A GLORIOUS, REFINED DEBUT
There’s certainly something respectable about a band of
young people who hope to “raise up a generation of excellence among musicians
in the Church.” Where original, innovative art once thrived, the Church has
been noted in modern culture as a “behind-the-times” venue where creativity is
stalemated by what is deemed “appropriate” and “inappropriate” for worship.
But The Annie Moses Band put its words of hope into action.
Having been thoroughly educated in the fine arts (does Julliard ring any
bells?), the five siblings not only create excellent recorded product but host
Fine Arts Summer Academies to gift even younger generations with a skilled
appreciation for arts in the context of greater spiritual meaning.
This fall the siblings contribute their refined sound to This
Glorious Christmas, the band’s first major
label debut. A stylistic journey through elements of bluegrass, pop, jazz and
classical music, the holiday disc is amazingly cohesive, thanks to Annie’s lead
vocal and the other four siblings' consistent instrumental (Alex on viola,
Benjamin on cello, Gretchen on violin and mandolin and Camille on harp) and
vocal contributions.
Beginning with the traditional English “Sussex Carol,” the
siblings’ fiddles play off one another in a delightful, Irish-flavored
instrumental dance motif. An audience favorite, “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen”
mixes the instrumental strong suits of each member while communicating the
carol’s timeless message through traditional three-part harmonies.
Originals such as the country/pop influenced “Little Baby”
(think Alison Krauss) strengthen the handpicked carols. But it is the creative
force of the band’s instrumental arrangements that most effectively translate
on CD. From the modern pulses of the harp on the indefectible “We Three Kings” to the bending Appalachia fiddle and harmonizing
mandolin on “Go Tell it on the Mountain" and the impressionistic dreamscape of “It Came Upon a Midnight Clear," the members of the Annie Moses Band know their instruments and know them well.
This “glorious” Christmas, enjoy a band who has chops to
spare, and cozy up to the infectious landscapes of the Annie Moses Band. –Andrew
Greer