The Tribe of Benjamin Raize Da Prayze
Headlining a project for the first time, this collective of
seven Ben Tankard protegés fulfull the promise
they first showed in 1997 on Tankard’s Git Yo Prayze On
project on Verity.
While his name may be absent in the album title, Ben Tankard
has his hand all over this project, as he produces and
arranges, mixes and engineers every cut.
Gospel’s famous
minstrel is also responsible for all of the instrumental
tracks.
But it’s The Tribe who continue their knack
for knocking out jazzily soulful vocals, with leads
coming from Cassandra Robertson, Lynitra
Eskridge and Jeffery White. Acrobatic and
vibrant when occasionally appropriate, but generating
a soul-soaked mellow vibe for much of the length of
the CD, their voices mix and blend well, yet retain
their individuality. That one-person distinctiveness
conveys a tone of personal praise, helping to bring
the listener into personal praise as well.
“Your Love Is Extravagant” emerges as an album highlight,
with its uncluttered, almost barren instrumental
arrangement and clear vocal lines of trading female
and male leads lending the right effect to the highly
reflective and praiseful tone of the song. “Blessed
Is He” also forces the use of the CD player repeat
button, as The Tribe adds a sanctified and infectious
worldbeaty vocal of “whoa-whoah” to the Gary
Sadler song.
While the majority of the songs presented
are jazzed re-arrangments of Integrity's renowned
worship and
praise material, Tankard does contribute two originals
of his own, including the deeply grooved title cut.
His second composition is a remixed and redone
version of “Git Yo Prayze On”.
A cool breeze is always appreciated, especially in the
church house. In this case, that breeze is The Tribe
of Benjamin, and the source of the breeze is their
refreshing Gospel jazz vocals.
Producers: Ben Tankard
album release date: October 19, 1999 Integrity Music
—
reviewed by Stan North —
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