Samuel R. Parker and The Holy Family Choir - Put Your Hand In God's Hands (1987)

This right here is a real rare gem in many ways. Besides just being a record which has scarcely been written about (I couldn't even find a picture of the album cover), this album is rare for one major reason: this is a Gospel recording done by a (predominantly) Black Catholic choir. I don’t really count myself as an expert on religion, but I’m fairly certain there aren’t many Black Catholics, much less Catholic Gospel choirs. That being said, this one is especially interesting to me because it happens to be recorded by a choir based in Chicago, just blocks from where I went to high school.

According to several blurbs on the album sleeve, Holy Family Catholic Church has been standing since the mid 1800’s, before the Great Chicago Fire – they even claim that the pastor at the time prayed that the fire would spare the church. This made me laugh, because I recalled a lesson by a former History professor about churches on the South and West sides of the city (as Holy Family is) claiming to have survived the Chicago Fire due to the miracle of prayer, regardless of the fact that the fire burned North and East. No matter, the blurb goes on to state that in 1987 when Put Your Hands in God’s Hands was recorded, Holy Family Catholic Church was in a dire state of disrepair, and so the choir and their director, Samuel R. Parker, recorded this album, “a symbol of the living community known as Holy Family Catholic Church.” So here we have a great album with a great story behind it.

Samuel R. Parker, the man whose efforts are at the core of this album (and whose soft-focused and Jeri-curled glamor photos are all over the sleeve), turns out to be somewhat of a virtuoso. He has been playing piano since the age of 5, became choirmaster by age 11, and has been Minister of Music at Holy Family since 1973. Mr. Parker apparently also made weekly appearances on a local Gospel television program called “Rock of Ages,” which aired on WCIU-TV. Most importantly, he not only arranged every song on this album, but wrote the majority of them as well. Once you hear this album, I think it will become clear what a great achievement that is.

The music itself has wide secular appeal and feels very contemporary, funky, raw, soulful and personal. Mr. Parker lends his unique vocals to several tracks, and contributes piano and heavy music production knowhow throughout. As a “crate-digger” of sorts myself, this album is pretty much wall-to-wall sample-fodder (that’s a compliment for those not “hip” to the “lingo”). From the funky keys of “Keep Your Hands…” to the mind-boggling sparse-yet-heavy arrangement of “Somebody’s Knocking at the Door” to the awesome Blues-Rock meets Catholic Metal chanting of “Wash All My Sins Away” to the Reggae-on-Syzzurp lost homie anthem of the finale “Move On Up A Little Higher,” this album is a delightful surprise at every corner. One band member was so delightful and surprising that I felt I should give him special tribute here, and that is Arthur (“Da Bass”) Sutton, who slaps his bass like it owes God money.

While doing my final stage of research for this blog entry, I discovered a couple things that made me very happy: not only is Holy Family Catholic Church still standing today (and I’d like to think that this great album helped to make those big repairs possible 25 years ago), but Samuel Parker is listed as Choir Director on their website (I’m hoping it’s really him, and not a Samuel Parker, Jr.). I may just have to play the role of the rabid fan and go collect an autograph some Sunday in the near future.

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Kenny Burrell with The Brother Jack McDuff Quartet - Crash! (1963)

On this album, the extremely prolific Jazz guitarist Kenny Burrell teams up with the excellent organist (Brother) Jack McDuff, and his Quartet of 60’s Jazz somebodies, including Harold Vick on tenor sax, Count Basie’s own Eric Dixon on flute, Ray Barretto on conga, and of course, the funky drummer Joe Dukes. Together, they made an excellent Jazz album during an era when excellent Jazz albums were a dime-a-dozen. However, don’t expect the moody, provocative styles of Miles Davis or John Coltrane here, nor the spacey, spiritual futurism of Sun Ra or Pharaoh Sanders. 

Crash! is a “Bop” album – much more cheerful, up-tempo, and even funky compared to much of what is remembered most from this era – which just goes to show what a broad genre Jazz is. Although we may tend to remember the rule-breakers of the 60’s the most, some of the more traditional artists were still creating masterful works like this one.

The musicianship here is truly excellent, as one would expect from these names. Brother Jack’s organ maintains a bright, “take me out to the ballgame” feel on all his solos. Kenny Burrell’s guitar work sounds breezy and care-free. The drum breaks are always funky. Everything is done with a sense of joy and innocence – even during the album’s more nostalgic moments – although the sophistication of the music is never in question.

Crash! may not have been the nail that stuck out most, but it is still doing an excellent job of holding the house that Jazz built together. I find this album perfect for a joyful evening with friends and summer cocktails – even dancing. It would also pair nicely with a Woody Allen montage. 

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Johnny Nash - Celebrate Life (1974)

Johnny Nash is the pimp king of Dad Rock. I was totally unaware of this guy (at least by name – it turns out he had some huge hits in the Pop Reggae world, and even produced records for Bob Marley and Peter Tosh before they were famous) before I found this record at the 46th Anniversary sale at Shake, Rattle and Read; a fantastic little independent used book/record/magazine/comic store, which specializes in Sci-Fi novels, vintage Playboys, and pristine used Rock and Jazz vinyl, and which has exponentially outlasted a hugely hyped Borders just one block away (hello, America?). Anyway, back to the record. I knew I had to buy this record just by looking at it: both the front and back covers of this album are quite stunning.

On the front, Johnny is dressed in the most immaculate Pimp suit – complete with matching cane – while he takes a jolly stroll through the park. There is a bright, fuzzy glow – seemingly emanating from his body – which lends the notion that maybe he is some kind of Supernatural Pimp Angel who only you can see. All of these things might be true. Also, the tall, skinny font used on this record is really great.

On the rear cover, a man – who might be Johnny Nash (it’s kind of hard to tell) – is looking like the shirtless, Afro’d Bizarro Zorro who comes from a world where everything looks like a black and white photograph. It’s hard to tell whether they (man + horse) were really rendered in black and white, or whether the costume and lighting departments did a mind-blowingly good job, either way – the image is eye-catching. The background is in color, but appears to be muted, save for a very trippy, contrasting purple sky.

Enough with the descriptions of the artwork – the point is, you can tell exactly why I was originally reeled into this record before ever hearing it. Oh yeah, it gets better.

Johnny Nash’s music sounds kind of like what it would sound like if Sam Cooke and the Beach Boys formed a Reggae Jam Band, and then tried to win the hearts and minds of Southern Rock fans. If you are human (please verify via Captcha), this analogy should be one which causes both confusion and intrigue, in equal measures. But fear not: though the analogy is mostly true, it is true in only the best possible ways. The production style is very simple and pleasant – heavily using the powers of stereo mixing to their maximum – which makes for a really exciting listening experience, especially on a pair of good speakers or headphones. The music itself utilizes elements of Barber Shop, Doo-Wop, Reggae, Soulful Ballads, and straight-up Dad Rock, and manages to create a really unique, groovin’ celebratory sound, much as the album’s title suggests. Johnny Nash’s vocals are really interesting too – his phrasing seems unrehearsed, and the melodies seem to expose themselves almost accidentally – and yet, his vocals are effortlessly beautiful.

This is music that could be found at a beach party or at a working class divey Cheers bar and achieve the same effect. This feels, to me, like music that brings people together. Johnny Nash earned his greatest success just one album previous to this one, with his song “I Can See Clearly Now.” The material on Celebrate Life still has that recognizable Reggae influence, but definitely has some great straightforward Soul and Rock moments as well.

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