Reviewed by John Cheek

Talking of King David, Bono once described the Old Testament king as "the first blues singer." It's all there, in the story of David: fear, doubt, faith, anger and a lot more besides. Musically, this album is not blues. Vernon Fuller is an accomplished jazz guitarist who possesses a soulful voice and this collection of psalms-influenced compositions and psalms-set-to-music is perhaps the most convincing since Ian White did something similar in the 1990s. One of the joys of independent productions such as this is that invariably the arrangements are sparse and, here, allow the rich beauty of the words as well as the playing to breathe and shine through. The psalms are characterised by the intimacy displayed by the psalmist towards God. Fuller captures that feeling perfectly, not least on a composition of his own, like "I Cried And You Listened", where his sweet vocals may not be quite on a par with an Al Green but have that same kind of delivery and sensibility. "Blessed Is The Man" is an uplifting, slightly bossa nova take on Psalm 1 and "Catch The Love" is a chilled, trippy track, both of which help to break up the acoustic strumming and the many jazz chords which provide the music landscape for many of these songs and which occasionally risk them sounding a bit samey. 'May The Lord Answer You' is an album for which you probably have to be in the right mood to listen to. However, give yourself time and space and you could be in for a sublime listening experience. Enough to make you smile and lift those blues.

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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