Customer Reviews

Love Rejoices: Songs of H. Leslie Adams/Taylor

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This is a heartfelt, superbly performed recording of the songs of H. Leslie Adams. Appropriately titled, "Love Rejoices," this incredibly beautiful selection of Adams songs reflects the joy which love can bring to the human spirit. Tenor Darryl Taylor and pianist Robin Guy do a superlative job of interpreting these masterpieces. Every nuance of Adams' deceptively simple work is executed with masterful technique and deeply felt emotion.Not only can the listener receive inspration from a single hearing, but one tends to return again and again, as this music weaves its haunting magic. "Love Rejoices" becomes a good friend, a warm companion, a healing means in difficult times, and a source of deep learning. Truly, this is one of the most beautiful CD products ever produced, and Adams' music offers us the work of a great American composer.

Leslie Adams has been one of the preeminent African American composers in the US for many years now. His music has the extraordinary ability to bridge the distance between classical and popular, religious and secular. He is at his best when he is writing art songs. This collection of songs IS art.

Mr. Taylor is a young singer of extraordinary talent and presents this collection beautifully, with artistic skill, both technical and mental, and with depth of emotion that betrays his youthful age.

Noone who loves good music would not enjoy this CD.

This recording is for all listeners of all ages. Hear it once and you will want to hear it again and again. It is an especially good travel companion for those who spend lots of time driving. Adams' writing is melodic and soulful; it is true to the poetry of the lyrics. Each of his songs is painted with a broad brush of tonal colors and rhythms. Mr. Taylor's vocal interpretation of each song is wonderfully true to the composer's intent, that of creating beautiful music for the singers and accompanists who wish to be both musically and technically challenged while adding to their repetoire music their audiences will thoroughly enjoy. This recording belongs in the active listening library of all music lovers.

H. Leslie Adams could hardly have found a more sympathetic interpreter of his songs than the sensitive and gifted lyric tenor, Darryl Taylor. It maybe a cliché, but the two, composer and singer, are "made for each other." The sweetness of Taylor's voice, the purity of diction, and the sensitivity with which he plumbs the meaning of every word of the text, combine to captivate the listener. Robin Guy's artful collaboration at the piano adds to the magic of this recording. I was left with the conclusion that this was a perfect mating of vocal lyricism and melodic inspiration!
Eugene Thamon Simpson
Sicklerville, NJ 08081