TWO YEARS IN THE MAKING!!! Perfection achieved!! Enough hyperbole already, you think to yourself? Not a chance...where's the thesaurus. Ok, we'll rein in our enthusiasm and resort to merely telling you about a Christmas album sung by one of the greatest barbershop quartets of our time. On this recording we listen to a quartet who achieves the tightest harmonies humanly possible apply those talents to traditional Christmas music. It's funny but as they aren't specifically singing barbershop chording, it is only occasionally that we remember just what tradition this fabulous singing springs from. Touches of jazz, elements of gospel reverence, and moments of almost operatic virtuosity abound throughout and all come together with vocal percussionist Jeff Thatcher of Rockapella adding his talents on "Go Tell It On the Mountain." We were also struck momentarily speechless when we found that, for the first time in quite a while, we actually enjoyed "The Little Drummer Boy" once more. The Gang rescues that song from the Christmas cul-de-sac of fruit-cake jokes with a beautiful rendition. What a tenor lead! You'll hear a fabulous Gregorianesque intro to "O Come Emanuel" which sounds as though it is emerging from a heavenly cathedral. The song list meanders through all of the Christmas spirit to arrive at the title track, "Some Children See Him." This is a wonderful message on which to leave, each child who sees Christ, sees Him in their own image... |