“This Little Light of Mine” (PDF) from the Ronell Johnson album, That Gentilly Swing

The American gospel tradition within New Orleans brass band music has evolved with each generation building upon its ancestral foundation. From African American spirituals and European hymns, the communal music filled churches and paraded through the streets providing solace and the creative inspiration behind blues and jazz music. Similarly, the rise of trombone shout choirs in the Southeast elevated the spiritual experience of unified voices.

The undocumented origins of gospel music, however, cast a troubling shadow across the sacred music - that is until the folk and masses came to believe in the music’s immaculate conception. Such is the case with the spiritual “This Little Light of Mine,” a song of unknown origin that was referenced in print in the early twentieth century, recorded in 1934 field study by ethnomusicologist Alan Lomax, and then popularized through an arrangement by church musician Harry Dixon Loes. It was Loes’ version that helped to illuminate the struggle for Civil Rights in the States and also provided positive affirmations on developing minds as a children’s song - re-contextualizing the sacred practice for secular work.

The music itself is hardly unique - both the melody and form share similarities with other gospel songs, such as the traditional “Amen,” “Glory Glory,” and the hymn “Will the Circle Be Unbroken” by Ada R. Habershon and Charles H. Gabriel. But the intent behind “This Little Light” is to celebrate the individual contributions that further the greater cause. Rev. Gatemouth Moore’s 1960 recording of “Jesus on the Main Line” follows this intent by modernizing gospel music while preserving its similarities to the traditional songs, proven in the 1997 Rebirth Brass Band gospel medley that combined the song with “Glory, Glory.” Each of these examples offers a unique perspective on a creative theme - so let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.

Recommended reading: “Yes, [Gospel] Is Real”: Half a Century with Chicago’s Martin and Morris Company” by Kay Norton. Journal of the Society for American Music, Volume 11, Issue 4, November 2017. Published by Cambridge University Press.