MUSIC REVIEW : CELEBRATING GOSPEL HERITAGE

Gospel singer Albertina Walker was in the midst of Mahalia Jackson’s signature song “Precious Lord” Saturday evening at MacArthur Park when the PA system suddenly went dead. Walker was momentarily upset by the disruption, but when the power was restored she rebounded by initiating an audience sing-along. Encouraged by the front-row fans, she turned the near-disaster into a stirring, communal epiphany.

That incident brought home with electrifying force the importance of audience participation in gospel music--the keynote of the four-day Mahalia Jackson Gospel Music Festival, which concludes with two concerts today. Sponsored by the American Gospel Arts Fund, the free event was designed to celebrate the gospel heritage, and to initiate a movement for a Hollywood Boulevard star for the festival’s namesake.

Saturday’s afternoon concert started 90 minutes late, due largely to schedule-juggling caused by the last-minute cancellations of scheduled headliners Mother Debarge and the Richard Smallwood Singers. The sparse crowd of roughly 500, sitting on benches in front of the park’s bandstand and sprawling on a tree-shaded hill, patiently weathered the delay and made up for its small size with vocal enthusiasm.

The performances, full of preaching interludes and shouts of “Praise God,” ranged from the undistinguished, middle-of-the-road slant of Caston & Majors to a pair of hip-hop gospel raps by a wild-looking fellow named Contemporary Timothy.

But not everyone was there for the message. Janna Brown, a Hollywood singer and voice teacher in her mid-20s, came on the recommendation of friends to hear the singing of the group Nicholas and 9-year-old DeLeon Richards.

More typical of the audience was true believer Fred Holt, 43, of Los Angeles. “This is what’s happening right now,” he said, emphatically jabbing his finger at the stage during Walker’s half-hour set. “This music can give hope and inspiration for the kids. Times are hard now--the children are just going into the grave or the pen.”

The organizational problems contributed to a rocky start by the vocal quintet Nicholas. The full contingent of singers and backing musicians didn’t arrive onstage until the third song, but the group, whose current album “Dedicated” has been at or near the top of the Billboard gospel charts for six months, recovered quickly.

Nicholas’ slick, energetic sound was built on contemporary funk and R&B; models rather than the old-time gospel elements. The songs were varied and occasionally undistinguished, but the convincing lead vocals by the husband-and-wife tandem of Phil and Brenda Nicholas overcame most of the soft spots in the material.

Brenda Nicholas was consistently outstanding, earning a standing ovation at one point for impressively sustaining a high note and displaying an engaging, natural stage presence free of showbiz cant.

DeLeon Richards is being touted as a gospel wunderkind , and there were moments when the 9-year-old Chicagoan’s big, commanding voice was truly startling coming from her tiny frame.

At other times during a six-song set (backed primarily by pre-recorded tapes), her voice turned shrill and the material veered toward bubblegum gospel.

But it was Albertina Walker’s set that evoked the greatest response. The gospel audience prizes familiar material that both offers solace and allows for crowd participation, and Walker’s classic style and repertoire most successfully fit that bill.

It’s difficult to argue with the intentions of the festival organizers, but they might have been wiser to start on a smaller scale. Occasional technical glitches can be shrugged off, but the repeated sound-system failures were aggravating, and having a technician dragging a stepladder across the front of the stage and adjusting spotlight angles in mid-set was just plain unprofessional.

And it would be unfair to judge the festival’s success on Saturday’s small turnout, because more nationally prominent artists were scheduled for the final two days. The festival concludes with today’s 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. concerts. The latter promises a repeat performance by Nicholas as well as appearances by the O’Neal Twins, former pop vocalist Candi Staton and the Mighty Clouds of Joy.