The purpose of this Mudcat thread is to present video examples of gospel and/or spiritual vocal music apart from extensive commentary such as that which occurred on threads like Black Gospel-roots, styles, examples .

Examples of religious vocal music from non-African American cultures are very much welcomed on this thread.

I'm interested in the Mudcat community sharing gospel and/or spiritual videos for the pleasure of hearing and seeing these performances. And I'm interested in the presentation of these videos for more than aesthetic reasons. It's my position that gospel music is an appropriate and vital area of folk study. For instance, I am particularly interested in how contemporary African American gospel music retains traditions from the past such as the call & response pattern, lyrics from older songs, and the lining style in which the soloist says/sings a sentence and the choir then sings that same phrase or a similar phrase. I am also interested in the spontaneous and/or directed behavior of the audience/congregation.

Other Mudcatters and Guests posting to this thread or watching these videos may find other things that interest them such as the way a musician plays a specific intrument or the changes in lyrics that may occur when a song is performed by different vocalists {or the same vocalist at different times}.

However, in spite of the discussions that might be prompted by these videos, I'm hoping that comments on this thread will be limited to identifying the specific video. Otherwise, I fear that the video examples will get lost in a forest of words.

Some of these videos may be [or may have been] cross-posted on Murray MacLeod's YouTube Folkmusic Video PermaThread or on the previously mentioned Black Gospel thread.   

However, this is not a permathread. I will not comment on the subjective worthiness of any video posted here by others, and I hope that others will refrain from doing so. If you don't like a particular video, I hope that you will move on to another one, or post a gospel or spiritual video that you prefer.

Thank you, and please join me in posting to this video thread.