Reviewed by Trevor Kirk

When I had the opportunity to review Aled Jones' comeback album 'Aled' in CR 72, I described it as a delight from start to finish. Now we have the follow up and it's more of the same, and equally good. The reason the album's called 'Higher' is because that's what's happening to Aled's voice, his range has increased by at least four notes in the last 12 months, so there's more power and more range to enjoy. The material is as before, a mix of sacred and traditional, including "Abide With Me", John Rutter's "Deep Peace (A Gaelic Blessing)", Handel's "Where'er You Walk", and the usual pieces in Welsh, including "David Of The White Rock" and Joseph Parry's grand old hymn tune "Aberystwyth", with the assistance of The London Welsh Male Voice Choir. More modern stuff includes a reading of Sal Solo's 1980s hit "San Damiano", David J Evans' favourite "Be Still", and Julian Lloyd Webber brings his cello for "Marble Halls". It's also become usual for Aled to hark back to his boy soprano days; this time, he duets with himself on "Dear Lord And Father Of Mankind", ironically the very last piece he recorded before he decided to call it a day back in 1986. Aled gets strong support from the English Session Orchestra and the boys and men of the Libera choir, and whilst the material might not be to everyone's taste, there's no doubting the quality of the product. His last album was a huge hit, selling by the truckload and going to the top of the album charts; he reckons this album is better than the last one, and who am I to disagree?

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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