Reviewed by Tony May

As someone lacking a friendly attitude to praise instrumental albums, I must admit a slight drop in temperature when this invaded my letter box. Pulling myself together, however, I must say this is not altogether void of merit. The idea is to set familiar fare of the "O How I Love Jesus", "All Creatures Of Our God And King" and "Morning Has Broken" ilk to rhythms and styles of the Caribbean, Spain, Ireland, Israel etc. Valid idea, which has its fleeting moments of interest, but falters through its constant insistence on the obvious and predictable. As a sampler of the series of related albums it lights no fires to speak of. The musicians, unnamed, are competent, the fault lies with the arrangers, who have invariably taken the easy way out, resulting in a drab, grey album that sounds like it has the 'flu.

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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