|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
And Onto Harlem:
The Importance of Religous Music
rominent
churches in Harlem during the time before and after the Great Migration. The Abyssinian
Baptist Church was the first of these to relocate into Harlem
from a separate Manhattan area in 1908, under the direction of Adam Clayton Powell,
Sr. in his first year of pastorate. Abyssinian Baptist Church became a social
center for African Americans in the migration, as well as after their settlement
into the city. The church maintained a home for the elderly and a social center
as well as housing training schools for religious education, Red Cross Nurses,
and a youth Bible school.
The social movement and progressive acts of the church, including Abyssinian, are reflected in the changes that religious music underwent. Spirituals moved towards being arrangements done by the educated of the ministry and sung by choirs. The spirituals now had a refined,concert sound; they were rehearsed and planned out. The influence of European church music and the traditions of the South combined together to produce songs of Southern words and European sound. Churches found appropriate ways to incorporate jazz, blues, and modern dance into the church experience.
The Jenkins' Orphanage Band and the Abyssinian Baptist Church joined together the North and the South on a yearly basis. The culminating concert for the several different Jenkins' Orphanage Bands was at this church in Harlem. At the end of the tour the four to five groups would meet up and play one final concert to end their tour. These concerts acted as a combination of spirituals and early jazz.
The influence of religious music continues through to this day. The legendary Duke
Ellington created a series of three sacred
concerts between the years of 1965-1973. The concerts combine Ellington's unmatchable jazz style with his religious
faith. These three concerts mark the true blending of a variety of musical nuances.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
