So, it’s come to the point that in order to REALLY hear America’s foundational music, you have to go all the way to Denmark to experience it? Arranged and conducted by Vincent Nilsson, this collection of spirituals mixes big band instrumental charts of Sunday Morning classics such as “Were You There” and “Joshua Fit The Battle of Jericho” with vocal charts (in English AND Spanish!) by Eliel Lazo. He goes back and forth on “Bye and Bye” and does the complete “Just a Closer Walk with Thee” in the romantic lingo. A take of “Go Down Moses” is delivered by Jakob Munck in a deep and riveting voice that captures the mood and challenge like a burning bush, while the closing reading of “When the Saints Go Marching In” will definitely make you want to be in that number. You really can’t understand American music, particularly jazz, if you don’t understand the music from the church, and this collection hits it right on chapter and verse.
Storyville Records