With her magnificently powerful contralto voice, superb rhythmic control and passionate commitment to her music, the late Mahalia Jackson remains widely considered the best of all gospel singers. She added a dimension to American cultural life in reaching a wide white audience, entering territory previously crossed by black artists only in the fields of jazz and blues, and achieved the highest accolade for any performing artist: the universal reference to her by her first name only. The daughter of a preacher, she listened in secret to the records of Bessie Smith, and was influenced by them, but steadfastly eschewed the blues in her own performance, dedicating herself to gospel music. "I can't sing one thing and then live another, be saved by day and the devil undercover, I've got to live the life I sing about in my song." This line from the Tommy...