These Pop and Soul Acts Still Preach the Gospel

The old spirituals still echo loudly through popular music. They can be heard in the modern grooves of Destiny’s Child and Angie Stone, modern pop ‘n’ soul singers who are wise enough to maintain a connection to classic gospel even as they reach for the charts.

By its very nature, gospel is a sound of meaning and deep feeling, features that could be heard repeatedly at the Wiltern Theatre on Saturday as Black Entertainment Television, or BET, taped its second annual “Celebration of Gospel” special for airing Feb. 16. Hymns rotated with hip-hop during a two-hour concert that gathered such veteran singers as Andrae Crouch and Shirley Caesar, along with younger stars.

Destiny’s Child appeared early in the program, standing close together for a medley of mostly a cappella gospel, harmonizing the prayer “Lord, I’m Available to You.” The occasional lead vocal was taken by newest member Michelle Williams, whose upcoming solo album is planned as a gospel collection.

Like most acts Saturday, Destiny’s Child was limited to just one song, which kept the trio from probing deeper into the music. But the result was typically polished and effective.

Beyond its original role as a spiritual soundtrack, black gospel has concurrently fueled some of the greatest R&B; music from the last several decades, inspiring such major artists as Aretha Franklin and Ray Charles.

That fact hasn’t been lost on Kirk Franklin, who has crafted modern interpretations of the sound without abandoning its purpose.

Franklin led a 15-voice choir in green-and-purple robes through “The Blood Song,” as guest vocalists Donnie McClurkin, Crystal Lewis and Jaci Velasquez took turns at the microphone, singing and shouting, “It doesn’t matter what color I am as long as my blood runs red!”

R&B; star Faith Evans slipped into gospel mode with surprising ease, approaching genuinely soulful heights on “Speak to My Heart.” She joined a lineup that included the big-voiced Fred Hammond singing “When We Praise” in tones strong and soothing, and the frantically energetic Curt Carr, who urged the crowd once again to its feet as female backup singers harmonized behind him.

While the night was designed mainly as a television program, the concert was tightly organized by BET, which has announced plans to launch an all-gospel cable network this year. Even during frequent commercial breaks, the night never lost momentum, owing much to the spontaneous humor of host Steve Harvey.

Harvey was actually at his best during the breaks rather than in his scripted material, joking about the self-importance of church ushers and pointedly ribbing the video crew. “L.A. don’t normally dress up,” he joked, scanning the crowd. “This is the church crowd, now. You look like you know you’re going to heaven.”

On an elaborate stage design that suggested the gothic arches and stained glass of a church, all of the acts were accompanied by the Rickey Minor Band, which had enough range to accommodate both the explosive likes of Caesar and Crouch, and the hip-hop-flavored gospel of Mary Mary, a duo whose material was not overtly Christian, but energetically hopeful.