Season 1 poster
← Gospel

Season 1

4 episodes · 12th February 2024

From acclaimed scholar Henry Louis Gates, Jr., Gospel explores Black spirituality in sermon and song. From the blues to hip-hop, African Americans have been the driving force of sonic innovation for over a century.

Season details

Details

Episode guide

Episodes

01 The Gospel Train still The Gospel Train Episode 112th February 2024 GOSPEL’s hour 1 takes the gospel train north to Chicago, where southern migrants Thomas A. Dorsey, Mahalia Jackson and Sister Rosetta Tharpe blended the melodic sounds and instrumentation of blues and jazz with lyrics about God’s goodness. Like the blues, gospel would become a commodity, but one built by Black-owned publishing companies like Martin and Morris and sustained by Black audiences. 02 Take The Message Everywhere still Take The Message Everywhere Episode 213th February 2024 Starting in the 1940s, GOSPEL’s hour 2 explores the Golden Age of Gospel — the dramatic explosion of Black sacred music and the segregated highways of the American South — through the successful careers of Mahalia Jackson, Sam Cooke and Aretha Franklin. As the lines between the sacred and secular blur, gospel music becomes the powerful soundtrack of the freedom struggle. 03 Take the Message Everywhere still Take the Message Everywhere Episode 313th February 2024 GOSPEL’s hour 3 reveals how gospel was going mainstream and family dynasties, many raised in the Church of God in Christ, would dominate the charts. Meanwhile, other children of the church used their heavenly voice to influence soul music. As gospel artists took the message everywhere, Black pastors continued to distinguish their message through a prophetic voice and sound with sermonettes. 04 Gospel's Second Century still Gospel's Second Century Episode 414th February 2024 GOSPEL’s hour 4 opens in the 1990s, when a new generation of music producers, record executives and artists embraced the secular rhythms of R&B and hip-hop to modernize the gospel sound. The launch of the Platinum Age of Gospel brought commercially successful songs about faith to millions in clubs, on cable TV and on urban radio, but drew criticism that gospel music had gone too far.
Talent

Cast & Crew

01 Henry Louis Gates, Jr. profile Henry Louis Gates, Jr.as Self 02 Henry Louis Gates, Jr. profile Henry Louis Gates, Jr.Writer
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