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The second is Ev'ry Valley. The soulful presentation is great fun for any Messiah lover. I won't spoil it for those who have yet to hear it for themselves. The opening symphony makes use of all genres of black culture and molds it into one fantastic interpretation. This is my first of two favorite tracks. In my opinion, these two tracks are worth the purchase of the CD alone. The remaining tracks are full of fun inventive interpretations on a "highlights" version of Messiah.
God bless Michael O. Quincy Jones already rocks my world. But this re-imagining of Handel's Messiah from an African-American perspective is exceptional, extraordinary, unabated joy--especially in "And He Shall Purify" and "Hallelujah." I am a middle-aged white musician/pianist/voice teacher in New York City. I can't stop smiling and moving with these extraordinary performances when I put this CD on. Do yourself a huge favor and buy it for yourself and everyone you know. I got my Master's at Indiana University in voice.
I bow to the unsurpassed musical expertise, as well as the heart and soul demonstrated throughout the recording. I have nothing but respect for him and the level of musical excellence that has always surrounded anything he put his considerable mind and talent to. Jackson for these vocal arrangements. I was raised a Southern-Baptist even. I only offer up this information to suggest what an unlikely candidate I might be to enjoy this CD. And the mixing is something else--out of this world, truly.This is one amazingly-inspired recording.
And get ready to rock out.
I don't listen to all the tracks on this recording, but I've all but worn out 8, 12 and the final track, the Halleluia Chorus. I wanted to use Why Do the Nations. Stevie with Take 6 is masterful, as well as Al Jarreau on the all-star big band session. The one disapointment that kept me from giving it 5 stars was the recording quality. with Jarreau to audition a pair of high-end stereo speakers in the store, and the band sounded like they were recorded in a shoe-box. Unfortunate for such great musicianship and arranging.
It pays homage to the original, but brings a lively, joyful, unique sound to the musical ideas Handel started with. I heard this CD at a friend's house once, years ago, and spent five years searching for it since. It modernizes it without degrading it in any way. It showed up in Amazon this year, and I now, finally., own it for myself. I LOVE this CD. I still love the original (Tafelmusik's is my favourite rendition, as true to the original ideas as possible), but I love this adaptation equally as much. Some top-name musicians perform here, too, and I love hearing them add their creative ideas to this project.5 stars, for sure.
I liked the first cut (a short history of Black music in America) and a couple other cuts, but the Hallelujah Chorus is definitely the best. I had heard the Hallelujah Chorus before (it was played in my spinning class at Christmas time) so I knew how great a song it is. I was hoping that the rest of the album was close to that level of inspiration and excitement - but I was disappointed. Most of the others are just so - so, in my opinion. Still the album is worth getting, just for the Hallelujah Chorus.
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