From his home in Skokie, Ill., Jason Rosenberg is quietly preserving spiritual and musical history, even bits of Milwaukee’s, by amassing and compiling African American soul gospel obscurities onto CD-Rs.
The latest release in his multiple series, Wax Wonders Vol. 20, features both sides of 13 singles spanning the mid-1940s to the late ’60s. Whether purposefully or not, this 73-minute dose of bliss stresses male vocal groups singing with little or no instrumental accompaniment. Leave it to Milwaukeeans to take a bit of a different approach, though. The two contributions by Milwaukee’s Gospel Messengers, transferred from a 1969 45-inch freer of clicks and pops and static than some here, feature co-ed vocalizing, a spoken word break and back-up from organ and piano. Their music is filled with conviction and intensity.
As larger labels with bigger resources continue to mine the better-known troves of vintage soul gospel wealth for reissue, Rosenberg continues to go blessedly deep. May he also continue to find more from Milwaukee among the gems he unearths.
