In the Spirit (Joe McPhee album)

In the Spirit
Studio album by
Joe McPhee Bluette
Released1999
RecordedMarch 17–18, 1999
StudioThe Spirit Room in Rossie, New York.
GenreJazz
Length63:31
LabelCIMP CIMP 199
ProducerRobert D. Rusch
Joe McPhee chronology
The Dream Book
(1998) 		In the Spirit
(1999) 		No Greater Love
(1999)

In the Spirit is an album of spirituals performed by multi-instrumentalist Joe McPhee's Bluette, recorded in 1999 and released on the CIMP label.[1]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings[3]

AllMusic reviewer Steve Loewy states: "An important contribution to the discography of the spiritual, McPhee gives it a new perspective, but one that is entirely respectful of the tradition. Performed gracefully and tastefully, the group tastes free form without losing sight of the melodies".[2] On All About Jazz, Derek Taylor wrote: "In a career stamped by a continuous string of transcendent recordings this is one of McPhee's best to date, a vital testament that lovingly embraces the indelible tradition of spirituals and expertly applies them to the setting of creative improvisation".[4] In JazzTimes, Harvey Pekar suggested: "Maybe one more extroverted track would have helped the CD, which sometimes gets too subdued, but it's a fine effort nevertheless".[5]

Track listing

  1. "Deep River" (Traditional) – 9:32
  2. "People Get Ready" (Curtis Mayfield) – 12:01
  3. "God Bless the Child" (Billie Holiday, Arthur Herzog, Jr.) – 11:44
  4. "Birmingham Sunday/Come Sunday" (Joe McPhee/Duke Ellington) – 14:19
  5. "Astral Spirits" (Joe McPhee) – 8:32
  6. "Just a Closer Walk With Thee" (Traditional) – 7:23

Personnel

References

  1. ^ Joe McPhee discography accessed April 22, 2015
  2. ^ a b Loewy, Steve. In the Spirit – Review at AllMusic. Retrieved April 22, 2015.
  3. ^ Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2008). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th ed.). Penguin. p. 984. ISBN 978-0-141-03401-0.
  4. ^ Taylor, D., All About Jazz Review, April 1, 2000
  5. ^ Pekar, H., JazzTimes Review[permanent dead link‍], July/August 2000