(February 2023) Episode 477 is MAHALIA JACKSON. I’m not into the gospel message but I appreciate gospel blues as a quintessentially American art form and sibling to the blues and soul. As Aretha is the Queen of Soul, Mahalia is the Queen of Gospel. Her powerful voice and blues-inflected style helped popularize gospel and bring it to a wider audience. And it appears she lived her message as a kind and charitable person.
Favorite song: Walking in Jerusalem
Compared to expectations: same
Recommendation: “The Essential Mahalia Jackson” is a good compilation
Opus Project 