0:00:02 > 0:00:06# With the power of the Holy Spirit
0:00:06 > 0:00:10# I will sing. #
0:00:10 > 0:00:13Hello, and welcome to St John at Hackney
0:00:13 > 0:00:16where we have foot-stomping, soul-stirring gospel music
0:00:16 > 0:00:18to celebrate this Pentecost Sunday.
0:00:22 > 0:00:24On the birthday of the church
0:00:24 > 0:00:28we have hymns to swing your soul from our choir and congregation.
0:00:28 > 0:00:30Our soloist Jeharna South
0:00:30 > 0:00:32and special guests Kym Mazelle
0:00:32 > 0:00:36and Avery Sunshine tell me what inspires their music.
0:00:45 > 0:00:47St John's is an Anglican church
0:00:47 > 0:00:50in the heart of the London Borough of Hackney.
0:00:50 > 0:00:54People from all over the capital and beyond have gathered here
0:00:54 > 0:00:58to celebrate the day the Holy Spirit descended on Jesus' followers.
0:01:00 > 0:01:02The word "gospel" means "good news"
0:01:02 > 0:01:06and what better way to celebrate the good news of the Holy Spirit
0:01:06 > 0:01:09than with a medley of two great gospel songs?
0:03:40 > 0:03:43# In the world
0:03:43 > 0:03:46# I love so dear... #
0:03:46 > 0:03:49I think the term "gospel music"
0:03:49 > 0:03:52really came into usage in the 1930s
0:03:52 > 0:03:57with Thomas A Dorsey in Chicago, Mahalia Jackson, people like that.
0:03:57 > 0:04:02Up until then, it had really been a development of the spirituals
0:04:02 > 0:04:05sung in a fairly formal style.
0:04:05 > 0:04:09And so that came up really through the Baptist churches in America.
0:04:09 > 0:04:12There was another style of singing before gospel music,
0:04:12 > 0:04:15which was really kind of holiness singing,
0:04:15 > 0:04:20Pentecostal singing, which was very fiery, almost jazz-influenced.
0:04:20 > 0:04:22PENTECOSTAL CHOIR SINGS
0:04:22 > 0:04:27And they were fused together, really, by Thomas A Dorsey in the 1930s
0:04:27 > 0:04:30with his new style of songwriting
0:04:30 > 0:04:34and with Mahalia Jackson as his featured vocalist,
0:04:34 > 0:04:37this really began to have an impact.
0:04:37 > 0:04:41# ..Came tumbling
0:04:41 > 0:04:44# Down! #
0:07:00 > 0:07:03# Oo-oo-oo-jah
0:07:03 > 0:07:06# Hallelu-ujah
0:07:06 > 0:07:13# Oo-oo-oo-jah. #
0:07:18 > 0:07:21# If you're working every day
0:07:21 > 0:07:23# Two jobs for barely no pay... #
0:07:23 > 0:07:26Avery Sunshine is a worldwide star
0:07:26 > 0:07:29who combines television and concert performances
0:07:29 > 0:07:33with her work as choral director for two Atlanta churches.
0:07:33 > 0:07:37# Open up your mind and all the sunshine is in you
0:07:37 > 0:07:38# Ain't nothing gonna... #
0:07:38 > 0:07:43And I'm delighted that Avery has flown in from the United States
0:07:43 > 0:07:44especially to be with us.
0:07:44 > 0:07:46Please give her a warm welcome.
0:07:46 > 0:07:48APPLAUSE
0:07:51 > 0:07:56Now, Avery, how has being so involved in church music
0:07:56 > 0:07:58influenced the music that you make?
0:07:58 > 0:08:01Oh, wow. It's a part of my being.
0:08:01 > 0:08:05It's a part of my being. I've been playing in church since I was 13
0:08:05 > 0:08:07and I'm...mmphmmh years old now.
0:08:08 > 0:08:12Do you find that there's a conflict or sometimes people don't understand
0:08:12 > 0:08:15why you are so heavily involved in making church music
0:08:15 > 0:08:18and you made an album that isn't a gospel album?
0:08:18 > 0:08:21Absolutely. I always find that out when I'm in a nightclub and singing.
0:08:21 > 0:08:24I sing a love song and then I start singing about God
0:08:24 > 0:08:28and ironically, you'd think people would be like, "I'm going to leave,"
0:08:28 > 0:08:32but people, they have drinks in their hands, going, "Praise the Lord!"
0:08:32 > 0:08:35Really, because we're human, that's the thing
0:08:35 > 0:08:38and hopefully the music does show that.
0:08:38 > 0:08:41What inspires you to write? Is it those kinds of experiences?
0:08:41 > 0:08:45Oh, absolutely. And sometimes, I'm inspired to write
0:08:45 > 0:08:48when I've waited to the last minute to write something.
0:08:48 > 0:08:51Here I was asked to write a piece and arrange a piece for something
0:08:51 > 0:08:55and I had 15 minutes to do so, and because I've been in church so long,
0:08:55 > 0:08:59there are all kinds of songs in my mind and the first thing to come out,
0:08:59 > 0:09:01I don't know if you remember the song...
0:09:01 > 0:09:06# The Lord is blessing me
0:09:06 > 0:09:07# Right now
0:09:07 > 0:09:09# Right now. #
0:09:09 > 0:09:12- Right?- Yeah.- So that's it, and I was sitting at the piano,
0:09:12 > 0:09:15like, "Oh, God, I got to write this song, I got ten minutes.
0:09:15 > 0:09:18"What am I going to do?" And this came out.
0:09:18 > 0:09:20# The Lord
0:09:20 > 0:09:24# Is blessing me
0:09:24 > 0:09:27# Right now
0:09:27 > 0:09:30# Oh, right now
0:09:30 > 0:09:32# Yeah
0:09:32 > 0:09:35# Oh, he's blessing me
0:09:35 > 0:09:38# Right now
0:09:38 > 0:09:42# Oh, right now. #
0:09:45 > 0:09:48APPLAUSE
0:09:49 > 0:09:51I love that. I love that.
0:09:51 > 0:09:54Imagine what you would have done if you had 20 minutes.
0:09:54 > 0:09:56- I don't know!- That's incredible.
0:09:56 > 0:09:58Tell us a bit about the song you'll sing with the choir.
0:09:58 > 0:10:01The words are, "He keeps doing great things,"
0:10:01 > 0:10:04and that's exactly what God keeps doing. Great things.
0:10:04 > 0:10:07- OK.- Over and over and over and over.
0:10:07 > 0:10:10- You going to play it for us? - I think I am.- Come on.- Can I do it?
0:10:10 > 0:10:13# He keeps on
0:10:13 > 0:10:16# Doing great things for me
0:10:17 > 0:10:19# Hey!
0:10:19 > 0:10:23# If I had
0:10:23 > 0:10:30# Had 10,000 tongues, oh
0:10:30 > 0:10:33# I'd praise him
0:10:33 > 0:10:37# Praise him with every one
0:10:37 > 0:10:39# Come on, y'all say it with me
0:10:39 > 0:10:41# Say it, yeah, yeah
0:10:41 > 0:10:44- CHOIR:- # He keeps on
0:10:44 > 0:10:48# Doing great things for me
0:10:48 > 0:10:51# Over and over and over and over again
0:10:51 > 0:10:53- # He keeps on- (Hey!)
0:10:53 > 0:10:57# Doing great things for me
0:10:57 > 0:10:59# Say it again
0:10:59 > 0:11:01# Say he keeps on, yeah
0:11:01 > 0:11:04# He keeps on
0:11:04 > 0:11:08# Doing great things for me
0:11:08 > 0:11:12# Over and over, yeah, he keeps on
0:11:12 > 0:11:15- # He keeps on- (Hey!)
0:11:15 > 0:11:19# Doing great things for me
0:11:19 > 0:11:21# So I say something like this, I say
0:11:21 > 0:11:23# Say right on
0:11:23 > 0:11:24# Right on
0:11:24 > 0:11:26# Right on
0:11:26 > 0:11:27# Right on
0:11:27 > 0:11:28# Right on
0:11:28 > 0:11:29# Right on
0:11:29 > 0:11:31# Oh, blessing me
0:11:31 > 0:11:32# Blessing me
0:11:32 > 0:11:35# So I say oh
0:11:35 > 0:11:36# Thank you
0:11:36 > 0:11:40# Cos he's been so good, I say oh
0:11:40 > 0:11:41# Thank you
0:11:41 > 0:11:43# Come on, say it with me, say
0:11:43 > 0:11:46# Oh, thank you
0:11:46 > 0:11:48# If he's been good, say it again
0:11:48 > 0:11:51# Oh, thank you
0:11:51 > 0:11:53# Oh
0:11:53 > 0:11:57# Oh, thank you
0:11:57 > 0:11:58# Everybody say oh
0:11:58 > 0:12:01# Oh, thank you
0:12:01 > 0:12:04# Come on and say oh
0:12:04 > 0:12:12# Oh
0:12:12 > 0:12:14- # Oh, thank you!- Thank you
0:12:14 > 0:12:16# Hey, thank you, Lord
0:12:16 > 0:12:19- # Thank you - For healing me
0:12:19 > 0:12:22- # Thank you - Loving me, yeah
0:12:22 > 0:12:23# Thank you
0:12:23 > 0:12:25# He keeps on
0:12:25 > 0:12:27# Doing great things
0:12:27 > 0:12:33# Doing great things for me. #
0:12:35 > 0:12:37Yeah!
0:12:42 > 0:12:46In the Bible, the Acts of the Apostles describes
0:12:46 > 0:12:49how 50 days after Easter, the Holy Spirit
0:12:49 > 0:12:53dramatically appeared to Jesus' frightened and demoralised followers
0:12:53 > 0:12:55in the form of fire and wind.
0:12:55 > 0:12:58Since that day, many people have called on the Holy Spirit
0:12:58 > 0:13:01to renew and re-energise their faith,
0:13:01 > 0:13:03a theme that's reflected in our next hymn.
0:15:14 > 0:15:17BUS DRIVER: # For thou art with me
0:15:17 > 0:15:19# Thy rod and thy staff... #
0:15:19 > 0:15:21Gospel music isn't just heard in churches.
0:15:21 > 0:15:25In fact, you might hear it any time of the day on a South London bus.
0:15:25 > 0:15:27Belands Parchment has been singing
0:15:27 > 0:15:30since he was a youngster in the Caribbean.
0:15:30 > 0:15:34'We grew up in a situation where every Friday'
0:15:34 > 0:15:36we have to have communal worship,
0:15:36 > 0:15:38even if we don't do it the rest of the week.
0:15:38 > 0:15:39In the house?
0:15:39 > 0:15:43No, in the veranda. You could hear the singing from, half a mile around.
0:15:43 > 0:15:46# Thou anointest my head
0:15:46 > 0:15:48# With so much oil... #
0:15:48 > 0:15:51How did you go from singing with the family
0:15:51 > 0:15:54to singing while you're driving the bus?
0:15:54 > 0:15:56When I became a Christian in 1993,
0:15:56 > 0:15:58I started singing a different song
0:15:58 > 0:16:00and that's where it all spiralled.
0:16:00 > 0:16:03# Yea, though I walk, walk
0:16:03 > 0:16:05# Through the valley of death... #
0:16:05 > 0:16:09So, gospel music on the bus, how does it go down with the passengers?
0:16:09 > 0:16:13I have had people sitting on the bus for extra time.
0:16:13 > 0:16:15- What, miss their stop?- "Oh, driver,
0:16:15 > 0:16:18"I should have come off down the road but I had to come down here."
0:16:18 > 0:16:21# Forever and ever... #
0:16:21 > 0:16:23'A young lady came to my church'
0:16:23 > 0:16:25and she had just got baptised
0:16:25 > 0:16:29and she came up to me and she said to me, "You know something?
0:16:29 > 0:16:31"One day, you were driving the bus
0:16:31 > 0:16:35"and you were singing on that bus and I was being truant from school
0:16:35 > 0:16:36"and the song touched me so much,
0:16:36 > 0:16:40- "I got off the bus and went back to school."- Wow.
0:16:40 > 0:16:42That really, really touches me.
0:16:42 > 0:16:46# A-a-men. #
0:16:48 > 0:16:50And now, the Adventist Vocal Ensemble
0:16:50 > 0:16:53are going to sing one of my favourite gospel songs.
0:16:53 > 0:16:55It's called Total Praise
0:16:55 > 0:16:59and it's based on the inspiring poetry of Psalm 121.
0:19:24 > 0:19:28# A-a-amen
0:19:28 > 0:19:34# A-a-a-amen
0:19:34 > 0:19:38# A-a-amen
0:19:38 > 0:19:43# A-a-a-amen
0:19:43 > 0:19:47# A-a-amen
0:19:47 > 0:19:51# A-a-a
0:19:51 > 0:19:58# Amen. #
0:20:01 > 0:20:05# What's the sense in sharing this one and only life? #
0:20:05 > 0:20:07Kym Mazelle made her name
0:20:07 > 0:20:09as the first lady of house music in the 1990s.
0:20:09 > 0:20:15# You count up the years and they will be filled with tears. #
0:20:15 > 0:20:18'It was 24/7, you know what I'm saying? It was party 24/7.
0:20:18 > 0:20:21'You do the meet-and-greet, have dinner before the concert.
0:20:21 > 0:20:23'Then you have the concert, then you have the after party.
0:20:23 > 0:20:25'You have the after-after party.
0:20:25 > 0:20:29But I guess all the partying never filled me up.
0:20:29 > 0:20:33It never filled that space of emptiness. It never...
0:20:33 > 0:20:37It wasn't the pinnacle of success,
0:20:37 > 0:20:39of what the media and what the masses
0:20:39 > 0:20:43and what the enemy tells us is what you should search for.
0:20:43 > 0:20:47# Young hearts run free
0:20:47 > 0:20:50# Never be hung up. #
0:20:50 > 0:20:53So then to now, how has life changed?
0:20:53 > 0:20:57Well, you know, by the grace of God, I have to give God all the glory
0:20:57 > 0:21:02because it was probably a couple of years of coming all
0:21:02 > 0:21:05crashed down on me, but I heard a voice, I heard a still, small voice
0:21:05 > 0:21:08of the Lord just saying, "Come out from among them."
0:21:08 > 0:21:12The Lord was like, "Come out now or come out later
0:21:12 > 0:21:14"and it won't be so pretty."
0:21:14 > 0:21:16So, you had the dream, you lived the dream,
0:21:16 > 0:21:18you walked away from the dream.
0:21:18 > 0:21:21How can you be happier now than you were then?
0:21:21 > 0:21:24I understand who I am
0:21:24 > 0:21:27and it's not about the cars,
0:21:27 > 0:21:30it's not about the private jets, it's not about cocaine,
0:21:30 > 0:21:34it's not about alcohol, it's not about men.
0:21:34 > 0:21:40It's about knowing Christ and making Christ known across the airwaves
0:21:40 > 0:21:42at any opportunity that I get.
0:21:42 > 0:21:45Yeah, I know my identity, I know who I am in Christ,
0:21:45 > 0:21:47cos I wrestled with the Devil.
0:21:47 > 0:21:51You know, I wrestled with him and he still comes after me saying,
0:21:51 > 0:21:53"Oh, Kym, look at this trinket."
0:21:53 > 0:21:56I'm like, "No, baby. You can't fool me. You fooled me for a long time.
0:21:56 > 0:21:58"You not fool me no more!"
0:23:22 > 0:23:28# I shall go there to dwell in that city
0:23:28 > 0:23:33# Since Jesus, he came in my heart
0:23:33 > 0:23:36# And I'm so happy, I'll tell you, since I've been saved
0:23:36 > 0:23:37# I'm so happy. #
0:24:30 > 0:24:33- # In my heart. Hallelujah!- #
0:24:42 > 0:24:47The contemporary choir movement really got going in the '60s and '70s
0:24:47 > 0:24:51with people like Reverend James Cleveland and Mattie Moss Clark
0:24:51 > 0:24:54who really built up the idea of
0:24:54 > 0:24:58a gospel choir almost in every church in America.
0:24:58 > 0:25:00So it became a proving ground
0:25:00 > 0:25:03and it became a university really
0:25:03 > 0:25:06for young singers to learn their craft
0:25:06 > 0:25:11and it produced a whole generation of extraordinary voices.
0:25:11 > 0:25:15# While combing my hair now
0:25:15 > 0:25:17# Wondering which dress... #
0:25:17 > 0:25:22And during the past decade, gospel has even influenced rap music.
0:25:22 > 0:25:24# Might snatch your necklace
0:25:24 > 0:25:26# And next these might jack your Lexus
0:25:26 > 0:25:29# Somebody tell these who Kanye West is
0:25:29 > 0:25:32# I walk through the valley of the shadow where death is
0:25:32 > 0:25:35# Top floor the view alone will leave you breathless
0:25:35 > 0:25:37# Try to catch it it's kinda hard. #
0:25:37 > 0:25:41The way influences flow between gospel and other musical styles
0:25:41 > 0:25:44is shown in a song written by Curtis Mayfield.
0:25:44 > 0:25:48# You don't need no ticket
0:25:48 > 0:25:50# You just thank the Lord. #
0:25:50 > 0:25:52It was a pop hit in 1965
0:25:52 > 0:25:56and is performed now by Jeharna South and Tessera.
0:26:00 > 0:26:03# People get ready
0:26:03 > 0:26:07# There's a train coming
0:26:07 > 0:26:11# You don't need no baggage
0:26:11 > 0:26:15# You just get on board
0:26:15 > 0:26:18# All you need is faith
0:26:18 > 0:26:23# To hear the diesels humming
0:26:23 > 0:26:26# You don't need no ticket
0:26:26 > 0:26:29# You just thank the Lord
0:26:29 > 0:26:32# People get ready
0:26:32 > 0:26:35# People get ready
0:26:35 > 0:26:38# There's a train to Jordan
0:26:38 > 0:26:40# Ooh, ooh
0:26:40 > 0:26:46# Picking up passengers coast to coast
0:26:48 > 0:26:51# Faith is the key
0:26:51 > 0:26:55# Open the doors and board them
0:26:56 > 0:26:59# There's hope for all among
0:26:59 > 0:27:03# Those loved the most
0:27:03 > 0:27:05# I believe
0:27:05 > 0:27:08# Ooh
0:27:08 > 0:27:11# I believe
0:27:11 > 0:27:15# I believe
0:27:15 > 0:27:19# I believe
0:27:19 > 0:27:23# People get ready
0:27:23 > 0:27:27# There's a train that's coming
0:27:27 > 0:27:31# You don't need no baggage
0:27:31 > 0:27:35# You just get on board
0:27:35 > 0:27:44# All you need is faith to hear the diesels humming
0:27:44 > 0:27:45# You don't need no ticket
0:27:45 > 0:27:50# You just thank the Lord
0:27:50 > 0:27:52# People get ready
0:27:52 > 0:27:55# You don't need no ticket
0:27:55 > 0:27:56# You just thank the Lord
0:27:56 > 0:28:00# People get ready
0:28:00 > 0:28:03# You don't need no ticket
0:28:03 > 0:28:07# You just thank...
0:28:12 > 0:28:15# The Lord. #
0:28:21 > 0:28:24Let us pray.
0:28:24 > 0:28:29May the Holy Spirit outpoured at Pentecost come upon you now,
0:28:29 > 0:28:34teach you to love, teach you to pray
0:28:34 > 0:28:38and liberate you from those things that bind you and weigh you down.
0:28:38 > 0:28:40And the blessing of God Almighty,
0:28:40 > 0:28:44the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit rest upon you
0:28:44 > 0:28:47and remain with you this Pentecost and always.
0:28:47 > 0:28:50- Amen.- Amen.
0:31:05 > 0:31:08There really has been a sweet, sweet spirit in this place.
0:31:08 > 0:31:11Our final hymn is a traditional spiritual, which was the first
0:31:11 > 0:31:16gospel song to be number one in the US Singles Chart back in 1958.
0:31:16 > 0:31:19Kym Mazelle joins the choir and the congregation as we sing
0:31:19 > 0:31:22He's Got The Whole World In His Hands.
0:31:33 > 0:31:37# He's got the whole world in his hands
0:31:37 > 0:31:41# He's got the whole world in his hands
0:31:48 > 0:31:52# He's got the moon and the stars in his hands
0:31:52 > 0:31:55# He's got the whole world in his hands
0:32:04 > 0:32:08# He's got the wind and the rain in his hands
0:32:08 > 0:32:12# He's got the whole world in his hands
0:32:20 > 0:32:24# He's got the whole world in his hands
0:32:24 > 0:32:27# He's got the whole world in his hands
0:32:35 > 0:32:39# He's got the little children in his hands
0:32:39 > 0:32:43# He's got the whole world in his hands
0:32:54 > 0:32:59# He's got the whole world in his hands. #
0:33:08 > 0:33:12# He's got the whole world in his hands
0:33:12 > 0:33:14# He's got the whole world
0:33:14 > 0:33:19# In his hands. #
0:33:28 > 0:33:32Next week, we'll be celebrating the Queen's Diamond Jubilee
0:33:32 > 0:33:33in traditional style
0:33:33 > 0:33:39with classic hymns from the Old Royal College Naval Chapel in Greenwich,
0:33:39 > 0:33:43as well as performances by Laura Wright and operatic quartet Amore.
0:34:01 > 0:34:05Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd