REJOICE & SHOUT covers the 200 year history of African-American Christianity, featuring the legends of Gospel music, including The Staple Singers, The Clara Ward Singers, The Dixie Hummingbirds, and Sister Rosetta Tharpe. Culled from hundreds of hours of music, tracing the evolution of gospel music through its many styles the spirituals and early hymns, the four-part harmony-based quartets, the integration of blues and swing, the emergence of soul, and the blending of rap and hip-hop elements. It connects the history of African-American culture with gospel as it first impacted popular culture at large and captures so much of what is special about this music and African-American Christianity.
A consistently entertaining documentary bringing together a remarkable variety of surviving performances on films and records, going back to circa 1900. -- Roger Ebert, CHICAGO SUN-TIMES
- More on Rejoice and Shout:
- Official film Web site
- Article on gospel muisic