In the Spirit (Joe McPhee album)
In the Spirit is an album of spirituals performed by multi-instrumentalist Joe McPhee's Bluette recorded in 1999 and first released on the CIMP label.[1]
Reception
Professional ratings |
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Review scores |
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Source | Rating |
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Allmusic | [2] |
Allmusic reviewer Steve Loewy states "An important contribution to the discography of the spiritual, McPhee gives it a new perspective, but one that is entirely respectful of the tradition. Performed gracefully and tastefully, the group tastes free form without losing sight of the melodies".[2] On All About Jazz, Derek Taylor wrote "In a career stamped by a continuous string of transcendent recordings this is one of McPhee’s best to date, a vital testament that lovingly embraces the indelible tradition of spirituals and expertly applies them to the setting of creative improvisation".[3] In JazzTimes, Harvey Pekar suggested "Maybe one more extroverted track would have helped the CD, which sometimes gets too subdued, but it's a fine effort nevertheless". [4]
Track listing
- "Deep River" (Traditional) - 9:32
- "People Get Ready" (Curtis Mayfield) - 12:01
- "God Bless the Child" (Billie Holiday, Arthur Herzog, Jr.) - 11:44
- "Birmingham Sunday/Come Sunday" (Joe McPhee/Duke Ellington) - 14:19
- "Astral Spirits" (Joe McPhee) - 8:32
- "Just a Closer Walk With Thee" (Traditional) - 7:23
Personnel
References
- ↑ Joe McPhee discography accessed April 22, 2015
- 1 2 Loewy, Steve. In the Spirit – Review at AllMusic. Retrieved April 22, 2015.
- ↑ Taylor, D., All About Jazz Review, April 1, 2000
- ↑ Pekar, H., JazzTimes Review, July/August 2000