Artist: Ella Fitzgerald
     Album: Spirituals
     Release Date: Mar 13, 2001
     Label: EMI-Capitol Special Markets
     Format/Bitrate: MP3/320
     Size: 72,5 mb
     Studio/Live: Studio
     Mono/Stereo: Stereo




     Ella Fitzgerald поет Gospel

     Artist: Mahalia Jackson
     Album: Christmas Gold
     Label: Christmas (Sunny Moon)
     Year of release: 1998
     Quality: mp3@320
     Size: 89 mb (with covers)
     Total Time: 39:58



      Jackson considered herself a simple woman: she enjoyed cooking for friends as much as marveling at landmarks around the world. But it was in her music that she found her spirit most eloquently expressed. She wrote in her autobiography: "Gospel music is nothing but singing of good tidings-spreading the good news. It will last as long as any music because it is sung straight from the human heart. Join with me sometime-whether you're white or colored-and you will feel it for yourself. Its future is brighter than a daisy."

      Artist: Various Artists
      Album: American Roots Music
      Label: Palm
      Year: 2001
      Format: Flac
      Time: CD 1-52:20; CD 2-52:29; CD 3-46:58; CD 4-62:33
      Size: CD 1-242 MB; CD 2-226 MB; CD 3-242 MB; CD 4-343 MB
      AMG rating:

      The successes of the breakthrough soundtrack from the film O Brother Where Art Thou? and the in-depth PBS television series Ken Burns' Jazz seem to have combined in the 2001 production of Palm Pictures' four-part TV series American Roots Music. The series touches on the development of the distinctly American styles of traditional folk, country, blues, gospel, Western swing, bluegrass, cajun, zydeco, Tejano, and Native American music. Corresponding with the television event, Palm has released a four-CD box set soundtrack with a 48-page booklet covering the styles covered during the show. Much like a broadened version of the amazing Washington Square Memoirs: The Great Urban Folk Boom, 1950-1970 CD set, American Roots Music has pulled together an impressive list of performers, including the Carter Family, Jimmie Rodgers, Bill Monroe, B.B. King, Hank Williams, Robert Johnson, Son House, Woody Guthrie, Leadbelly, the Staple Singers, Clifton Chenier, Flaco Jimenez, and Bob Dylan. The depth of the track selection is impressive, as is the breadth of the performers chosen. The producers have chosen to include some studio recordings, and some audio tracks taken from the film archives, making for a somewhat uneven sound quality. While the previously unreleased nature of these select tracks will appeal to collectors and die-hard fans, those just exploring these styles might be turned off by the rough quality of these performances. The discs span more than eight decades of music, acting as a good overview of these genres for new listeners, while Americana enthusiasts will view it as another great collection of the most influential American roots artists in music history. [Also available from Palm is a 19-song CD sampler entitled American Roots Music: Highlights and a video collection containing the entire television series on DVD and VHS.]

     Artist: Mahalia Jackson
     Album: Gospels, Spirituals & Hymns (Box, 2CD)
     Label: Columbia/Legacy
     Year: 1954-1968; release 1991
     Format, bitrate: Mp3/320 kbps
     Time: 128:59
     Size: 299 MB
     AMG Rating:



     Although it's missing some of her classic performances, the double-disc set Gospels, Spirituals & Hymns is nonetheless an excellent introduction to Mahalia Jackson, arguably the greatest gospel singer of all time. The box set features 36 performances she recorded for Columbia between 1954 and 1969, offering a comprehensive, but by no means exhaustive, introduction to Jackson and her most popular work.

     Artist: Mahalia Jackson
     Album: In Concert Easter Sunday, 1967
     Label: Columbia
     Year: 1967, release: 2001
     Format, bitrate: MP3@320 kbit/s
     Time: 1.09:43
     Size: 160 MB

     Jackson's Easter performance at New York's Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts on March 26, 1967, was her first big concert since being afflicted with heart problems three years before that. Any discomfort or loss of form would be hard to detect in this strong performance, at which she was accompanied by piano, organ, guitar, and drums. For the most part it sticks to slow- to mid-tempo numbers, the shouter "Come on Children, Let's Sing" being the notable exception. The 2001 CD reissue on Columbia/Legacy adds four previously unreleased bonus tracks from the same concert, of which the jubilant "Elijah Rock," with a prominent organ and a melody similar to Little Willie John's "Fever," is a highlight. ~ Richie Unterberger, AMG.

     Artist: Mahalia Jackson
     Album: Recorded Live in Europe During Her Latest Concert Tour
     Label: Columbia/Sony
     Year: 1961; release: 2001
     Format: FLAC
     Size: 316 MB (covers)
     Time: 53:45


     Jackson is accompanied only by pianist Mildred Falls on these songs, recorded in Sweden on April 18, 1961. There's not much to distinguish these from other Jackson performances of the period, other than perhaps the sparse accompaniment, a slightly distant quality to the recording of the vocals, and a sense of event from a live audience that didn't have the opportunity to see Jackson nearly as often as Americans did. Her favorites "Elijah Rock" and "Down By the Riverside" are here, as are compositions by Thomas Dorsey and Clara Ward, and more unexpectedly Rodgers-Hammerstein's "You'll Never Walk Alone." The 2001 CD release on Columbia/Legacy adds two previously unreleased songs recorded a week later in France, "Didn't It Rain" and "When the Saints Go Marching In."
  

     Artist: Various Artists
     Album: Jazz Is Where You Find It
     Label: Timeless
     Year: 1924-1930; release: 2000
     Format, bitrate: MP3 320 Kbps
     Time: 71:53
     Size: 100 Mb
     AMG rating:


     Although the main jazz centers during the '20s were New York and Chicago, due to the traveling bands (which inspired younger players) and the growing availability of records, jazz quickly spread everywhere. Occasionally labels would take their recording facilities on location to capture local talent and this 1998 CD has some of the most interesting (and rarest) of all the territory bands. Included is the complete output (usually one or two selections) of George Warmack's Orchestra (from Buffalo, NY), Roy Johnson's Happy Pals (of Richmond, VA), the Foor-Robinson Carolina Club Orchestra (Ashville, NC), the Bubbling Over Five (also Richmond, VA), Harold Ortili's Ohio State Collegians (Cleveland, OH), George Osborne (St. Paul, MN), the U.S. Naval Academy Ten (Annapolis, MD) and a test pressing by Frank Ward's Orchestra (from Framingham, MA) that features the debut of trumpeter Sylvester Ahola. In addition, the best recordings by the Blue Ribbon Syncopators (from Buffalo, NY), Charlie Davis' Orchestra (Indianapolis, IN), Emerson Gill's Orchestra (Cleveland, OH), Maynard Baird (Knoxville, TN), Ernest Loomis (Butte, MT!), Jackie Souders (Seattle, WA) and Arnold Frank's Roger's Café Orchestra (Minneapolis, MN) are here. Nearly all of the 24 selections are quite worthwhile and this CD is highly recommended to vintage jazz collectors (who will probably not already own most of this material) and historians, both for its historic and musical value. A fun set.

     Artist: Mahalia Jackson
     Album: Greatest Hits
     Label: CBS Rec.
     Year of release 1995
     Genre: Gospel, Spirituals
     Format, bitrate: mp3, VBR middle 256 kbps (192-320)
     Size: 124 MB

     Artist: Blind Willie Johnson
     Album: The Complete Blind Willie Johnson
     Label: Legacy/Columbia
     Year: 1927–1930; release: 1993
     Format, bitrate: Mp3, 192kbps
     Time: 1:34:32
     Size: 122 MB
     AMG Rating:

If you've never heard Blind Willie Johnson, you are in for one of the great, bone-chilling treats in music. Johnson played slide guitar and sang in a rasping, false bass that could freeze the blood. But no bluesman was he; this was gospel music of the highest order, full of emotion and heartfelt commitment. Of all the guitar-playing evangelists, Blind Willie Johnson may have been the very best. Though not related by bloodlines to Robert Johnson, comparisons in the emotional commitment of both men cannot be helped. This two-CD anthology collects everything known to exist, and that's a lot of stark, harrowing, emotional commitment no matter how you slice it. Not for the faint of heart, but hey, the good stuff never is.

     Artist: Mavis Staples
     Album: You Are Not Alone
     Label: Anti records,
     Year:rec.2010 / rel.Sep 14, 2010
     Format:MP3 @ 320 Kb/s
     Time:45:13
     Size:99,7 Mb
     AMG rating:

     Artist: The Holmes Brothers
     Album: Jubilation
     Label: Real World Records
     Year: 1992
     Format, bitrate: mp3, 320kb/s
     Time: 48:34
     Size: 91 MB
     AMG rating:


     Jubilation is a revealing, wonderful collection of the Holmes Brothers' distinctive soul. The brothers tie together a seemingly disconnected array of styles -- everything from straightforward blues, R&B, and gospel to worldbeat and country -- and come up with a cohesive whole. Even when the group delves into soukous or works with a Chinese flutist, it manages to retain the pure qualities of American blues and R&B.

     Artist: The Manhattan Transfer
     Album: The Very Best Of The Manhattan Transfer
     Label: Rhino
     Years: 1975-1987, release: 1994
     Format: FLAC (tracks + .cue)/MP3
     Bitrate: lossless/~320kbps
     Size RAR: ~ 390|138 mb (with covers)
     AMG rating


     This eclectic collection of songs encompasses jazz, bebop, swing, doo wop, rock & roll, and gospel; all are trimmed in an attractive pop texture. These 16 compositions are taken from the vocal quartet's albums, which span 12 years (1975-1987). Each selection is inviting, as all four song stylists display their individual vocal skills and admirable harmonies. Laurel Masse appears on recordings up until 1979, when Cheryl Bentyne replaced her. Other members include Tim Hauser, Janis Siegel, and Alan Paul. ~ Craig Lytle, All Music Guide

     Artist: Famous L Renfroe As The Flying Sweet Angel Of Joy
     Album: Children
     Label: Big Legal Mess Records
     Year: 1968, release: 2008
     Quality/Bitrate.:Mp3 VBR
     Time: 36:08
     Size: 49 Mb


     Not really famous, but gritty & grooving bluesy gospel soul from Famous L Renfroe – and artist who might even be more mysterious to us after hearing the record! The Flying Sweet Angel Of Joy is kind of a dreamlike mix of impassioned vocals, electric guitar and bass, with some drums. There's often chorus backing vocals behind the spirited, but easygoing lead vocals, and the sound often has a gritty soul blues vibe underneath the emotive, spiritual lead vocals. Titles include "Children", "Believe", "Feed", "Reaching", It's So", "Why Not I", "And Man", "His Love", "Circle", "War" and "Tell".

      Artist: Elder Roma Wilson
      Album: This Train
      Label: Arhoolie
      Year: 1995
      Format, bitrate: MP3 Mixed
      Time: 73:00
      Size: 88.99 Mb
      AMG rating:


      Elder Roma Wilson was in his early 80s by the time the majority of the tracks on This Train were recorded, but he still blows his harp with all the power and energy of a man half his age. Performing solo, with his wife, and with a Mississippi church congregation, he plays with astonishing ease and skill, ripping apart cuts like "Ain't It a Shame," "This Train Is a Clean Train," and "Amazing Grace." Nevertheless, the six sides he unwittingly cut in 1948 backed by his three children are the real treat here, ranking among the most original and exciting sounds in all of postwar gospel. Together, the Wilson family members seem to share an almost telepathic bond, their harmonicas soaring and dive-bombing in and around each other with acrobatic daring.

      Artist: B.B. King
      Album: B.B King Sings Spirituals
      Label: Diablo Records UK
      Year: 1960
      Format, bitrate: Mp3 128 Kbps
      Time: 50:24
      Size: 44:07 MB


     For a good part of the '50s B.B. King recorded for the Bihari Brothers' RPM and Kent labels, and the brothers would, in turn, issue collections of these singles on LP as part of their discount Crown Records series. B.B. King Sings Spirituals originally appeared as a Crown LP in 1959, but it was less a collection of singles than a true labor of love for King, who took it as an opportunity to return to the Baptist and Pentecostal church music of his childhood. It's easy to forget that King isn't just a blues player with a particularly distinctive guitar style, he is also a singer, and in the '50s he really worked more to the R&B side of the field than to the blues half, and, as these tracks show, his roots were always deep in gospel. The instrumentation here is sparse and appropriate to the spiritual material, just organ, piano, bass, and drums with tons of handclapping and choral support, and absolutely no guitar. King's singing here is a bit of a revelation to those who only know him for his blues work, as he breaks loose and sings vigorously on numbers like the rollicking "Ole Time Religion" and a stomping "Army of the Lord." This is B.B. King, one supposes, before the thrill was gone. He sounds absolutely jubilant. [This Ace reissue adds in a generous eight bonus tracks of period singles and alternate versions, some of them decidedly secular, including the stunning "I Am," which shows unequivocally that King is an explosively expressive singer when he chooses to be, and a curious horn-driven version of Merle Travis' "Sixteen Tons" that was released in 1955 as a single at the same time as Tennessee Ernie Ford's hit version of the song.

     Artist: The Word
     Album: The Word
     Label: Ropeadope Records
     Year: 2001
     Format, bitrate: mp3, 320
     Size: 101 mb
     AMG Rating:

     This purported one-off "gospel" project involving jazz organist John Medeski (yep, that one), pedal steel guitarist Robert Randolph (of Arhoolie's Sacred Steel series fame), and the North Mississippi Allstars (featuring both Cody and Luther Dickinson -- Jim Dickinson's swamp-brat kids -- as well as bassist Chris Chew) was the most welcome and unexpected instrumental release of 2001. And as it burns through rock, blues, soul, funk, and of course, grooved-out gospel music with a take no prisoners attitude and a down in the grease feeling, it may be a candidate for album of that year, period. The story is long and complex but here's a thumbnail, kids: Medeski, Martin & Wood were touring with the North Mississippi Allstars and both camps were playing the Sacred Steel series on Arhoolie on their buses. The idea for a gospel record was born and Randolph was chosen on the power of one tune: "Without a God" from the Sacred Steel Live album. Strange occurrences led to the band finally coming together, but the evidence here suggests that perhaps indeed Divine Providence was involved. Musically, the songs come from the Sacred Steel proceedings as well as public domain libraries. Tracks such as "Keep Your Lamp Trimmed and Burning," "I Shall Not Be Moved," "Without God," "At the Cross," and "I'll Fly Away" are familiar to listeners who've never so much as set foot inside a Protestant gospel church in their lives. But even if the titles are familiar, these arrangements, courtesy of Randolph, are not. They delve deep into the spirit of the music while caring little for its proper construction; any emotions that make their way into the mix are encouraged by the members of The Word. It is not uncommon for anger and despair to sidle up to joy and hope in these proceedings and be transformed into something like country shuffle blues or funky rural gospel that borders on the darkest of Delta blues. Randolph's pedal steel is firmly in the forefront, kept company by Medeski's chunky fills and comping and the dirty blues guitar of Luther Dickinson. When you add Chris Chew's pop-'em-in-the-pocket basslines that point everything in the right direction just ahead of the beat drums by Cody Dickinson (or his eerie, funky washboard rubbing), this is the roots band to beat. As funk and gospel roll out past the midnight hour from the halls of salvation to sin and back again, listeners understand implicitly the inherent contradictions in American music, that while the Puritan thought and body police may try to stomp out everything that looks, sounds, tastes, and feels good, there's the spirit of the Almighty encouraging the human part of us to enjoy creation. And enjoy you will, from the tip of your head to the balls of your feet -- until they get sore from falling around a dancefloor for a few hours -- or until you reluctantly slip this sacred slab back into its case and back onto the shelf. Music like this has no reason to turn back on itself and ask questions; it's too busy affirming the wondrous truth of how great it is to be alive. Mark my words, in ten years this disc will be considered a classic, a groundbreaking foray into the total synthesis of American groove music.

     Artist: Take 6
     Album: He Is Christmas
     Release Date: 1991
     Label: Warner Alliance
     Studio/Live: Studio
     Mono/Stereo: Stereo
     Format/Bitrate: Mp3/320 kbit/s
     Size: 81 MB
     Time: 35:47



     This CD finds the somewhat miraculous a cappella sextet Take 6 emphasizing the religious side of the holiday season. One of the world's only gospel jazz groups, Take 6 uses advanced harmonies and sophisticated improvisations while always keeping "the message" in the forefront...(by Scott Yanow-AMG)

     Take 6 has always occupied a very special niche in the music world with their combination of gospel and jazz with an a capella take on the music...The song arrangements and the execution are authentic and unique. These guys are no two-bit operation; they really know what they're doing. They know what to keep of the familiar, and what to play with. ...(amazon.com)
     

     Artist: Take 6
     Album: Take 6 (DOO BE DOO WOP BOP!)
     Label: Reprise
     Orig Year: 1988
     Street Date: Mar 08, 1988
     Studio/Live: Studio
     Mono/Stereo: Stereo
     Format/Bitrate: MP3/320; 81MB



     This is a must-have album for anyone who likes good music, specially a capella music. This guys are unbealivable, just listen and you will fell it....

     ENJOY....

     Artist: Take 6
     Album: So Cool
     Label: Warner Bros. Records
     Genre: Gospel /Instrumental and acapella
     Subgenre: Comtemporary Gospel
     Year: October: 27, 1998
     Album Duration: 41m:34s
     Quality: mp3; 320 kbps
     Size: 84 Mb

     Take 6 returned to a largely a cappella approach on their sixth album, So Cool, which had the effect of reminding listeners what was distinctive about them. With a band, they sometimes sounded like just another good R&B vocal group (albeit one strictly devoted to religious lyrics); on their own, they could evoke everyone from Manhattan Transfer to Ladysmith Black Mambazo while dazzling with their vocal blend and expressive solos. If they fell down anywhere, it was in their songwriting, which provided a platform for the vocal pyrotechnics and conveyed their Christian beliefs, but did not impress otherwise.

     Artist: Take 6
     Title: Beautiful World
     Label: Warner Bros.
     Year: 2002
     Quality: mp3;320 kbps

     With intelligence, imagination, passion, and skill, Take 6 offers an unprecedented convergence of a cappella vocal artistry with solid instrumental accompaniment on Beautiful World. Produced by the highly talented Marcus Miller (of Miles Davis' electric period fame) and fueled by the intriguing messages delivered on 13 great songs from the pop, gospel, and soul styles, Beautiful World is overflowing with inventive lyricism and catches the listener up in Take 6's musical stories. The title track is performed with new lyrics to the verses that give it an actual gospel message, a departure from the tongue-in-cheek cynicism of the original song released as "I.G.Y. (What a Beautiful World)" by Steely Dan. David Thomas sings a very beautiful "Fragile" -- the pop hit made famous by Sting -- with such reverence and feeling that he transcribes the song's impact for a new generation of soul/gospel enthusiasts. On "Takin' It to the Streets," the addition of alto saxophone riffs by David Sanborn alongside the six-man group's vocal harmonizing makes it even more enjoyable. Alvin Chea's vocal bass "walkin'" style of a cappella singing is the perfect alter ego for Marcus Miller's explorative "talkin'" bass guitar lines that have been heard around the world. Joey Kibble's fresh reprise on "Grandma's Hands" is uplifting, containing spiritual encouragement that, along with a ripe saxophone interpretation of the refrain, makes this song a pick. The multiple award-winning group's classic African-American gospel-based interpretations of some of the most enjoyable music of the 20th century -- combined with new instrumental dimensions -- make Beautiful World an excellent addition to your listening pleasures. ~ Paula Edelstein, All Music Guide