Reviewed by Tony Cummings

The genesis of this successful album series is seriously confusing. After utterly ignoring reggae for 20 odd years despite it being a powerful vehicle for conveying spiritual messages (as the rise of Rastafarianism proves), America's CCM industry finally woke up to the sound of Jamaica. Frontline Records tentatively tried out a reggae worship album with 'Reggae Worship Vol' by Christafari. It proved Frontline's biggest hit for years, Christafari were snapped up by Gotee Records and hoping to exploit the niche they'd unexpectedly discovered, Frontline asked veteran rock and jazz producer Lanny Cordola to come up with a volume two. Lanny brought in vocalist Philip Bardowell who'd previously sung in Lanny's heavy rock outfit and despite the lack of JA credentials Phil did a credible imitation of Bob Marley, Cordola aped all the heavy bass riffs and cracking rim shots and Volume 2 was released as by the Children Of Zion. Now Volume 3 has come out and there's been no attempt to even identify a front sleeve artist! Four tracks feature Philip Bardowell again while six offer vocals by one Jahmark Dan, a pseudonym for who I wonder. These California musos are too good not to do a credible pastiche of reggae though the phoney JA accents are occasionally irritating. Still, doing a reggae version of Randy Stonehill's mock Caribbean oldie "Shut De Do" was long overdue.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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