Ned's Atomic Dustbin God Fodder (1991)

The Five Blind Boys of Mississippi was an American post-war gospel quartet. With lead singer Archie Brownlee, their single "Our Father" reached number ten on the Billboard R&B charts in early 1951.[1] It was one of the first gospel records to do so.

The Five Blind Boys of Mississippi should not be confused with The Blind Boys of Alabama, a group led by Clarence Fountain. There is some dispute as to which of the two groups was named first. Some sources say that the Five Blind Boys took their name when Percell Perkins joined them in the mid-1940s. According to Fountain, however, the two groups were actually christened simultaneously during a Newark, New Jersey quartet contest in 1948.

This classic performance of Haydn's greatest choral masterpiece was beloved tenor Fritz Wunderlich's last recording. He sings all of the arias, but he died before finishing the recitatives, which are here taken by Werner Krenn. The recording is, in addition, one of Herbert Von Karajan's finest, vastly better than his later digital remake. His interpretation is straightforward and impressively large in scale, but never pompous or sanctimonious (which was Karajan's big problem in music of a religious character).

Vibraphonist Jay Hoggard gained his initial recognition for his playing in avant-garde and adventurous settings. By the late 80s, Hoggard had decided to explore hard bop and straight-ahead jazz. On this out of print but worthy CD, the vibraphonist recalls Bobby Hutcherson and Milt Jackson in spots, swinging on a variety of originals, Stevie Wonder's "You And I" and "Sonny's Themes" (which covers Sonny Rollins' "Alfie" and "Sonnymoon for Two"). The young Benny Green is a major asset on piano, bassist Marcus McLaurine and drummer Yoron Israel are excellent in support, and Hoggard's songs are full of variety and color.

A pupil of William Byrd, Thomas Tomkins' technique as a contrapuntalist was second to none, as can be heard in the Great Service or the anthem O God, the proud are risen against me. In this respect alone he was the composer who most obviously continued Byrd's achievement.

This is a very different musical interpretation of Psalm 51 than we saw last week in Allegri’s Miserere. In Allegri’s composition the intensity of the soaring, unaccompanied voices lead us to contemplation of the Divine Mercy of God in Heaven. Here the urgent, dramatic orchestration pulls us down into King David’s turbulent emotions as he comes to acknowledge his sinfulness and his need for God’s mercy. This clip is only the first part of a much longer composition, and contains only the first line of the Psalm: Miserere mei, Domine, secundam misericordiam tuam, “Have mercy on me, Lord, according to your compassion”. As the focus of the Psalm moves from David’s sinfulness to the abundance of God’s mercy, the music in the later parts of the piece changes with it.