Reviewed by Tony Cummings

The appeal of Richard Smallwood (and in America he is a big seller) largely escapes me. He's found a fresh way of developing black choir music, not by taking the standard route of grafting on R&B and hip hop elements but by the less obvious routes of adding a symphony orchestra and arrangements that have flourishes lifted straight from Bach and Debusey. The end result, as heard here on the latest live set, is undoubtedly intriguing. And his latest aggregation contains some seriously soulful voiced divas. But the whole thing also comes across as forced and theatric so that even the occasional fragments of old school church-wrecking left this listener uninvolved. Yes, Richard remains an enigma to this reviewer.

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