The Gaither Vocal Band: (from left) Wes Hampton, David Phelps, Bill Gaither, Michael English, Mark Lowry: A fine start it is.

Reunited, And It Feels So Good
By David McGee

Reunited
Gaither Vocal Band
Spring House Productions
Producer: Bill Gaither
Director and Editor: Doug Stuckey
Released: January 2010
90 minutes

This past September the Gaither Vocal Band inaugurated a new era with the release of Reunited, and a fine start it was (see review below). In January a visual record of the reunion came forth in the form of a like-titled DVD. But it’s not a DVD version of the album; only a few songs from the CD are part of the repertoire performed in front of a packed house at San Antonio’s beautiful, historic Majestic Theatre. Working with a full band and horn section, the GVB—Bill Gaither, Michael English, Wes Hampton, David Phelps and the irrepressible Mark Lowry—mix and match Gaither originals and some beloved standards, amp up the volume but without the plethora of the big, orchestrated arrangements on the CD, employ Gordon Mote on piano to add some R&B-flavored country church stylings, give each member of the band a turn in the spotlight to explain how their personal lives connect to the music they love—and generally bring down the house with the distinctive mix of personality, passion and musicality common to all Gaither projects. One of the highlights here is not even a gospel moment; it’s David Phelps’s initial turn at center stage, when he talks about growing up in a musical household that frequented the opera but “never missed Dolly Parton when she came to town.” He then recalls hearing Pavarotti for the first time and being enthralled by the master’s force and emotional fire, this being a prelude to an impressive, gripping rendition of a Pavarotti signature—Puccini’s “Nessun Dorma,” from his opera, Turandot, an aria Phelps had previously recorded on his solo CD, The Voice. No, he doesn’t hit the astonishing high C of Pavarotti legend, but there’s no denying the emotional charge of Phelps’s version. No sooner has Phelps divested himself of his final, surging phrase than does the whole bunch settle into an easygoing, Mills Brothers-style arrangement of “I’m Not Gonna Worry,” all smooth harmony and bluesy crooning. And after Gaither makes it as hard as possible for Lowry to start—interjecting spoken footnotes to the next song before Lowry can get into the opening verse, thus bringing everything to a halt—the singers and musicians join in a swinging, doo-wop-influenced rendition of the Jordanaires’ “Journey To the Sky” that ultimately morphs into a rousing, harmony-rich gospel house wrecker complete with a jubilant horn section blowing up a storm and Wes Hampton leading the vocal charge with a striking high tenor workout. Gaither makes good use of his two exceptional piano pounders when he brings Christopher Phillips out from behind his keyboard to sit alongside Mote for a spectacular, rollicking piano duet that would be equally at home in a honky tonk or a backwoods church (this is preceded by Gaither prompting Mote to do a spot-on impersonation of Porter Wagoner in recounting a story of how the Wagonmaster secured four tickets to one of his sold-out Ryman Auditorium shows for Mote’s family).

The Gaither Vocal Band, ‘When He Blest My Soul,’ from the Reunited DVD

In addition to the stirring concert opener, “Alpha and Omega,” an arresting “There’s Something About That Name” (with narration by Gaither’s wife and songwriting partner, Gloria), the Band delivers an impassioned, soaring treatment of a Gaither classic, “He Touched Me” (its definitive treatment on record being by Elvis Presley), and Lowry takes another dramatic solo turn in his nuanced reading of “Mary, Did You Know,” accompanied through most of the number only by Mote’s spare, introspective piano punctuations, before a big finish with the band and fellow brothers in song. As special guests Gaither brings on the Isaacs, whose wonderful Naturally: An Almost A Cappella Collection album was released by Gaither at the same time last year as the GVB’s Reunited, to contribute their silky Fleetwoods-meet-The Browns harmonies to one of the outstanding cuts from Naturally, the beloved “The Three Bells,” then stay on for arguably the DVD’s high point, an a cappella take on “I Will Praise Him,” remarkable equally for the trio’s impeccable (and expressive) vocal blend and for Becky Issacs’s stirring solo passage—her sister Sonya is one of the gifted singers working today, and not easy to overshadow, but Becky’s unalloyed conviction does exactly that. English leads the way through a subdued, probing exploration of “Lord, Feed Your Children,” ahead of Gaither and his mates sending everyone home with a full-on ensemble celebration of the power of faith, “Worthy, The Lamb,” which has the audience on its feet, arms raised and waving, at one with the voices emanating from center stage. As testimony in song, this is as profound as it gets, and a most impressive start to the next chapter of the Gaither Vocal Band’s storied gospel history.

The Gaither Vocal Band’s Reunited DVD is available at www.amazon.com

The Issacs, ‘The Three Bells’ and ‘I Will Praise Him,’ from the Gaither Vocal Band’s Reunited DVD

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And if you missed the Gaither Vocal Band’s Reunited CD and the Isaacs’s Naturally: An Almost A Cappella Collection, the reviews follow:

…NATURALLY
The Issacs
Gaither Music Group

In this quiet, thoughtful but unflaggingly energetic gospel rumination, the wonderful Isaacs quartet has, arguably, reached the pinnacle of its 21-year history. The harmonies as always as superb and measured, and in Sonya Isaacs, of course, the group is blessed with one of the finest bluegrass and gospel voices of our time. The songs are both traditional and new, including a bevy of well-crafted originals from Bill and Gloria Gaither (Bill produced the album), and in the context of this mellow, emotional outing, even Stephen Foster’s “Hard Times Come Again No More”—was ever a song more timely?—comes off as a heartrending hymn of resilience and faith. The album title is rather a triple-edged sword, if such an oddity existed. The voices are certainly natural—Gaither has close-miked them so that their presence, solo and ensemble, has the feel of not only a single-mic gathering, but exceedingly live, as if they’re in the room with the listener. You might also say the deep conviction infusing the group’s readings is second nature to the siblings—natural, you might say. But also, as per the subtitle “an almost a cappella collection,” herein the singers are either unaccompanied by instruments, or with spare, tasty support, such as the merry banjo and washboard effect (courtesy, respectively, Bryan Sutton and Tom Roady) infusing an old-timey flavor to the album opening jubilation of Sonya’s cheery, self-penned “A Little Bit of Heaven.” For an outing trumpeted for its stripped down approach, though, Gaither and the group have assembled a formidable, A-list band of players: the aforementioned Sutton and Roady, of course, but also Aubrey Haynie on mandolin and fiddle, Rob Ickes on slide guitar (most profoundly felt in the stark, haunting moans and rippling riffs he adds to “Hard Times Come Again No More,” which is further enhanced to haunting effect by Erik Darken’s softly clattering percussion), Kelly Back on tremolo guitar, Nathan Fauscett on cajon, Jesse Stockman on fiddle, with Ben Isaacs on bass. Hats off to everyone, though, because the voices are paramount throughout, giving the album the feel of a casual, living room gathering, sort of the after-hours counterpart to Gaither’s celebratory, rousing “Homecoming” celebrations. At times the group’s vocal blend is absolutely mesmerizing—on the a cappella hymn of devotion, “I Will Praise Him,” with Ben taking the lead, the vocal effect is as pristine and otherworldly as the Fleetwoods’. Or, if other vocal group comparisons are in order, how about Fleetwooods contemporaries The Browns, given how the Isaacs do an exceptionally fine job with the arc-of-life drama of “The Three Bells,” approaching it with a down-home sincerity that honors the Browns’ dramatic interpretation of the French song “Les Trois Cloches” first popularized by Edith Piaf and Les Compagnons de la Chanson, but amazingly finds its own rich turf apart from the earlier versions. Behind fiddle, mandolin and guitar, the singers give Dotti Rambo’s wonderful country lament, “Mama’s Teaching Angels How To Sing” a tender, close harmonized and considerably tear-stained treatment that honors a mother’s virtues even as it looks forward to a Heavenly reward with her. In addition to the Stephen Foster song, the Isaacs dip again into topicality in a percolating, doo-wop influenced take on Gary S. Paxton’s “No Shortage,” which catalogues all manner of deficits in corn, wheat, beans, meat (“all the things we needed we just can’t buy,” it adds), but friskily points out the undiminished well of God’s love. That’s rather the message of the entire album—hope in the face of despair, the promise of faith to sustain us through our earthly trials and the reward of God’s love in Heaven. And in the lilting, uplifting rhythm and melody of Kobi Oshrat and Shimrat Or’s multi-lingual “Hallelujah” is a message of spiritual unity binding the whole of humanity in the common cause of salvation. Some things can’t be said enough, and the Isaacs make sure to say them well, and in a timeless fashion at that. -–David McGee

The Isaacs’s Naturally: An Almost A Cappella Collection is available at www.amazon.com

Gordon Mote and Christopher Phillips, ‘Dueling Pianos,’ from the Gaither Vocal Band’s Reunited DVD, complete with Mote’s Porter Wagoner impersonation.

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REUNITED
Gaither Vocal Band
Gaither Music Group

Released at about the same time as the Issacs’ …Naturally, the Gaither Vocal Band’s Reunited could hardly be more different while advancing the same message of redemption, salvation and enduring faith. The Isaacs’ new album is a stripped-down, near a cappella affair; Reunited makes no pretext to subtlety—it’s about big, booming orchestral arrangements, lush washes of strings, a thundering beat and highly emotionally charged singing and harmonizing. It’s built for big spaces, not the quiet confines that would best serve the Isaacs’ new long player. What both have in common is a bunch of Bill and Gloria Gaither songs—a half dozen on the Isaacs’ album, a baker’s dozen here. There are some interesting textural things going on in Reunited—the soothing “I Am Love” is not only a subtler, more introspective arrangement than most on the disc, but the fellows’ tight, close harmonies are more in the style of a contemporary R&B group than a gospel quartet. Those who recall one of Elvis’s greatest gospel moments, on Bill Gaither’s “He Touched Me,” will find the song appealingly reprised here in resonant four-part harmony with silky strings sensitively deployed at key junctures, along with a soaring, triumphant final chorus. In an arrangement worthy of a big-screen epic, Gaither himself takes the lead on “It Is Finished,” and over the steady roll of a snare drum sets the stage for a morality tale pitting his own tortured soul against the hard-won knowledge of the sacrifices Christ on the cross made for him. The title refers to the singer’s acknowledgment of his complicity in his own despair before being saved. With the full orchestra and band roaring, the singers proclaim the battle won as the music coalesces into a final, majestic chord—the only thing missing is the audience’s overwhelming applause at the end. The applause, though muted, does show up at the albums’ close, in a live version of “There’s Something About That Name,” which is mostly a narrative by Gloria Gaither describing the unvanquished power of the Son of God through the ages, despite all efforts to at least marginalize if not remove him altogether from history’s pages. It sends the album out on a thoughtful note, as the GVB—Bill Gaither, Mark Lowry, David Phelps, Wes Hampton, Michael English—re-enter for one final, calming chorus. The subdued arrangement and Gloria Gaither’s melodramatic but low-key performance are a nice change of pace from the intensity of the preceding tracks, but no less powerful in the message imparted. Nice work by all concerned. —David McGee

The Gaither Vocal Band’s Reunited CD is available at www.amazon.com

David Phelps, ‘Nessun Dorma,’ from the Gaither Vocal Band’s Reunited DVD