Reviewed by Ronnie Payne

The Oslo Gospel Choir have been on the go for 10 years now and have recorded about a dozen albums. If you've never come across them before then this release which sees their first two recordings (re-packaged) into a two-disc set by Dutch record label Spark, is as good as any place to start, And if you can't quite get your head around the idea of a white Norwegian choir singing black gospel music then you're in for a pleasant surprise because these brothers and sisters can really swing. In fact, the greatest compliment this reviewer can pay them is that at their best you'd be hard pushed to tell the difference between them and the real thing. Okay, so maybe they're a little conservative - you won't find too much whooping and hollering here - and maybe they don't have quite enough power particulary among the male voices, but they clearly enjoy what they're doing; they boast some very fine female vocalists and there are some genuinely touching moments especially in their 'Live' album. The first disc is a live recording which kicks off with the Jessy Dixon classic 'Operator' and this pretty much sets the tone for the rest of the album - mainly cover versions of popular gospel songs by the likes of Andrae Crouch. They also throw in Paul Simon's 'Bridge Over Troubled Water', Andrew Lloyd Webber's 'Pie Jesus' and James Taylor's 'Shower The People' for good measure. On the second disc, 'Get Together', which is a studio recording, they are aided and abetted by the awesome Abe Laboriel on bass and Fletch Wiley on flute. This time the songwriting talent of Jan Groth and musical director Tore W Aas is given a chance to shine and you begin to wonder if the choir really is Caucasian after all. Can white men sing the blues? Judge for yourself. An album it's impossible not to enjoy.

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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