Wade In The Water: A History Of Gospel Music
Wade in the Water: African American Sacred Music Traditions is a 26-part documentary series that details the history of African Americans through song and music, storytelling and historical analysis over a 200-year period beginning with their arrival on American shores.
Produced by NPR and the Smithsonian Institution in the 1990s and hosted by Bernice Johnson Reagon, the program explores the history, the players and the lore of gospel music and its larger impact on soul, jazz and R&B.
Listen to episodes on NPR.org and NPR One. Stream a playlist of songs featured in the show below.
Related Stories:
More Than Music: The Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival
The Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival (LHJF) is a jewel among the rolling Palouse hills. Held for 56 years at the University of Idaho in Moscow, this festival has gathered on stage such luminaries as Ella Fitzgerald, Dizzy Gillespie, and the man of note, Lionel Hampton, who has the U of I School of Music named in his honor. This festival is a grand event that brings together jazz greats and students to create something unique.
Sonny Simmons, Fiercely Independent Alto Saxophonist, Dies at 87
Simmons died last week at the age of 87. The cause of death remains unknown, but his life is cause for considerable celebration. Although jazz has established a place in academic and cultural institutions, it was and largely still is an outsider’s music, and Simmons was an outsider’s outsider.
A Melting Pot Of Traditions: Violinist Regina Carter Talks With Lara Downes
When Duke Ellington famously coined the phrase “beyond category,” he was talking about freedom — of choice, of expression, of belonging. He meant following your heart and your instincts into an artistic territory without borders. And that’s the place where violinist Regina Carter makes her home.
