Gospel Music Finding New Audiences in Europe

Judging from the stony faces at St. Michel Church one recent Sunday night, only a miracle would put these Belgians in the gospel spirit.

But just before intermission in the two-hour concert, the crowd caught fire.

By the end, grandmothers were rocking in the aisles. Teenagers stood in their seats for a better look at the Golden Gospel Singers performing one encore after another.

It’s like that in packed theaters, community centers and concert halls across Europe these days. Europeans are falling in love with the raw energy and vocal interplay that distinguishes gospel singing from jazz and blues--black American music forms that have a longer tradition on this continent.

To Bob Singleton, founder of the Golden Gospel Singers, the appeal of gospel singing in Europe seems universal.

“I look out into our audience and see three generations: the yuppie mom and dad, the grandparents and the kids,” he said.

Gospel’s ability to whip an uptight crowd into a frenzy is a big factor in its popularity in Europe. And it’s not just at concerts. Gospel groups are being hired to perform at weddings, birthday parties, radio programs, workshops and festivals. A Paris restaurant, Chesterfield’s, offers a Sunday gospel brunch.

Demand is so high that Singleton has three Golden Gospel groups performing simultaneously across Europe.

Mandy Gaines, a Cincinnati jazz singer who annually tours the continent, says gospel’s success here led her to incorporate a few numbers in her repertoire.

“I’ve seen the posters” advertising gospel singing, Gaines said. “I’ve seen the signs, even in little, bitty villages in the south of France. I see it’s starting to get pretty big. I want to get in on that too.”

Narcisse d’Almeida, organizer of an annual gospel and spiritual festival in Paris, believes “people nowadays are seeking a kind of purity in their music. People are confronted daily with news of wars, racism, suffering--things they have a hard time dealing with.”

Gospel singing’s appeal is not limited to Europeans in Europe.

Every Sunday, busloads of European tourists are taken to churches across Harlem in New York City to watch services more boisterous than most white churches can muster.

The weekly tours have been around for years. But lately they have swelled to hundreds of visitors, leading some blacks to charge that white Europeans come to gawk at a “black curiosity” and ignore the religious service.

Most members of Singleton’s singing group are devout Christians, and they believe some of the religious meaning trickles through.

“The message is always the same, no matter where we are. It’s always about the ‘good news,’ ” he said.