast, express adoration. Beginning with the "ring-shout," Spencer follows the history of intoned declamation through the tongue song, Holiness-Pentecostal music, and the chanted sermon of the black preacher. Spencer's approach, termed theomusicology, unlocks the wealth of African-American sacred music with a theological key. The result is a fascinating account of a people's struggle with God in history.
Brief description:
Jon Michael Spencer, renamed Yahya Jongintaba, is an early-retired professor. After a twenty-three year teaching career, with over a dozen books to his credit, he expatriated to East Africa, where he presently spends most of his time between Tanzania and Ethiopia.