“Just A Closer Walk With Thee” (PDF) from the James & Troy Andrews album, 12 & Shorty

As with many traditional American gospel tunes, the origins of “Just A Closer Walk With Thee” are undocumented beyond the song’s popularity within Black churches throughout the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries, most commonly heard at New Orleans funeral marches and second-line parades. Its musical form also influenced popular music produced in New Orleans, such as Barbara George’s 1961 hit, “I Know (You Don’t Want Me No More).”

But it was Chicago gospel composer Kenneth Morris who first published an arrangement of “Just A Closer Walk With Thee” in 1940 based on variations sung by railroad porters that he had transcribed during his travels. Along with choir director Sallie Martin, the Martin & Morris Music Company became one of the oldest publishers of American music, and whose catalogue has since been donated to the Chicago Public Library.

In this recording, James & Troy Andrews preserve the funeral march and second line tradition with a solemn verse before doubling the tempo and taking the parade home. Shorty’s tailgate style echoes the trumpet call by stressing the pickup into the downbeat of a phrase, and primarily relying on intervals of a third that define a simple harmony to make melodies from rhythm. His trombone solo reflects the gospel shout tradition of syncopated accents and blues phrasing, but with subtle hints of his acquired technical mastery.

Here is a YouTube video that also subtly hints at the legacy of the Martin & Morris Music Company:

Recommended reading: “Yes, [Gospel] Is Real”: Half a Century with Chicago’s Martin and Morris Company” by Kay Norton. Published by Cambridge University Press.