Justin Time /

No
Title
Duration
Excerpts
01
Nkosi Sikelel, iAfrica
00:02:50
02
Kwa Unyenyekevu
00:03:49
03
Ain'a That Good News
00:01:58
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04
Zion's Walls
00:05:14
05
Great Day
00:02:17
06
Hail Mary
00:03:56
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07
Just A Little Walk With Jesus
00:02:40
08
The Storm Is Passing Over
00:02:24
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09
Elijah Rock
00:02:54
10
Plenty Good Room
00:03:23
11
Fix Me
00:02:23
12
Mary Had A Baby
00:02:22
13
Geographical Fugue For Speaking Chorus
00:02:53
14
I'm Gonna Sing
00:01:38
15
Sonata No. 18, Opus 13 'Pathétique' Second Movement; Adagio Cantabile
00:05:16

Liner Notes

Spiritual Alchemy

The alchemists had a symbol they used to denote their hermetic vision of the universe and the cycle of life itselfthe serpent devouring its own tail, or ouroboros. The roots of any great art form follows a similar paththe deeper they run, the closer they seem to the surface, bringing it full circle.

Like the apocryphal tale of a man who left one day on a trip around the world, only to eventually wind up back where he started, Trevor Payne has taken the Montreal Jubilation Gospel Choir around the world and backliterally and musicallysince their first concerts in 1982. Whether in Africa, Germany, or here in Montreal, the Choir has built their reputation on the solid rock of their innovative a cappella work, so it made sense that when casting about for ideas for Jubilation VIII, their most popular recording, 1992s A Cappella came to mind.

Yet a funny thing happened on the road home. While selecting music, Payne kept hearing accompanimenta bassoon would sound nice here, a soprano saxophone there, perhaps an African kora, and why not a New Orleans street band? The palette of instrumental colors, however, only serves to strengthen the sterling vocal prowess of the Choir. The steely refinement of a harpsichord provides an elegiac counterpoint to Zions Walls. Great Daya song that drinks deep from the same wellpicks up after church and follows the funeral parade home, with a rollicking New Orleans street band and soloist Millie Tresierra tailgating with aplomb.

Theres some wistful call-and-response work between soprano saxophone and Choir on Mary Had A Baby, while finger snapping and a lithe, deep, sinuous double bass propel the cool rhythm on Elijah Rock. Hail Mary is reminiscent of Aaron Copelands recasting of folk idioms, with English horn and bassoon complementing the breathtaking vocal dynamics of the Choir.

The haunting Kwa Unyenyekevu grew out of Paynes travels in South Africa for the Jubilation VIIHamba Ekhaya (Goin Home) release. The song magically transports us to a bustling Kenyan bazaar, with the Choir singing (in Luhyia) a spiritual that sounds like it was taken from an English hymnal, while the gentle metallic hail of kora notes cascade off in the distance as vendors shout their wares and beat their drums.

Beethovens famous Pathétique sonata, long an opener to the Choirs concerts, here provides a fitting coda to this very special recording. A tribute to Paynes father, it also acknowledges the Choirs success in the classical world. From their work with Klaus König on the brilliant jazz oratorio Song of Songs, to regular concerts with I Musici and Montreals Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, the Choir has been warmly embraced by the classical community, and, on the cusp of their 20th anniversary, they have seen their music rightly regarded as being truly classical.

It can arguably be said that the Negro Spirituala joyous music born of suffering, hardship, resilience, and hopewas the prima materia, the blueprint for all popular music. The true goal of the alchemists was not transmutation of base metals into gold, but rather the purification of the soul, something the Montreal Jubilation Gospel Choir does remarkably well.

Andrew Jones
November 2001