How Sweet the Sound: Spirituals & Traditional Gospel Music

Read About This Recording

There is something about Gospel music that just makes you feel good, and when this captivating music is sung by a group as well-honed as Chanticleer the effect is greatly increased. What an incredibly alive and exciting CD this release, How Sweet the Sound, is. From first track to last you will find yourself swaying back and forth in time to the music.

The program is a good mixture of traditional gospel hits such as "Amazing Grace" and more contemporary tunes like "Jesus Hits Like an Atom Bomb." Whatever the song, Chanticleer provides a rich base for the gospels' more prominent upper lines, which are often sung by Bishop Yvette Flunder. Hers is a voice unlike any I have heard; she can whisper at one moment and then explode with fervent passion in the next instant. Her work on "Amazing Grace" is simply extraordinary.

Chanticleer, whose other recordings have quickly become Society favorites, never ceases to amaze me. Their versatility, combined with intense musicianship, is what makes them so easy to listen to. It seems there is nothing they cannot conquer.

Finally, the sound on the recording is rich but it allows for every voice to come through clearly.

—Jacob Anthony

Quotes

Chanticleer — An Orchestra of Voices®

"America's favorite choral ensemble." —New Yorker

"Luxurious perfection." —Los Angeles Times "These men are phenomenal; as fresh as a blade of grass, tightly focused and keenly expressive." —The New York Times

"The most versatile and virtuoso singers anywhere." —The Dallas Morning News

Contents

Jesus Hits Like an Atom Bomb; Surely God is Able; Amazing Grace; Soon One Mornin' Medley: Soon One Mornin', What You Gon' Do When the World's on Fire?, You Can't Hide, Run on for a Long Time; Didn't It Rain; Sit Down Servant/Plenty Good Room; Keep Your Hands on the Plow (Hold On); My Soul is a Witness; There is a Balm in Gilead; Poor Pilgrim Medley: Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child, Poor Pilgrim of Sorrow, Walk in Jerusalem; Be Still and Know That I'm God.

Chanticleer; Joseph Jennings, Director.