Customer Reviews

Go Down, Moses: African American Spirituals

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Here is an a cappella singing ensemble of the first order--exquisite music by talented, first-rate singers who really pour themselves into their music! Some of the spirituals moved me to tears, others lifted me up with their sheer exuberance and joy. I highly recommend this CD to anyone who values the beauty of the human voice and who wants to experience truly intimate, cool, and soulfully-deep singing delivered by a wonderful, small ensemble. Fantastic!

We've all heard "Go down Moses"...at least we think we have. This NEW version brings NEW beauty to an ancient favorite. The arrangement is superb. The voices are superb. The effect is superb. An amazing and moving experience.

If you've never heard Chicago a cappella, this would be a wonderful first exposure to a group so musical, so diverse, so entertaining that you'll wish to revisit it often.

Being a singer myself, I love listening to the wonderful harmonies and blending of this excellent group. My husband, however, who only "knows what he likes", sits and listens to this CD for hours! These musicians delight on so many levels, I can't imagine anyone buying this CD and not being thrilled over and over!

What great ensemble! Whether you love spirituals or not, this recording is sure to impress you with the amazing vocals. Each performer brings out their own personality, but also blends into a unified whole. And the arrangements are a lot of fun!

If you like sacred acapella, you're bound to like "Go Down, Moses," performed by Chicago Acapella. This group does such a fantastic job of achieving a clean, beautiful blended sound. And frankly, I don't care if they are mostly white or if their performance is not "authentic." It sounds heavenly, and that's all that matters as far as I'm concerned.

My favorite track on this CD is "Elijah Rock." Although the composer is listed as "anonymous," the arrangement performed is actually that of the late Moses Hogan. I have yet to come across a recorded performance of Hogan's "Elijah Rock" that does as much justice to the piece as Chicago Acapella's. Their sound, blend, dynamics, pitch, rhythm- everything you need in a choral performance- is spot on here. All of the other recordings of "Elijah Rock" I've listened to do 1 of 2 things (if not both) very quickly- rush the tempo or go flat. Chicago Acapella does neither. In addition, the sound editing and engineering are as good as one could expect. By the way, this is available on iTunes for $9.99, with individual songs for sale. I only bought 2 songs on this CD: "Roll Jordan" and "Elijah Rock." Not that the other songs are bad, they're all well-performed, but these 2, especially "Elijah Rock," are the ones that I can listen to over and over again and never get tired of.

Excellent CD for Black History at church. I purchase it for a school program, needed the song Steal Away and had to edit some of the words. This CD contains a lot of the Negro spirituals that were use during the slavery era.

Yes, they can sing. But can they sing spirituals? Yes. But do I want to hear them sing spirituals? NO. White people singing spirituals is boring and tired.

You wont find a picture of the singers for this cd on the cover. I was miffed when I found out they are mostly all white. You couldn't tell from the name of the group, or the politically correct use of the term African American instead of negro. I was just hoping for the kind of nuance you hear in African American church choirs. This choir mimics the Negro spiritual ok, but you can't help but wonder how much better it would be if they used actual African American singers and direction. The real thing is always better than the pretender. Nevertheless the voices are proffessional so I did get something out of it.