All musicians like to think of themselves as unique.

But Newark singer Joshua Nelson is so unique that he has a hard time finding artists like himself to work with.

Athough there are black Jews, Nelson is likely the world's only Jewish gospel singer.

Yes, as in, "I was looking on the Internet the other day for Jewish gospel singers that I could perform with, and there just aren't any. There are lots of Jewish reggae artists," says Nelson, who, after all, often sings about Jesus. "There's Jewish hip-hop, but no gospel."

Nelson can be found leading his own groups, or performing with other Jewish performers, and he will sing with New York's Klezmatics (one of the great Klezmer bands of today) at Satalla on Saturday. Nelson is also prominently featured on the new Klezmatics album, "Brother Moses Smote The Water," recorded live in Berlin.

On the album, Nelson turns the band into a dynamic fire and brimstone gospel unit that roars through the classic "Walk Into Jerusalem." The lines between the two styles get much blurrier on "Shnirele, Perele," a duet featuring Nelson and Klezmatics singer Lorin Sklamberg that bridges these seemingly contradictory religious cultures with a unified sense of ecstatic musical drama.

A graduate of Newark's Performing Arts High School, Nelson, 28, comes from a family that traces its Jewish roots back generations on his mother's side. He became entranced with gospel great Mahalia Jackson's music as a child, and that influence is still there even though he often sings Hebrew traditionals. To this day, Nelson is completely obsessed with Jackson's music, to the point where he uses her accompanist, Eddie Robinson, extensively.

"A lot of these young cats just want to play modern jazz chord progressions, and that's not gonna work for me," Nelson says. "In the'50s and'60s, syncopation in gospel was a must. These days they're so into doing difficult riffs and stuff that they miss that simple style that gospel used to use."

Nelson has toured the world, performing in synagogues and for heads of state. As a child he sang at Sarah Vaughan's funeral, but a recent career highlight is his appearance last October on the Oprah Winfrey Show.

"I met Oprah through her mother, who I had become friends with," Nelson says. "I performed at her mother's birthday party, and Oprah danced through the whole performance as if she was in church." Winfrey bought a pile of Nelson's CDs, giving them out to friends, and has sung his praises on the nationally syndicated BeBe Winans Radio Show.

When not on tour, Nelson is the choir director for Newark's Hopewell Baptist Church and teaches Hebrew at Temple Shari-Tefilo Israel in South Orange. There has also been a documentary on the singer entitled "Keep On Walking." The film has been shown at several number Jewish film festivals and around the world.

Nelson is rightfully proud of the film, though the mixed response to it shows that people still don't know what to think of him. While Jewish festivals have been supportive, black film festivals have generally overlooked the film. The apathy can be frustrating, but Nelson knows it could be worse.

"In the opening of the film I say: 'I'm the KKK's worst nightmare,'" Nelson says with a laugh. "It's bad enough that they don't like blacks or Jews. And here's this black Jewish gospel guy who sings just like Mahalia Jackson. Oh my god, we've got to get him."