I am listening on small computer speakers at work.
From what I can hear this sounds pretty good. Tight
harmonies, lively gospel tradition. Am I picking up
a piano there? I like this. Nice change from the
standard approaches in christian music. Are you
familiar with Take 5? As I remember they did (do)
a capella with a lot of harmoies. I like the weaving in
of the "Amazing Grace" lines. Nice touch.

Jack

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Thanks Jack. I have listened to Take 6, but more than that group I was
influenced by the Fairfield Four. I had the chance to meet them--and
interview them for a news story--in 1992. I recommend listening to "The
Last Month of the Year." What a great song.

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Never quite figured out how to spell halelujah, not being
of the religious persuasion, but that's lovely. There's a
sort of manic gospel fervour in there, with all the spitting
and blindness... excellent harmonies - even that slide on
"Jesus" hangs together brilliantly. Very exciting. A 10 for
performance.


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9-9-9-9.... Lovely, love the blending of the pianos, and
the chorus..Is this all u vocally? sounds like it, lovely...
Had fun listenin..."we've been fixed by the love of god"

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Thanks. 'Gospel fervor' is what I was going for here. I did do all the vocals.
With the 'choir' there are ten vocal tracks altogether.

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Much enjoyed. It does have a lot of that holy spirit energy
in it. I'm not a Christian but I do enjoy a good spiritual
jam.

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Thanks Peter. (And thanks for the comments yesterday on the 1st version I
posted with the 'rhythmic disturbance.' It was your comments that convinced
me to pull the work-in-progress and fix it instead.)

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That's quite a set of vocal performances you've got here.
Very excellent, energetic, tight, uplifting.
Where's the sound of the congregation providing the
hand-clapped rhythm? ;)

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Wow! This is great. That's contemporary Christianity!
Wonderful polyphony. I like the overlays of swinging
rhythms...creates some real excitement!

Allow me to share a poem I wrote relating to the spittle of
Jesus:

Silent One

The One who knows me best is the One who is silent.

Ah, the silence of God!
It has troubled the philosopher
as much as it has the neighborhood roofer
who fell off the roof and was never the same.

I spat on the ground
and rubbed the spittle into the dirt with my toes,
bright sunlight illuminating.

Jesus used such a mud paste to cure a blind man,
directly intervening in the life of a soul,
affecting the decisions of countless believers thereafter,
far less silent than his Father,
about as intrusive as that Spirit-Thing.

But I didn't use my mud paste for anything.
I didn't know how to effect a miracle with mud.
I was content to simply gaze upon the earth
as the summer sun caressed my being.

And I shouted, "My, how good this sensory impression
feels!"

And God was listening.
And God agreed
as he quietly kept watching
the lathe of creation turn itself.

http://www.schletty.com/indwellings.html#silentone

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Thanks for posting this poem, Richard. I'll email you...

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Great job! Sounds like the Gospel tent at the New Orleans
Jazz Festival. Although there are many who might say I am
not a very religious man, I do love religious music and
especially black gospel. I heard a lot of that growing up.
The thing that always struck me was that this kind of
music made religion fun!!!

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This was loads of fun to listen to! Great job... awesome
singing and arrangement!

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Nice tune.

Good harmonies.

Lots of nice stuff going on.

thanks much for sharing

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Not just spitting into the wind with this one. Love the
central image: spitting into the dust to heal... or create
life. I also like the juxtaposition of "I was once blind" and
"was this man blind?" Your vocals are so honest and
intimate, so natural and folksy. And there is no hiss or
hum, which is a trick. This track is full of life, has an
endearing cute factor, and is really entertaining. The
inspiration it supplies is wonderful too.

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All you need is the tent and the lemonaide (vodka flasks optional) and the meeting can begin! What a great way to start the day.

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Great gospel sound! Loved the lyrics. Great skill and
production in this piece.

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reminds me of my childhood. Very cool. Thanks so much for sharing it here.

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This is really, really good. Excellent vocals. Very high
quality. Well done!

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Wonderful, heheh! It sounds great, puts a smile on my
face and is definitely inspirational. This is the kinda' stuff
you should hear more of in Christian music. Most is so
sad and drole.

Heavenly!

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Thanks Pack. I thought about asking you to collaborate with me on this. You
would be a perfect voice for the Pharisees ("Was this man blind? Who healed
this man?") I thought a second voice would help sort things out, cause it gets
a little complicated vocally in the midst of all that fervor.

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the straightforward simplicity lends itself well to the
message, i think. really nice job putting all of the vocals
together. the music seems to work as the background
instead of playing the dominant part. great tune

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You're really on to something here. I don't think I'll be
able to approach song writing the same way after listening
to this. The rhythm, the harmony... I'm seriously
inspired. The beginning of the piece has a 'moby-like'
quality that I love, but is of course uniquely your own.
You definitely put a smile on Jesus' face with this one,
Tom.

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I really enjoy your voice. Don't take this wrong, but it
reminds me of children's folksingers, like guys who come
to elementary schools and entertain so well, making
everyone smile and breathing happiness into the crowd. I
wish you'd have come to my school, that's for sure.

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I can hear the congregation jumping up and down and
participating on this one. You have a talent for making
songs that make people happy. Please keep it up.

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Lively, passionate singing is what I love about gospel music, and that's all over this song. Your harmonies are always really solid, with a good barbershop sound. Being godless, the story here sounds kind of bizarre, but I like it for that.

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PV, think of it as a story of being made whole by love. Perfect love. Glad you
took time to listen to this one from the vault...

---
.

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