Reviewed by Tony Cummings

Norway is an odd place to birth a gospel choir, let alone one which has been around for years and clocked up numerous best-selling CDs. But then the Oslo Gospel Choir belong to a long-established tradition where Scandinavian gospel enthusiasts form choirs and do a pretty impressive pastiche of African American gospel. This album, recorded in 2006 at the famed Auditorium Stravinsky, Montreux, Switzerland, shows the ensemble in a pretty impressive light with lead vocalists Ole-Marius Johnson and Hilde Gundersen demonstrating plenty of soul power. In some of the songs the ensemble passages still sound a bit "white" (and dare I say it, dull) but when they are powering through tracks like Andrae Crouch's "My Tribute" they deliver a pleasant hybrid sound halfway between the Mississippi Mass Choir and the Maranatha! Singers.

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