blackfilm.com correspondent Ellen Wanjiru speaks with Emmy-winning composer Matthew Head about PBS’ “The Black Church” docuseries and his inspiration for creating the score and brand new gospel songs.
“The Black Church: This is Our Story, This is Our Song,” premieres on February 16th and 17th and features interviews with Oprah Winfrey, John Legend, Jennifer Hudson, among others. The four-hour docuseries is from executive producer, writer, and host Henry Louis Gates, Jr. https://www.pbs.org/show/black-church/
This moving four-hour, two-part series from executive producer, host and writer Henry Louis Gates, Jr., the Alphonse Fletcher University Professor at Harvard University and director of the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research, traces the 400-year-old story of the Black church in America, all the way down to its bedrock role as the site of African American survival and grace, organizing and resilience, thriving and testifying, autonomy and freedom, solidarity and speaking truth to power. The documentary reveals how Black people have worshipped and, through their spiritual journeys, improvised ways to bring their faith traditions from Africa to the New World, while translating them into a form of Christianity that was not only truly their own, but a redemptive force for a nation whose original sin was found in their ancestors’ enslavement across the Middle Passage.
Matthew Head creates Grammy-nominated as well as Emmy, NAACP Image, and Peabody Award-winning soundtracks while working out of the home he grew up in Marietta, Georgia. The family man’s work includes two seasons of OWN’s Greenleaf, BET’s Boomerang (produced by Halle Berry and Lena Waithe), two seasons of Carl Weber’s The Family Business on BET+, the upcoming P-Valley on Starz, and going it solo as a music producer after collaborating with Timbaland on Step Up: High Water Season 3. With over 75 credits, the film composer, music producer, and arranger has the unique ability to move an audience through music; to take a scene
Emmy-Winning Composer Matthew Head Talks PBS’ “The Black Church” Docuseries
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