African American Gospel Music
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Documentaries
Musical Kaleidoscope Documentaries
Don Robertson and Mary Ellen Bickford Robertson created these two videos in 2013 for live presentations given by their Nashville friend Roy “Futureman” Wooten of the Béla Fleck Band and the Wooten Brothers. Later, we incorporated them in to a series called The Evolution of Music as Episodes 1 and 2.
Sacred Music From the American South
A 15-minute documentary that begins with a survey of the major genres of music that arose in the Southeast USA, then further presents the sacred, gospel-music, traditions.
The Roots of American Music
This important 15-minute documentary video presents the evolution of African-American sacred music from the time of slavery to its modern forms.
Gospel Music Documentaries
Through Many Dangers
Through Many Dangers, the Story of Gospel Music, a documentary from the BBC on the history of gospel music from its West African slave roots to its widespread influence on popular music across the world today. (1 hour, 30 minutes)
Rejoice and Shout
A film by Don McGlynn that covers 200 years of musical history of African American Christianity.
(1 hour, 45 minutes)
Slave Songbook
The “Slave Songbook” is a segment from the PBS documentary series History Detectives (Season 6). It investigates the origins of African American spirituals, tracing how they developed from West African musical traditions and evolved into the foundation for later genres like the blues, jazz, and gospel. The episode explores an early, specific collection of African American spirituals, commonly associated with the 1867 publication Slave Songs of the United States. (8 minutes)
On the Battlefield
Jefferson County, Alabama, is the heartland of African-American a cappella gospel quartet singing. This wonderful film was directed by Geoffrey Haydon and produced in association with Austrailian and Swedish television. (1 hour)