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Article: Gospel music `father' ignored // Man who livened church rites may die in obscurity
- Article from:
- Chicago Sun-Times
- Article date:
- March 27, 1988
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright (null) Chicago Sun-Times. (Hide copyright information)
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More than half a century ago, Thomas Dorsey crossed the raw
blues with the sacred music of his youth to create a foot-stomping
sound that still fills many black churches.
A personal conflict over his strict religious upbringing and
love of the bawdy, bluesy tunes inspired by slave songs led the young
jazz pianist to create what he called "gospel" music.
Now 88, bedridden in his Chicago home and suffering from
Alzheimer's disease, Dorsey is in danger of dying in obscurity, his
legend unknown by a generation of worshippers who revere his music
but don't know his name.
"He was the person who gave blacks a medium to keep their
tradition alive," said Michael Harris, a professor of ...