Reviewed by Tony Cummings

Definitely an acquired taste: I have one friend who firmly believes Phil Driscoll is the greatest living Christian musician - but then that particular friend is a trumpeter. I know someone else who is prepared to fling themselves bodily from any room which begins to play a Phil Driscoll album. The thing with Mr Driscoll is that the elements that go to make up his particular unique brand of music are as unlikely a mixture as you'll find. First a trumpet playing style which so abounds in technique that many of his solos veer towards the musical equivalent of conjuring tricks, the trumpet being forced by sheer willpower and lung power to soar to stratospheric heights where music stops and dog whistles begin. Second you take a voice so raspingly choked that it makes Joe Cocker (in whose band Phil once played) sound like a silky smooth crooner. And finally add accompaniments, which take elements of soul, jazz and inspirational ballads and usually end in climaxes where funky rhythm sections, symphony orchestras and kitchen sinks are doing aural battle. 'Warriors' an album recorded live in New York is archetypal Driscoll, brilliant, soulful, maudlin, triumphalistic, exciting and unlistenable by degrees. Everybody should hear one album by Mr Driscoll. If you've yet to indulge leap in with 'Warriors'.

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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