Spiritual music has always played a large role in the structure of the African American community. Gospel music evolved overtime as the origination of current influences on various genres of music. Gospel music and the introduction of Jubilee Quartets is where group singing began. Jubilee was originated within a pentecostal church. Jubilee Quartets included a group of minimum 4 men and/or women that would sing many hymns and songs without any instrumental background. The original group of jubilee quartets were found at Fisk University. The Jubilee Quartet genre of music began in 1990-1929. A group well known as the Golden Gate Quartet sang in the 1930s, where a wonderful representation of how the quartet groups would sing their songs. There was then a transitional period, ranging from 1930-1945 where the jubilee quartets would sing on the radio. The Gospel period (1946-1969) then would be a product of the transitional period. During this time many performances began to be shown on television alongside that with adding instruments behind the artists vocals. This further evolved to what is known as contemporary gospel. Contemporary gospel introduced having a lead singer with a group of back ground singers, similar to the current church choir arrangement. An example of contemporary gospel would be the song Oh Happy Day by Edwin Hawkins. This style began spread to the north where contemporary gospel could be introduced to larger musical cities, such as Chicago and Detroit. Gospel music continues to the be the glue that always brings the African American community back together.
