Preaching the gospel The Center for Cultural Exchange gives us a Maine Mass decade BY SAM PFEIFLE

Watching George Stephanopoulos’s ABC This Week on Sunday, I found myself engorged in a discussion he was hosting about the place of religion in American political life. Not surprisingly, moral-values champion and one-time presidential candidate Gary Bauer thought it was about time American government recognized the values of its citizens (the Christian ones, obviously), while another evangelical (the This Week Web site doesn’t have the names of the panelists, I didn’t write them down, and no one has emailed me back) countered that mixing politics and religion was like mixing horse manure and ice cream: The horse manure isn’t much damaged by the ice cream, but the ice cream is a bit worse for the wear.

However, a panelist representing the African-American evangelical community, the president of a historically black college, had a different take entirely. He couldn’t imagine a political life separate from a spiritual life because if it wasn’t for the spiritual history of the African-American community, he said, they still would be mostly devoid of a political life. The African-American leaders who pushed for civil rights in the 1960s were religious leaders first, and this panelist believed that it was their faith that led God to reward them with political change.

Whether or not you think that’s a lot of hokum, or possibly devalues the work of those individual men and women who fought so hard, it’s a particularly interesting idea to me as I listen to the new Praise & Worship, a compilation of 10 years of live performances by the Maine Mass Gospel Choir, created largely by Bau Graves at the Center for Cultural Exchange and being released this weekend.

Normally, I like my music the way that second evangelical likes his politics: far, far away from religion. For instance, rock is importantly tied up in bucking the status quo, rebellion, and having a good time. Religion is about retaining the status quo, squelching rebellious thoughts, and making sure nobody has a good time (well, my definition of a good time, anyway). Hence, no matter how well Jars of Clay mimic contemporary stylings, they’ll still be utterly unlistenable because they have song titles like "Jesus’s Blood Never Failed Me Yet" (off of 2003’s Who We Are Instead, which also contains a song that starts "Sunny days, chasing the clouds away," so maybe they just plain suck).

However, gospel gets a pass here, for the same reason the African-American evangelical gave for religion being tied up in his politics. Gospel simply wouldn’t exist if it weren’t for African-American religious heritage.

So, when listening to the Maine Mass Choir, a loose collection of singers who gather together when the Center for Cultural Exchange scratches together the dosh to bring in a choir director for a residency, I’m not bothered at all by all the ubiquitous Jesus references or a song like "I’ve Been Born Again." As Graves says in an interview, "Gospel is an explicitly Christian art form, and in my opinion if you aren’t possessed by the spirit, the music isn’t going to sound right."

Those could easily be empty words if the evidence wasn’t right here on disc. Despite the recordings being universally sub-par in sound quality (these weren’t ever really intended for release in the first place), the music’s power and emotional hook are undeniable.

The best illustration comes in the JD Steele-directed "Introduction to The Monument, Revisited," recorded in Worcester, Massachusetts, in 1998. It opens with spine-tingling testimonials from Rev. Margaret Lawson and Richard Terrance, layered over the chorus doing a simple rising and falling "ahhh, ahhh."

Lawson begins: "I can not let myself be so afraid that I can’t move around freely and express myself . . . love, not fear, must be our guide."

Terrance, whose voice is seriously awesome, deep, resonant and full of power, continues: "The negro revolution is not a racial revolt. We are interested in practicing brotherhood with anyone interested in living according to it."

Lawson finishes: "God is not merely interested in the freedom of black men, brown men, white men, or yellow men. But god is interested in the freedom of the whole human race."

Then the tune busts into some serious jazz from the Christian McBride Quartet — not your standard "gospel" — featuring sick jazz runs from the bass and saxophone, and great vocal punctuation from the chorus. It’s thrilling, and enough to make me want to join the Green Memorial AME Zion Church congregation for just a bit.

The performance is such a genuine expression of belief that it’s devoid of artifice. They’re not looking to convert, or gain fans. They’re singing and playing for the same reason I found myself literally jumping up and down in the middle of this summer’s Wilco show at the State Theatre — as a pure release of inner energy. Each choir director directs that release in a different way, but it’s more like filtering sunlight with different lenses than creating new musical forms.

For the audiophile, this disc might be a bit frustrating. For the music lover, there are probably more groundbreaking gospel discs. But for the connoisseur of Portland culture, this is a must have.

Sam Pfeifle can be reached at spfeifle@phx.com

Praise & Worship will be released as part of the Center for Cultural Exchange’s Gospel Holiday Show, featuring the Silver Leaf Singers and the Charles Brown-directed Christ Church Singers, at the CCE, in Portland, Dec. 4. Call (207) 761-0591.