Ethnographic and historical studies of Pentecostalism have proliferated over the last several decades, and although many studies have pointed out that musical practices—such as the interplay of different kinds of musical genres and styles in church meetings, virtuosic performances, and discourse about music—are vital to the Pentecostal movement, there have been very few book-length studies of Pentecostal music. There have been even fewer book-length studies that build on the pioneering fieldwork of ethnomusicologist Mellonee Burnim in an African American Apostolic Pentecostal church and examine musical production and experiences in Apostolic Pentecostalism, a form of Pentecostalism that rejects traditional Christian invocations of the Trinity and generally insists on stricter codes of conduct and dress, or “Holiness,” than other Pentecostals. For this reason, Melvin L. Butler’s Island Gospel is a much needed and important contribution to Pentecostal studies and ethnomusicology. Drawing on fieldwork in the US and Jamaica, the book explores musical repertoires, styles, and narratives in Jamaican Apostolic Pentecostal communities, and how through music, Jamaican Apostolics draw boundaries between themselves and other Jamaican communities, African American Christians, and the secular world. Recognizing “flow” as migrations and cultural exchanges within transnational fields, as well as movements of the Holy Spirt and experiences of transcendence, the book focuses on flow across Jamaican Apostolic boundaries and the challenges and innovations that result. Because of this focus, the book offers insights that will be useful to scholars and students across a wide range of fields and disciplines who are interested in the formation of religious identities and change in religious communities.
As Butler explains in the preface and introduction, he approaches music in Jamaican Apostolic Pentecostal communities as someone deeply familiar with boundary crossing. In the early 2000s, when the research for the book was conducted, Butler was a member of an Apostolic church in the US that included African Americans and Jamaican immigrants, and as a saxophonist and organist, he participated in musical performances in both secular venues and churches. As an Apostolic, black American and a musician, he both had unique points of entry into Jamaican Apostolic communities and faced a unique set of challenges. Butler deals with these challenges skillfully in the book, providing a model for how to conduct thorough ethnographic analyses of Pentecostalism from the perspective of a believer. He offers compelling descriptions of the diversity of songs and styles that are features of Jamaican Apostolic praise and worship, how songs are creatively modified and performed in different contexts, and how performances lead to manifestations of the Holy Spirit. Drawing on excerpts from his dialogues with Apostolic church leaders and other church members, Butler illuminates the significance of the form and lyrics of Apostolic songs and the rhythms and instrumentation of performances.
Chapter 1 surveys the shared musical repertoire of Apostolic churches in the US with Jamaican and African American members, and Apostolic churches in Jamaica, and addresses how church members use music to create a religious home for themselves, while also being expert “code switchers” and making use of a variety of musical styles (43). The repertoire includes, for example, traditional hymns, choruses sung to ska and reggae rhythms, African American gospel, songs that are distinctively Apostolic and shared with white American Apostolics, and at least one song, “Fly Away Home,” that is shared with Rastafarianism and Revivalism, two Jamaican religions that Apostolics firmly reject. For readers who are familiar with Pentecostalism, as I am, this chapter is a fascinating introduction to Jamaican Apostolic music. For readers who are not familiar with Pentecostalism, this chapter could be disorienting, and a broader overview of Pentecostalism is needed to provide a sense of how Jamaican Apostolic musical practices are situated within an array of Pentecostal and related Christian practices.
Chapter 2 is concerned with the role of music in the construction of “Holiness” in one Apostolic church in Jamaica. Older songs and well-established musical styles reinforce church members’ separation from the world, while attempts by younger church members to introduce songs that use Jamaican patois and popular dancehall rhythms pose challenges to Apostolic identities. The chapter illustrates that the main challenge of incorporating dancehall rhythms into church meetings are their associations with sexual freedom. It also points out, however, that Apostolic churches and dancehalls are both “cultural counter-worlds” that appeal in overlapping ways to lower-class Jamaicans (58). Chapter 3 introduces Hermine Bryan, one of the few women to become the pastor of an Apostolic church in Jamaica, and what Butler learned from the six months that he spent talking with Pastor Bryan and participating in services at her church. The chapter is less focused than other chapters, but it includes valuable discussions of the role of women in Apostolic Pentecostalism, experiences of spiritual empowerment that Apostolics recognize as “anointing,” and how choices of music and music-making facilitate experiences of anointing.
Because of my work on oral histories and testimonies in Latinx Catholic communities, I found chapter 4 to be especially useful. The chapter examines acts of remembering, the role of nostalgia in musical practices, and the connections between music and performances of testimonies. In doing so, the chapter reveals some surprising and crucial features of Jamaican Apostolic music. The features include an affinity for American country and western gospel music, including the song “Remind Me, Dear Lord,” written by Kentucky-native Dottie Rambo, and a traditional rejection of drums, which are essential elements of Pentecostalism in the US, because of their associations with Jamaican revivalism. The chapter explains that Jamaican Apostolics have adapted to modern influences by incorporating more African American gospel music in church services, while maintaining the “traditional flavor” of services (108).
Chapter 5 addresses issues with the mixing of African American gospel music, a broad and influential set of musical practices, with Jamaican Apostolic music. Although some Jamaican Apostolics resist the use of African American gospel—because they regard some African American gospel as “too Black” (143)—they increasingly emphasize the fluidity of Christian musical repertoires and value the expression of pan-ethnic and ethnic-transcendent identities. A brief conclusion summarizes the book’s arguments: how it aims to contribute to a better understanding of the role of music in Apostolic church services, and of music as an identity marker for Apostolics, Jamaicans, and larger African diasporic communities.
One of the topics that is not discussed sufficiently in Island Gospel is the class identity of Jamaican Apostolics. Such a discussion could determine, for example, if and how Jamaican Apostolic religious practices subvert class hierarchies through their efforts to establish boundaries and manage flows. Despite this minor concern, I see Island Gospel as a path-breaking book. It clearly demonstrates that, because of its “variability,” Pentecostal music is the primary means by which Pentecostals “access the joy of the Holy Spirit” (152). It will provide a foundation for further studies of the overlaps and tensions between Pentecostal music and other kinds of music, and for further insights into change and the roles of memory and nostalgia in religious communities.
--------
[Review length: 1157 words • Review posted on June 4, 2020]