The Harmonizing Four

• Genre: Folk/Traditional Gospel
• Hometown: Richmond

About

In the post-war era, when Gospel was going through its major period of transition, the Harmonizing Four resisted the trend toward bolstering their music with pop shadings and stuck to the old styles. They performed straight Gospel: strongly hymnal material with little outside influence from the growing number of R&B-flavored Gospel acts. The Four's big gun was basso voice Jim Jones, a man with a sub-sonic register that provided plummeting gymnastics for the quartet's close harmonies. Their career spans into the '90s with continually updated material and backing, but with no loss of artistry and poignance. In fact, the group's mastery only increased as the years passed.

- Mike McGuirk