Reviewed by David Faulkner

Philip Solomon Stewart hails from Florida, but was raised in Jamaica. A saxophonist and oboist from an early age, he has supported Atlantic Starr and played on the Ludacris track "Woozy", featuring R Kelly. As well as playing alto and tenor sax, he is a producer and label owner. Here, he presents instrumental-dominated versions of songs by some of today's leading gospel artists. I say 'instrumental-dominated' rather than merely 'instrumental', because key snatches of vocals are still left in on some tracks, even if occasionally it sounds like two separate recordings laid one on top of the other, one with the vocal and one with the sax. The songs come from the repertoires of artists such as Donnie McClurkin, Hezekiah Walker, Yolanda Adams, Donald Lawrence and the Tri-City Singers and Marvin Sapp. The arrangements tend in the direction of mellow rather than holler. That isn't to say we're in Kenny G bland-out territory: the artist whose name kept coming back to my mind while listening was Grover Washington, Junior. If you want a laid-back approach to Gospel music and love the sax, this is for you.

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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