The Righteous Ones

The Righteous Ones

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
For those who know her through previous recordings or as the daughter of Bernice Johnson Reagon (of Sweet Honey in the Rock), Toshi has a shock or two in store. Her previously acoustic blues- and gospel-based work has only hinted at the muscular rock and frenzied funk of her fourth and most freewheeling release. Her musical touchstones now include Talking Book-era Stevie Wonder, Prince, Rufus, and Living Colour at their most raging. The modern gospel intro to "Real Love," Toshi's first recording with Sweet Honey, quickly detonates into full fury and "Drive It Home," with its uninhibited sexuality, comes on like Chaka Kahn fronting Lenny Kravitz's band. Reagon tends to mix her metaphors ("I'm just a little bit corny / Smiling like a baby with no troubles rumbling / And all cards on the table"), but musical and lyrical spontaneity this celebratory and emotionally wild is as hard to fault as it is to resist. --Roy Kasten

Tracks:

Real Love
There Are
Happy And Satisfied
Like It That Way
Sweet In The Morning
Yes It Was
Drive It Home
Mean Ol World
Livin After All (Big Mountain Blues)
This Moment
For You
Darling
Somespace
I'm Just An Egg Don't Mind Me

Amazon.com

For those who know her through previous recordings or as the daughter of Bernice Johnson Reagon (of Sweet Honey in the Rock), Toshi has a shock or two in store. Her previously acoustic blues- and gospel-based work has only hinted at the muscular rock and frenzied funk of her fourth and most freewheeling release. Her musical touchstones now include Talking Book-era Stevie Wonder, Prince, Rufus, and Living Colour at their most raging. The modern gospel intro to "Real Love," Toshi's first recording with Sweet Honey, quickly detonates into full fury and "Drive It Home," with its uninhibited sexuality, comes on like Chaka Kahn fronting Lenny Kravitz's band. Reagon tends to mix her metaphors ("I'm just a little bit corny / Smiling like a baby with no troubles rumbling / And all cards on the table"), but musical and lyrical spontaneity this celebratory and emotionally wild is as hard to fault as it is to resist. --Roy Kasten

Customer Reviews:

Confident-with-attitude smoothness.......2007-03-06

This album is exquisite. Toshi Reagon coos and growls with a velvety intensity rarely heard. The collection is diverse in a positive way. The band is clearly comprised of front-of-the-line, no-apologies pros. And the back-up singers -- if I die and get within earshot of heaven, these are the voices I hope to hear. Just like Reagon, the voices supporting her have a confident-with-attitude smoothness that makes it insulting to call them angelic. Depending upon my mood, my favorite picks from the album change. Although, I admit, the anthem-like title song,"The Righteoous Ones," does draw me back to the CD to get re-aquainted with Toshi again and again.

Darling.......2001-09-05

Although I don't feel as strongly about the rest of the album, "Darling" is a heartbreaking masterpiece. Yes, you've felt this way, and if you haven't, I'm sorry.

A Masterpiece........2000-07-11

I don't have enough words to communicate to you the energy, craft and passion that Toshi Reagon puts into this album. It's one of the best I've heard in the last several years -- the range of genres she builds upon is breathtaking, mixing rock, blues, gospel, 70s soul, and just about everything else. Her songwriting and performances are both moving on an emotional level, and high-energy enough to get your feet moving too! "Real Love" is an immediate standout, but virtually every song here has something to recommend it. Those who know about this album or who have caught her live are lucky indeed.

The Righteous Ones Will Not Bore You.......2000-05-08

I heard this album palying in the background at my local Silver Platters. I had to have it.

"Real Love" builds slowly, and you know something big is going to happen. It does. Sweet Honey and the Rock kicks in and they are gone.

Next up is "There Are" great vocal work and a great groove.

"Drive It Home Tonite", you may not want to play on a first date, but more like around the second or third one. This would make Tina or Chaka blush. With envy.

Only a couple of clinkers, most notably the hyperfrenetic ending of "Like it That way". But she more than makes up for it on the bittersweet "Yes It was"

And all that happens on the first half of the album.

With as much genre-crossing blues/folk/gospel/rock as she does, Toshi Reagon has created a album that will appeal to a broad variety of tastes. And hopefully find some airplay as well. Highly recommended.

A treasure for those who love contemporary music.......2000-04-22

Toshi Reagon is the daughter of Bernice Reagon Johnson, the co-founder and spiritual leader of Sweet Honey in the Rock, the all female, blues, gospel, soul, roots, rock, a capella group based in DC. Toshi's second release, "The Righteous Ones" is very much a music lover's kind of music - smart, well composed, well produced, unpredictable, thoughtful and funky.

Average customer rating:

Hail, true music...

Ave Verum Corpus: Motets & Anthems
Byrd , Cambridge Singers , and Rutter
Manufacturer: Collegium
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Gospel | Christian & Gospel | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

Classical | Indie Music | Stores | Music
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Hail Queen of Heaven
Cambridge Singers a Capella
Sing Ye Heavens - Hymns for All Time
There Is Sweet Music: English Choral Songs, 1890 - 1950
Lighten our Darkness

ASIN: B00006O0OD
Release Date: 2003-02-25

Tracks:

Sing Joyfully, anthem for 6 voices
Turn our captivity, O Lord, anthem for 6 voices
Praise the Lord, all ye Gentiles, anthem for 6 voices
Emendemus in melius, motet for 5 voices
Siderum Rector motet for 5 voices
Plorans Ploravit, motet for 5 voices
Georg Bohm: Christe der Du Bist Tag and Licht, chorale partite for organ
Attollite portas motet for 6 voices
Laudibus in sanctus motet for 5 voices
Gaudeamus omnes motet for 5 voices
Ave verum corpus motet for 4 voices
Veni, sancte Spiritus, reple tuorum corda fidelium, motet for 5 voices
Christus resurgens, motet for 4 voices
Solve Iubente Deo, motet for 6 voices
O magnum misterium, motet for 4 voices
Non vos relinquam Orphanos, motet for 5 voices
O quam suavis est, motet for 4 voices
Justorum animae motet for 5 voices

Album Description

This recording presents a selection of fifteen of the 150 or so Latin motets and three of the dozens of English anthems that, between them, form the greater part of the life's work of William Byrd (1543-1623), the greatest English composer of his era. The chosen motets and anthems represent just some of the many facets of Byrd's sacred music, now recognized after three centuries of neglect as among the most glorious every written for choir.

`Exceptional performances by this quite wonderful group of singers.' Church Music Quarterly

Customer Reviews:

Hail, true music..........2006-01-18

--William Byrd--
William Byrd was a composer of grace and power. A staunch Catholic in an increasingly Protestant country, Byrd maintained his church loyalties at high cost. However, as a recognised genius at liturgical music, he had powerful admirers and friends, perhaps including Queen Elizabeth herself. Producing musical settings to Latin texts in a new-regime English-dominated church environment took courage. However, Byrd persevered all his life to produce music that remains timeless while being firmly rooted in its time.

--Ave Verum Corpus--
The Cambridge Singers named this collection after the 4-minute motet Ave Verum Corpus by Byrd. A motet is typically a choral composition sung at services other than masses (often at Vespers, although sometimes as anthem music). Byrd, together with Tallis (from whom this ensemble derives its name), was considered a master of the Flemish style of motet.

--Motets--
There are motets here for penitence and prayer, slow and somber sounding pieces. There are motets of praise and rejoicing, which have a very different energy and feel about them. Byrd did about 150 of these Latin settings, of which this collection contains 15. With regard to English Anthems, Byrd produced several dozen of these, and these were his best known works, the Latin-based pieces being overlooked in the new English, Protestant churches. Anthems were an English innovation to replace older, more Latin-Catholic elements in the services.

--Liner Notes--
The notes include an introduction to the CD with a generous biography of Byrd, a listing of the tracks with lyrics together with a brief paragraph about the history of the piece. Where lyrics are in Latin, an English translation is provided. There is no description of the group, nor biographical information about John Rutter.

--John Rutter--
Rutter was born in London and educated at Clare College, Cambridge. This was where his career as a composer, arranger and conductor began. His early work was with groups at King's College Chapel at Cambridge as well as the Bath Choir and Philharmonic Orchestra. He has worked for the BBC providing music for educational series such as 'The Archaeology of the Bible Lands', until in 1979 he began forming the Cambridge Singers, and has continued a remarkable career of performance and recording as their director ever since.

--The Cambridge Singers--
The Cambridge Singers are a mixed choir of voices, many of whom were members of choir of Rutter's college, Clare College, Cambridge. While they specialise in English and Latin liturgical pieces, they have a wide range of recordings that span from modern compositions (including a remarkable requiem by Rutter) to English folk songs of the Middle Ages. Many are former members of the choir of Clare College and other Cambridge collegiate choirs (hence the name, Cambridge Singers). In the quarter-century since the founding, the Cambridge Singers have produced an impressive body of recordings.

This is a wonderful CD, recorded at one of the Cambridge Singers' traditional recording venues, the Great Hall of University College School, London.

Byrd: Mass for Five Voices with the Propers for All Saints Day

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Byrd: Mass for Five Voices with the Propers for All Saints Day

Manufacturer: Nimbus Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Masses | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Motets | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
ASIN: B0000037DB
Release Date: 1992-12-02

Tracks:

Gaudeamus omnes
Kyrie
Gloria
Timete Dominum
Credo
Justorum animae
Sanctus; Benedictus
Beati mundo corde
Agnus Dei
Laudibus in Sanctis
Laudate pueri Dominum
Laudate Dominum

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Masters of English Church Music

Masters of English Church Music

Manufacturer: Collegium
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Quartets | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Sacred & Religious | Classical | Styles | Music

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General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Anthems | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Magnificats | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Motets | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Oratorios | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Requiems | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Te Deum | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
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Treasures of English Church Music

ASIN: B0000031I5
Release Date: 1995-12-01

Tracks:

Sing Joyfully
Turn Our Captivity
Praise Our Lord, All Ye Gentiles
Emendemus in Melius
Siderum Rector
Plorans Plorabit
Visita, Quaesumus Domine
Attollite Portas
Laudibus in Sanctis
Gaudeamus Omnes
Ave Verum Corpus
Veni Sancte Spiritus
Christus Resurgens
Solve Iubente Deo
O Magnum Misterium
Non Vos Relinquam
O Quam Suavis
Justorum Animae

Tracks:

Magnificat in G
Magnificat [From the Gloucester Service]
Magnificat in B Flat
Nunc Dimittis in B Flat
O for a Closer Walk
Like as the Hart
Fear of the Lord
I Heard a Voice from Heaven
Salvator Mundi
Psalm 23
Requiem Aeternam
Psalm 121
Requiem Aeternam
I Heard a Voice from Heaven
When Mary Thro' the Garden Went
Long, Long Ago
To Deum in C
All My Hope on God Is Founded

Customer Reviews:

Masters of English Church Music.......2000-01-09

Very uplifting and spiritual, Seems to transport you to another place and time. Simply Beautiful listening.

Byrd: Ave Verum Corpus (Motets and Anthems)

Average customer rating:

Hail, true music

Byrd: Ave Verum Corpus (Motets and Anthems)
The Cambridge Singers
Manufacturer: Collegium Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Anthems | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Motets | Vocal Non-Opera | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
ASIN: B0000031HD
Release Date: 1993-09-11

Tracks:

English Anthems: Sing joyfully
English Anthems: Turn our captivity
English Anthems: Praise our Lord, all ye Gentiles
Motets Of Penitence And Prayer: Emendemus in melius
Motets Of Penitence And Prayer: Siderum Rector
Motets Of Penitence And Prayer: Plorans plorabit
Motets Of Penitence And Prayer: Visita, quaesumus Domine
Motets Of Praise And Rejoicing: Attollite portas
Motets Of Praise And Rejoicing: Laudibus in sanctis
Motets For The Church's Year: Gaudeamus omnes
Motets For The Church's Year: Ave verum Corpus
Motets For The Church's Year: Veni, Sancte Spiritus
Motets For The Church's Year: Christus resurgens
Motets For The Church's Year: Solve iubente Deo
Motets For The Church's Year: O magnum misterium
Motets For The Church's Year: Non vos relinquam
Motets For The Church's Year: O quam suavis
Motets For The Church's Year: Justorum animae

Amazon.com

Whenever a first-rate ensemble presents a compelling reason to investigate unfamiliar works of an important composer, it's cause for celebration. In the case of William Byrd, who wrote more than 200 sacred choral compositions, the CD catalog offers a pathetically small sampling of any more than a handful of "major" pieces. This recording gives us 18 well-chosen Latin motets and English anthems, most of which will be new to the majority of listeners. Pieces such as "Emendemus in melius," "Praise our Lord, all ye Gentiles," and the rousing six-part "Attollite portas" make for an enjoyable and enriching listening experience. Much of the credit for this is due to the warm, concert- hall sound of the Cambridge Singers, with its remarkably unified, pure soprano sound and evenly-balanced ensemble tone. The singers treat this lovely music with care and with a refined sense of style, never neglecting the ever-present sensual appeal of Byrd's writing. --David Vernier

Customer Reviews:

Hail, true music.......2005-10-02