A Jubilation Christmas
Rev. Stef Brings The Christmas Spirit
On Track
SuSu Bobien is a consistent standout. The two of you seem to make an
ideal pairing. When do we get the SuSu Bobien solo project, and
please tell me you’re writing and/or arranging.
SuSu is a consummate artist! She’s simply incredible!! She’d never
sung a Christmas song before and was nervous about doing it. I loved
working with her. SuSu’s mom was a great inspiration to me. I
promised SuSu’s mom that I would take good care of her, so I try to
stay in touch with her. It helps to keep her grounded. I am so proud
of the artist she’s become and when I call her she’s always
available to help me.
How will Jubilation be supporting this release?
We have several ministry opportunities to share the project. Tonight
we shared at the Newark Museum.
Saturday, December 7th we shared at Time Square Church in New York
City. Saturday, December 14th we’ll share with the community at
Shaquille O’Neal’s movie theatre in Newark, NJ at 11am and on
Sunday, December 15th we’ll share at the New Hope Baptist Church in
East Orange, NJ at 5pm.
What can you tell us about Jubilation’s future plans?
Jubilation is on track to continue in ministry. Our three-fold
mission is Education, Evangelism and Edification. I believe a new CD
is on the horizon and I will continue to seek GOD for HIS direction.
Please ask the folks to continue to lift us in prayer and support
our ministry. All viable ministries are under attack. We need your
prayers. I also want to encourage everyone to PRESS THROUGH the hard
situations and circumstances. God knows what HE’S doing, so continue
to PRESS! Victory is yours if you can endure.
Thanks so much for the opportunity to speak with you.
Christmas In July: Dr. Minatee (Right) and the electrifying SuSu Bobien.
Home For The Holidays
Less ambitious and explorative than the fabulous
Launch Out
Project, A Jubilation Christmas strives for the same
eclectic mix of styles to present something to please most everyone.
There is less of an over-arching voice governing this Christmas
collection so this feels a little less structured and, thus, more
accessible to a wider range of listeners. Such an approach
inevitably leads to mixed reviews; there is something here for
everyone, which means there's also something here for everyone to
not like as much as the next or previous track. I am persuaded Dr.
Minatee realizes this, and that her vision remains to create music
in a global mode, inclusive and with universal appeal.
Overall, I expected (and would have preferred) to hear more original
material from Dr. Minatee herself, a brilliant songwriter and
arranger. I’d imagine only listeners who bother to read the album
liner notes would have that expectation, but Rev. Stef has a unique
voice and gift which, while nicely applied here, is even better
served by music of her own creation or co-creation. I'd also have
liked there to have been more places where we become immersed in the
choir itself as opposed to individuals leading the selections.
Finding the right balance between the instrumentals, soloists and
group is a common problem among choir projects. Giving a choir
dimension and depth in a complex mix is a challenging task.
The Little Drummer Boy, which opens the program, may very well
delight at a candlelit live processional, but here it under-delivers if
only because of its position on the track list. I’d have preferred
the toe-tapping, head-rocking Jesus, What A Wonderful Child in the
lead slot to set the tone, and perhaps
Drummer Boy to play us out at the end. The track order doesn’t
really present us with a narrative, which these
two tracks would most decidedly have bookended. Rather, we have a
collection of songs and styles but no story, no perceptible arc of
beginning-middle-end to pull us through the track list. Jesus...
fades out just as the dynamite is about to explode, and I found
myself screaming at the CD player, "no... no... come back...!" They could have
run another three or four minutes of reckless reprise, hats, wigs
and keys flung across the sanctuary, rather than this well-mannered
polish.
The extended drum solo at the end of Drummer... sounds tentative and
lacks resolution. There is no reason to ever have a drum solo unless
the guy is going to take your head off; Omar Hakim practicing
rhythmic alchemy on Sting’s live version of I Would Die For You. I found myself kind of
rooting for the drummer to make it through, rather than being
dazzled or, better, hypnotized by patterns designed to lure me into
worship.
Longtime Jubilation soloist Susu Bobien takes your head clean off in
a barn-burning duet with Harold Dudley in the album’s standout Have
Yourself A Merry Little Christmas. This song initially gave me pause
in that it is unapologetically secular, but welcome nonetheless in
households of any faith. The lush big band orchestra arrangement is
eminently satisfying, but it is Bobien who propels the track into orbit,
provoking Dudley’s wonderful tenor to engage her in Gospel wailing
that transcends the song’s traditional neutrality and makes an
unapologetic run for the church pews. This is an amazing track that
deserves wide airplay, though the late-season CD release will likely
impede the song’s wider circulation until next time.
Maalaco Records fire-breathing pianist James Perry is credited
throughout ...Christmas with an oblique “Additional Tracks” credit
which, in places like Have Yourself..., puzzled me to have a beast
like Perry in the house and not loose him upon the world. Have
Yourself... begs for a mellow jazz piano break, and Perry would have
been just the man for the job.
Dr. Minatee’s interpretation of James
Cleveland’s arrangement of Hark The Herald Angels Sing gets
us back into the front pews with the power coda He Reigns
Forever... The track resounds and uplifts and leaves us wanting more or, better,
wishing this business had led off the CD.
Something For Everyone
Do You Hear What I Hear? scores a home run with an amazing, marvelously
transparent alto performance by Minister Angel Garrett over a
lilting piano by actor (Bad Boyz) Scott Cumberbatch and Kenny
Landrum’s fragile orchestration. An aside: I’ve heard this song
maybe dozens of times and only now realized Michael Jackson and
Lionel Richie stole the bridge from …Hear for their monster We Are
The World. I’m amazed no one’s ever pointed this out (or that there
was no lawsuit).
Which brings us to Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer. Dr. Minatee
and Jubilation recorded this song with the late Ray Charles shortly before his passing
and its inclusion here is a tribute to the lgendary singer-songwriter.
There is no track list on the CD’s tray card, which actually may
or may not be necessary in this age of digital downloading. Had
there been one, Rudolph... may have been a deal-breaker for
some who might have given Have Yourself... a pass but could be offended by this choice.
I do not expect every Christian to
accept my doctrinal interpretation. For me, any mention of Santa
Claus and magical deer denies the cross so I find the inclusion of this track, while certainly heartfelt, to be, for me, a troubling choice.
O Holy Night contains a nuanced traditional arrangement that
triumphantly morphs into full-throated and satisfying Gospel chant
that brings down the house. Dr. Minatee leads this one herself in a
heartfelt and ambitious solo which sounds a bit tentative in the
song’s front end. Dr. Minatee has a lovely voice, but I’d have liked to have
had her go another couple of takes on the extremely demanding
opening bars.
Minister Elliott Carter's smooth falsetto winds through a breezy California
arrangement of The First Noel, complete with Jerry Hey horn
section samples evoking a kind of 1970’s nostalgia. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
brilliantly delivers a classic standard with its brooding, baroque clarinet
arrangement and gothic male chorus. The fellas land it with gusto
and resolve.
I was less enthused by the collection's finale, The Kwanzaa Song,
which seeks to educate and enlighten but feels weighted down by its own good intentions. It does the one thing no song on a
Christmas album should do: it takes us out of Christmas. It demands
a little too much investment from the listener, like forcing kids to
go to Vacation Bible School. This is one of the dumbest points of
our Baptist tradition; the name itself is terribly dated, stuck (as
much of our church is) in 1965. The last thing kids on vacation want
to do is go to school. Here, Dr. Minatee takes us out of church, out
of Christmas, and takes us to slavery and the school room, perhaps
for the best of reasons but it just doesn't work for me. It’s a
lovely song, but it has a preemptive spoken narration/instruction
voiceover that grates upon repeated listening.
A Jubilation Christmas is yet another solid offering from Rev. Stef
& Jubilation and the clear inspirational winner in terms of
Christmas releases this year. Add to that that fact this is a
self-financed, community-based, mostly volunteer assembly of
passionate singers and musicians dedicating their gifts and lives to
the Lord, and what we have is a rarity: a non-commercial Christian
recording created and developed by actual Christians. That,
for me, makes this one of the best Christmas gifts of the season.
Christopher J. Priest
8 December 2013
editor@praisenet.org
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