Feel the spirit -- Gospel choirs use body and soul to reach out to audiences with music to soothe the soul

It begins with the simple phrase: "Praise Lord."

From the front of a small church, the chant moans softly and its answer shouts from the rear. The words come, followed by hands raised to the heavens. Organ chords and drums join in, lifting and driving. Bodies begin to rock. Someone bends a note. Someone calls out, "Yes, Lord."

And just when the emotions seem to have hit the ceiling, choir director Sam Townsend takes his cue from the spirit and pulls the entire congregation higher. "Why should I be bound," he sings.

Feet stomping, hands clapping and the voices rising from deep inside are his answer.

Humming softly, or whooping and wailing, these worshipers at Greater Glory Church of God in Christ continue the African-American tradition of gospel music, giving thanks to a God who carries them through another day. And they aren't the only ones who find their spiritual medicine in this music.

Gospel can be heard in congregations throughout the Seattle area, from this small Pentecostal church tucked behind a U-Haul station on Martin Luther King Jr. Way to Baptist and Catholic churches as well. An art form filled with spontaneity, this song and dance is much more than entertainment.

"It's a message of hope, and of love, encouragement and enlightenment," said Townsend, who among many things is music director of his father's church, Greater Glory Church of God in Christ, and director of the gospel community choir Imani.

"Everybody we sing to doesn't necessarily believe in God, but they do need uplift in this hurting world. Very few people can sit and listen to gospel music without feeling anything."

There are numerous CDs of gospel recordings available from the celebrated Mahalia Jackson and Roberta Martin to the newer vanguard like the immensely popular crossover artist Kirk Franklin. But the full impact of this tradition hits home when seen and heard live. A moan or a hum can articulate a feeling outside the realm of words. And the movement of the body underscores that feeling.

"You don't just sing with your mouth," said Cora Jackson, a veteran in Seattle's gospel scene who directs music at Bethel Christian Ministries in Belltown, and has formed a new choir called STAND (Shout Triumphantly and Announce a New Day). "When we're working on perfecting riffs, I can almost see my hands hitting the note, my body does the same thing my voice is doing . . . You're whole body will tell the truth. All the trouble and joy, your face will show it, your hands will show it and certainly your feet can too."

Rooted in the old Negro Spirituals, gospel music emerged from the Pentecostal church revivals at the end of the 19th century, which incorporated the shouts, dances and "call and response" device of African origins. The tradition has both reflected and influenced popular music from its early bluesy recordings in the 1920s and '30s to the hip-hop and rap dominating Franklin's work today.

Gospel was the sound that carried the civil-rights movement during the 1950s and '60s, making Rev. C.A. Tindley's "I'll Overcome Someday" an international anthem of protest. And it provided the foundation for blues, jazz and rock 'n' roll.

"It's been said that it went from gospel and blues and then into rock 'n' roll" said Alice James, a gospel singer in New Hope Choir whose mother, Mae Campbell, had been at the center of Seattle's gospel scene 40 years ago. "It's all a continuum. Everything evolved."

In the local scene, all of gospel's varying styles can be heard. Urban Rhythms, a choir directed by Kent Stevenson, another longtime gospel practitioner, incorporates jazz chords and Afro-Brazilian music. At Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Baptist Church in Renton, congas and a saxophone join the piano and organ. The Imani gospel choir embellishes its gospel harmonies with an R&B twist.

And there are those, like the celebrated Pat Wright and the Rev. Sam L. Townsend, Sr., who prefer to send their message in the traditional style. The old-school songs allow Wright the release she can't find in the new, she says. In Townsend's church, only traditional gospel is sung during Sunday services, because, he says, some of the more contemporary hip-hop and R&B-influenced songs remind him, and many in his congregation, of a life they left, tripping high and lost in some night club.

Whatever the form, the Rev. Dr. Leon C. Jones, pastor of Renton's Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Baptist Church, sees gospel music as an expression at the heart of African-American culture. Even those who don't go to church, he says, have been shaped by its culture. Jones would rather not draw a line between the secular and religious. Sixty years ago, he explained, the musician who played the blues at the juke joint on Saturday night probably played for the church choir on Sunday morning.

"If you listen to Aretha (Franklin) singing `Amazing Grace,' you're in church," Jones said. "If you're listening to her sing `Dr. Feelgood' in a night club, you're still in church."

As many gospel practitioners say, the power and purpose of the music is to transform. They say they are a vessel for their Lord's words, and at the same time singing their own personal story. They must sing in the moment, be open to the spirit and ready to shift their tone or change a rhythm should they be called to do so.

"If I see somebody crying, I'll continue singing. If I see somebody jump, I'll say that line again. That's me being able to see God moving," Townsend said. "There might be one person in the back of the church who might need ministering from the words of a song, so I keep repeating it until He tells me that's enough."

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The joyful shouts and rich voices of gospel are a regular ritual in numerous churches, ranging from the almost completely free-form Pentecostal service to the more structured Catholic Mass. Here is a selection of churches and events in this area where you can share in the gospel experience.

Churches:

Greater Glory Church of God in Christ, 6419 Martin Luther King Jr. Way S., Seattle, 206-723-6419. Sunday service is at 11:15 a.m.

First United Methodist Church, 811 Fifth Ave., Seattle, 206-622-7278. Celebration Choir sings at the 7 p.m. Sunday service. The choir will also perform during the Christmas Eve service, Dec. 24, at 6:30 p.m.

First A.M.E. Church, 1522 14th Ave., Seattle, 206-324-1840. There will be a Christmas gospel music service at 10 a.m. Dec. 25.

Immaculate Conception, 820 18th Ave. E., Seattle, 206-322-5970. The gospel choir will sing at the Christmas Eve Mass. Sunday service with the choir alternates between the 9 a.m. and 11 a.m. Masses.

The Oneness Center (founded by Pat Wright), 2022 E. Union, Seattle, 206-322-9022. Sunday service is at 11 a.m.

Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Baptist Church, 13611 S.E. 116th, Renton, 425-255-1446. The Voices of Praise gospel choir sings on the first, third and fourth Sundays of the month. The choir's Christmas concert is 6 p.m. Saturday.

Mount Zion Baptist Church, 1634 19th Ave., Seattle, 206-322-6500. The Mount Zion Inspirational Chorus sings at the 10:45 service on the first and second Sundays and at 8 a.m. on the fourth Sunday of every month.

St. Therese Church, 3416 E. Marion St., Seattle, 206-325-2711. Shades of Praise gospel choir sings at the 11 a.m. service on the first, third and fourth Sundays of the month.

Events

"Urban Rhythms." Pat Wright and the Total Experience Gospel Choir, and a Tacoma group from the Gospel Music Workshop of America Choir, will perform at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 28 at the First Covenant Church, 400 E. Pike St. Suggested donation is $10.

- Keiko Morris