History

The Gospel Feast© was first introduced to the American public in 2006 at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, Arkansas. The main purpose of the presentation is to provide an inspirational rendition unraveling an historical and informative presentation of the derivation of gospel music using multiple art forms; these include instrumental and vocal music, dance, drama, and drumming. Though its home-base is Fayetteville, Arkansas, the feast is performed in venues throughout the United States and abroad. The presentation itself can be done in either of two formats: A stand alone concert entitled "A Worship Experience" or as a sit-down dinner known as "The Gospel Feast©". The feast itself is a sit down dinner served in four courses to paying guests who are entertained with music, drumming, dance, and drama. Excerpts from different developmental stages are performed by The Gospel Feast Chorale (TGFC), a talented group of musicians, all of whom have worked with the founder at some point during his professional career. The presentation's founder and author, Dr. Eddie W. Jones, Sr., conducted extensive research into the gospel music genre and consulted many historical entities to write, produce and conduct this masterpiece tracing the historical development of Gospel Music. The idea of The Gospel Feast© came about as a result of numerous conversations Dr. Jones had with fellow music colleagues during his early teaching career. In their discussions his colleagues would often refer to spirituals as gospel songs and would just as often refer to gospel songs as spirituals. As time did not allow these to be teachable moments, Dr. Jones decided that he might be able to offer information about these genres and others and provide an historical perspective of each in a manner that would be entertaining, informative, and inspiring. After attending a Madrigal Dinner some years later, he began putting together the concept of The Gospel Feast©. It was a concept which Dr. Jones began working on in 2000. He subsequently took a sabbatical and spent time researching and putting the ideas on paper.