Reviewed by Tony May

A 17-piece band this, aiming to breathe new life into old favourites and to introduce some swingin' new material. Just two vocal tracks; "You Gave My Heart The Chance" features Doug Clements, "Power In Praisin' The Lord" introduces the well-named Scat Springs. There are several musicians involved here who are actually highly rated amongst their peers, including Sam Levine (sax, flute, piccolo), Mike Haynes (trumpet) and George Tidwell (trumpet, flugelhorn). Well, Christian excursions into jazz and big band music have not exactly set the world on fire to date, so the big question is, "does it work this time?" Well, "compared with what? is the next question. It's definitely the best Christian brand I've heard, but doesn't reach the power or drive of the leading secular counterparts. The music does really swing in places, and if you need for some strange reason to hear gospel songs played as instrumental rather man some of the innovative writing that's happening out there, then I guess this is the one for you.

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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