Ghent
is pictured on the cover of this fourth volume in the
Sacred Steel Guitars
series. He looks friendly and is smartly dressed in a bright blue-hued take on a cleric's said black and white.
Aubrey
's look is complete with an eye-catching handkerchief and stone set in the collar. He reminds me of the jovial priest who married my sister in a Las Vegas chapel. I do not think
has any desire to stroll the streets of Sin City, but he looks just as fun to be around as that clergyman was. The music on this disc backs up that theory. Herein is the energetic electric steel guitar music that "drives" Holiness-Pentecostal services of southern Florida. As vocalists
Lori Ghent
and
Tarlisha Barr
sing praises to the Lord,
answer each line and works on up to an inspired multi-bar melody. A fast, even beat is had from the drums and some. Tasteful coloring is done with keyboards that sound like a trebly organ. The power of the electric steel guitar in this setting show in its vocal-like way of articulating interpretable lines for these spirited gospel hymns.
proves masterful at providing an instrumental answer to "melisma, " the style of African-American vocalists to interject multi-syllable phrasing into a song. This album is equally moving as a musical or spiritual experience. ~ Tom Schulte