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Put your hands on the remote! browse music »Catholic Hymnbook Jumpstarted by Les Blachut
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fave it Contemporary Gospel | World Fusion
15 tracks | 44 minutes
Released Nov 2006
on Les Blachut
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- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 03:18 On Jordan's Bank The Baptist Cry lyrics BUY MP3 03:18 On Jordan's Bank The Baptist Cry lyrics "GIFT MP3" 03:18 On Jordan's Bank The Baptist Cry
- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 02:04 To Jesus Christ Our Sovereign King lyrics FREE 02:04 To Jesus Christ Our Sovereign King lyrics "GIFT MP3" 02:04 To Jesus Christ Our Sovereign King
- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 04:51 O Sacred Head Surrounded By Thorns lyrics BUY MP3 04:51 O Sacred Head Surrounded By Thorns lyrics "GIFT MP3" 04:51 O Sacred Head Surrounded By Thorns
- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 02:17 We Gather Together lyrics BUY MP3 02:17 We Gather Together lyrics "GIFT MP3" 02:17 We Gather Together
- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 04:04 Just A Closer Walk With Thee lyrics BUY MP3 04:04 Just A Closer Walk With Thee lyrics "GIFT MP3" 04:04 Just A Closer Walk With Thee
- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 03:24 Crown Him With Many Crowns lyrics BUY MP3 03:24 Crown Him With Many Crowns lyrics "GIFT MP3" 03:24 Crown Him With Many Crowns
- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 02:44 Come Holy Ghost Creator Blest lyrics BUY MP3 02:44 Come Holy Ghost Creator Blest lyrics "GIFT MP3" 02:44 Come Holy Ghost Creator Blest
- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 02:49 Hail To The Lord Annointed lyrics BUY MP3 02:49 Hail To The Lord Annointed lyrics "GIFT MP3" 02:49 Hail To The Lord Annointed
- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 03:09 Holy God We Praise Thy Name lyrics BUY MP3 03:09 Holy God We Praise Thy Name lyrics "GIFT MP3" 03:09 Holy God We Praise Thy Name
- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 02:53 At Thy First Eucharist lyrics BUY MP3 02:53 At Thy First Eucharist lyrics "GIFT MP3" 02:53 At Thy First Eucharist
- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 02:27 All Hail The Power Of Jesus' Name lyrics BUY MP3 02:27 All Hail The Power Of Jesus' Name lyrics "GIFT MP3" 02:27 All Hail The Power Of Jesus' Name
- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 02:36 Just As I Am Without One Plea lyrics BUY MP3 02:36 Just As I Am Without One Plea lyrics "GIFT MP3" 02:36 Just As I Am Without One Plea
- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 02:29 Immaculate Mary lyrics BUY MP3 02:29 Immaculate Mary lyrics "GIFT MP3" 02:29 Immaculate Mary
- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 02:18 When I Behold The Wondrous Cross lyrics BUY MP3 02:18 When I Behold The Wondrous Cross lyrics "GIFT MP3" 02:18 When I Behold The Wondrous Cross
- sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 03:26 I Just Want To Thank You Lord lyrics BUY MP3 03:26 I Just Want To Thank You Lord lyrics "GIFT MP3" 03:26 I Just Want To Thank You Lord
World fusion Gospel
Bio / Background
Reviewed by Bob LaMendola on Dec. 1, 2006.
OK, you've heard Christian rock. You've heard gospel. You've heard worship music and classical religious chorales.
But here's betting you haven't heard them all together at the same time -- even within the same hymn -- and set to a calypso beat.
That's the concept of an ambitious new collection of rearranged, refreshened church music created by master-of-all-keyboards Les Blachut, titled "Catholic Hymnbook Jumpstarted."
Blachut, a Berklee College of Music graduate from Florida, has taken 15 "sacred standards" as he calls them and turned them on their ear, with the assistance of a cadre of fine musicians and singers.
A jazz vibes player with a soft spot for Caribbean sounds, Blachut has penned arrangements that skip with off-beats, tricky meters and clever rhythms often played in unison, fusion style.
↓ more ↓In his hands, these 15 hymns, some of them 300 years old and covered centuries ago by the likes of Bach and Vivaldi, now taste of tangy world music.
Blachut and his band transform the dirgy standard "A Closer Walk with Thee" into a fun ride to the beach. He has trumpeter Tom Swayzee give us a New Orleans-sounding solo, then he follows himself with a passage on the steel drums that recalls every happy island tune you've ever heard. Somehow, though, he pulls this off while still preserving the song's worshipful theme in the operatic-sounding vocals of Dr. Wilhelmina King.
His version of "O Sacred Head Surrounded by Thorns" struts with a mid-tempo R&B groove that could have come straight off pop-gospel radio. Then he twists it around with a jazzy turn on the vibes and a searing electric solo by guitarist Sandy Poltarac.
Most of the hymns on Jumpstarted stand on a base of calypso mixed with jazz, then spiced with other sounds. "Immaculate Mary" could pass as a Christmas carol, with bells. "Just as I am Without One Plea" shines with a Santana-like fiery solo from guitarist Poltarac. The bluesy finale, "I Just Want to Thank You Lord," features brief but heartfelt vocals by King and two other singers.
Blachut's mark is all over this project. He arranged, recorded and produced the tunes in his home studio. He plays no fewer than eight kinds of keyboards (including glockenspiel), plus recorder, bass trumpet and percussion.
He says his goal in this project was to connect a number of disparate musical styles not usually heard together and harness them to the mission of praising God.
He did that and more. True, not all the tunes are dynamite, and a few may strike some ears as not quite finished. But the CD works. It will inspire churchgoers with its obvious religious sincerity and traditional roots. And at the same time, it will please those of us who just like a good tune.
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