Mahalia Jackson
A mentor of gospel innovator Thomas A. Dorsey, Mahalia Jackson's fiery, impassioned, and controlled vocal delivery may have been reminiscent of blues singer Bessie Smith, but it was always harnessed to an unwavering devotion to the Lord. Wildly popular throughout the world and committed to Civil Rights her entire life, she will always be the uncontested queen of gospel music. Here are her essential recordings.
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Gospels Spirituals & Hymns [BOX SET]
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by Mahalia Jackson
Sony/Columbia
Audio CD
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Amazon.com essential recording
If the bazillion packagings and repackagings of Mahalia Jackson's music confound you and you don't know where to start, this expertly compiled, carefully annotated double-disc box set is for you. Jackson wasn't just gospel music's first international superstar--she was among its earliest adherents and inventors. Working with the great composer and former blues singer Thomas A. Dorsey in the late 1930s, Jackson gave a distinctly blues-trained, jazzy sass and grace to Dorsey's material and the...
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Live At Newport, 1958
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by Mahalia Jackson
Sony/Columbia
Audio CD
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Amazon.com essential recording
It was 1958 at the Newport Jazz Festival, and the announcer said it all: "Ladies and gentlemen, it is Sunday, and it is time for the World's Greatest Gospel Singer, Miss Mahalia Jackson." And, with that all-too-appropriate introduction, Jackson broke into a stirring rendition of "An Evening Prayer" that set the tone for a classic performance. Over the course of her 45-minute set, she performed pop-tinged numbers ("Didn't It Rain"), a few trad tunes ("I'm Going to Live the Life I Sing About in My...
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Black Brown & Beige [EXTRA TRACKS]
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by Duke Ellington, Mahalia Jackson
Sony/Columbia
Audio CD
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As a composer and bandleader associated indelibly with the nightclub scenes of pre-Swing Era jazz, Duke Ellington would have a difficult time getting respect in the button-down world of concert music. And when Ellington premiered his first long-form piece, Black, Brown and Beige, in 1943 (available on the stunning Carnegie Hall Concerts, January 1943), he was considered a dilettante. He laid the work aside until this recording, which came in early 1958--with the added oomph of gospel vocalist
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The Best of the Rest...
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In My Home Over There
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by Mahalia Jackson
Uni/Gospocentric
Audio CD
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Mahalia Jackson spent almost half a century singing gospel songs and spirituals, her unmistakable timbre and phrasing influenced by blues greats Ma Rainey and Bessie Smith. Jackson was gospel's first crossover superstar, and though she's been dead since 1972, her rich, smoky contralto has not been surpassed. Since her passing, Jackson's recordings have been reissued and/or compiled into collections many times over. In My Home Over There includes alternate versions of songs (e.g., "His Eye Is on...
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Christmas With Mahalia Jackson
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by Mahalia Jackson
Special Music Company
Audio CD
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Amazon.com
As someone who grew up singing gospel hymns in her Baptist church and who later brought that music to diverse audiences around the globe (she sang for John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr.), Mahalia Jackson served as the Queen of Gospel Music and as an inspiration and influence to future generations. These Christmas songs benefit from her powerful phrasing and unrestrained enthusiasm which easily transform an old English madrigal ("What Child Is This?") into something deeply felt from her...
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