I glanced at the cover of the album in this week's free offerings from Amazon, and almost "blew it off."
But since I like a little Gospel here and there, I decided to give the samples a listen. WOW! There's some GOOD STUFF on this one!
One of the artists is SAVAE - the San Antonio Vocal Arts Ensemble. 8 of the 15 tracks are theirs, all acapella. VERY nice.
Ben Bowen King (5 of the 15) is apparently also a San Antonio "local." It's solo guitar work with a definite "Windham Hill" flavor, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. It's precision guitar work with FEELING, no doubt about it!
Finally, there are 2 tunes by Gaelic Strings. "New Age-y", too? Sure... but, again, what's wrong with THAT?! Besides, you don't often hear "new agers" doing traditional gospel very often, do you?!
All-in-all this is a very good album. And it's WELL-recorded - at LEAST as good, if not better, than a LOT of the hyper-compressed MP3's out there. It's very open and transparent, and surprisingly quiet even with headphones. Traditional Gospel Hymns
'Traditional Gospel Hymns" is a really beautiful collection of old-time hymns with lovely harmonies. It is the perfect music for relaxing with a cold drink on a hot summer's evening. Instant serenity! Thank you Amazon!
This is a highly-listenable "sampler" of the traditional gospel songs many of us sing every Sunday. The standout tunes are the vocals by SAVAE -- just click on #1 "Amazing Grace." It's hard not to get those "good" chills. All of their hymns are acapella -- there's nothing that can match this unique sound. And as these folks are always in tune.
There are also a lot of great guitar instrumentals of such standards as "I Love To Tell The Story" and "What A Friend We Have in Jesus." It's clean steel-string guitar -- the sort of tunes you'd like to hear during the offertory. And who can fight with the price on this sampler!
One can certainly appreciate the content of the beloved hymns offered here, but with all due respect to previous reviews and the album's contributors, there's not a lot to commend these interpretations.
With the exception of the warm and reverent "Near the Cross", the group Savae, performs several rather sterile and perfunctory tracks that offer lifeless arrangements featuring vocalists that display truly modest talent.
Meanwhile, Ben Bowen King's various guitar instrumentals are largely indistinguishable from one another rendering the timeless melodies of the hymns all but lost in his arrangements. The same could be said for the two tracks attributed to Gaelic Strings.
The music and message of great Gospel hymns is eternal...this admirable but flawed effort, not so much. - Music - Various Artists - Gospel - Mp3'
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