Live at Newport [LIVE]

Mahalia Jackson

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 19, 1994)
• Original Release Date: July 19, 1994
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Live
• Label: Sony
• ASIN: B00000293H
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #181,000 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com essential recording
It was 1958 at the Newport Jazz Festival, and the announcer said it all: "Ladies and gentlemen, it is Sunday, and it is time for the World's Greatest Gospel Singer, Miss Mahalia Jackson." And, with that all-too-appropriate introduction, Jackson broke into a stirring rendition of "An Evening Prayer" that set the tone for a classic performance. Over the course of her 45-minute set, she performed pop-tinged numbers ("Didn't It Rain"), a few trad tunes ("I'm Going to Live the Life I Sing About in My Song"), and songs immersed with soul ("Keep Your Hand on the Plow"). On all of these numbers, Jackson's voice rang loud and clear, backed simply by piano and organ. Recorded at a time when her longtime fans were questioning her increasing fame and popularity, the "Queen of Gospel" proved shiningly, once again, that she still knew how to use her God-given gift of voice. --Jason Verlinde

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The greatest gospel album ever recorded., June 3, 2000

By	Simon Turner (Ft lauderdale Florida) - See all my reviews

Epiphany, is the word that describes this disc best. The power, energy, and the conviction that Mahalia possesses has never been duplicated. If while listening to such outstanding cuts like, "The lord's Prayer, Didn't It Rain, When The Saints Go Marching In, On My Way, An Evening's Prayer, and A walk In Heaven, you are not moved, then may I suggest that you make an appointment with your doctor, to check for a pulse.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Good Friend Revisited, September 18, 1999

By	Richard Alan Henderson "rahmazon" - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

In my childhood, I enjoyed this album at the home of a neighbor. I have always wanted my own copy of it and just recently found out, nearly 40 years later,that it was indeed available.

This is a "masterpiece". Mahalia's personality as well as her God-given talents are showcased here!

This is a collector's dream!

Richard Alan Henderson Anderson, IN

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Poor Sound Quality Undercuts A Brilliant Performance, June 12, 2004

By	Gary F. Taylor "GFT" (Biloxi, MS USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Born to a poor family in 1911 in New Orleans, Mahalia Jackson grew up singing in her father's church--and soaking up the blues and jazz for which that city is so famous. By the late 1920s she was in Chicago, where her distinctly jazz and blues-inflected singing style nearly got her thrown out of the Greater Salem Baptist Church. But Mahalia persevered, and in the early 1950s a series of radio and television broadcasts launched her first to national and then international acclaim. Some thirty years after her death in 1972, she is still considered the single greatest gospel singer America has ever produced.

I discovered Jackson in a serious way a year or so ago, and since then I have gone out of my way to purchase every one of her recordings that comes my way: if ever God gave breath to a gospel singer, it was to this woman, and her voice grabs you and rings you like a great bell. And after reading several commentaries on the brilliance of her 1958 performance at the Newport Jazz Festival, I was particularly eager to have this one.

Sad to say, the sound quality of this recording is very, very bad. Truth be said, you can actually hear the roars of the audience with greater clarity than you can hear Jackson--and given the power of her voice that is an astonishing thing. At times it sounds as if Jackson and the microphone are at opposite ends of the stage; at other times it sounds for all the world as if Jackson is singing inside a barrel. And more than anything, the recording leaves me with a tremendous frustration--for in its occasional moments of clarity it is very obvious that Jackson was giving a truly brilliant performance.

For all the frustration involved, I do not regret this purchase. If nothing else, it gives one a very clear idea of how Jackson interacted with her audience. But even so, this not a recording I would recommend to someone just beginning to explore the work of this unique and extraordinary artist. Let it be among the last purchases of her work you make.

GFT, Amazon Reviewer