Ostensibly about a cadre of Koreans who learn to sing Gospel at the genre's NYC wellspring in Harlem, the documentary Black Gospel contrarily testifies that you can't master a culturally-rooted music experiencing a single month of immersion. As choirmaster Dr. Reverend Ouida W. Harding asks bluntly after hearing one earnest singer during orientation, "What are you doing?" And by that, she means "What are you doing here? What are you singing? Why are you singing? Why are you wasting my time?" As each member of the fish-out-of-water choir steps forward to warble, this non-nonsense minister — the true star of Black Gospel — eviscerates each quavering tourist, one by one — American Idol-style. The single exception, Yang Dong-kun a.k.a. YDG, meets with some approval because he's got heart despite an inability to hit the exact notes.
The lesson the Reverend is hell-bent on teaching is this: Singing "perfect" is not gospel's point. Church music comes with a message and anyone belting "Amazing Grace" or "I Just Want to Praise You" better have a passion for spreading The Word. The visiting vocalists' other preacher-teachers are infinitely kinder but the gravitation toward the lightest skin music director and a white orchestrator does make the heart ache. The culminating concert doesn't invoke the spirit via an overlong chorus of "Lean on Me," but this little doc does give witness to gospel's undying appeal. Praise it.
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