Jubilee Quartets
Jubilee Quartets are a form of music inspired by Black culture and music. Jubilee quartets have four members each with unique parts and sounds that add to the harmony of their music. The parts of a Jubilee Quartet are the bass, baritone, first tenor, and second tenor. Jubilee Quartets consist of three time periods, the jubilee period (1920’s and prior), Developmental period (1930’s-1940’s), and the Gospel period 91940’s- present). Overall, through all of the periods of jubilee quartet’s music, they use beautiful harmony and timbre to create great music and entertainment.
Lead Singer
As stated previously, the parts of a jubilee quartet are the bass, baritone,first tenor, and second tenor. Though each of these parts play a crucial role in quartets, the baritone is typically the lead singer. Baratone’s typically have a voice that is in between the low sound of the tenor and even lower sound of the bass. With their special tone, they have the perfect place to take the lead role, sing the most lyrics, and overall delivery the message that the song is supposed to get across.
Notable Baratones
The lead singer of Jubilee Quartets are typically well known and recognized. Some well known lead singers in jubilee quartets include Fredrick Loudin from the Jubilee Singers, Willie Johnson of the Golden Gate Quartet, and Charels Bridges of The Birmingham Jubilee Singers. These lead singers have made their mark on history and helped to show the talent and expansiveness of Jubilee Quartets.
2 Responses
I appreciated your post! I found your emphasis on highlighting the lead singing in the Jubilee quartet particularly insightful. In my post, I focused on the rise of the Jubilee quartet, but yours provided me with new knowledge on how each member has their own part and sound.
Being able to highlight the different vocal ranges will be so helpful when trying to identify which kind of Jubilee Quartet we are listening to, I enjoyed seeing how each distinct range plays a role in the performance as a whole.