Reviewed by Andy Cooper

Angélla Christie is an American alto saxophonist who has become quite well known in her homeland for playing bare-foot! She breaks no new musical ground for jazz, but it's good to have such a solid spiritual underpinning to the tunes here. Angélla's alto saxophone sings beautifully and with full body through each track, with strong and smooth urban R&B and gospel influenced backing. At times, she is reminiscent of David Sanborn and I was trying really hard not to mention Kenny G, but the ballads do bring him to mind. However, most of the tunes also have backing vocals, giving a clue to the God-centred inspiration behind the music. She even includes a version of "Lord I Lift Your Name On High" and the ubiquitous "Oh Happy Day". But there is one problem: too much of the same thing. I love the saxophone, and have been playing it myself for over 10 years, but here she hardly stops for breath through the entire disc and no other instruments get a solo (except for one duel with an electric guitar). More variety and more input from other instruments are needed to make a well rounded and satisfying album.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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