Sacred Steel
is one amazing collection. Subtitled "Traditional Sacred African-American Steel Guitar Music in Florida," this multi-artist chronicling of this seldom-heard genre is a musical and emotional delight. The electric lap steel guitar has been the instrument of choice in both the Jewel Dominion and Keith Dominions (both African-American Holiness-Pentecostal churches) since the late '30s, replacing the traditional church organist. This collection showcases the pioneering work of five of its best known and most influential sacred steel practitioners:
Willie Eason
,
Sonny Treadway
Glenn Lee
Henry Nelson
, and his son,
Aubrey Ghent
. Their individual approaches to this style range from crude
blues
-based slides and slurs (
table steel master
Hop Wilson
is called to mind more than once here) to highly technical flourishes bordering on
country
pedal steel sounds, with all of it played with a sincerity and spirit indigenous to the music, which is nothing short of heartfelt and energetic. Split evenly between instrumentals and the instrument interfacing with the congregation and choir at live religious services, the music runs the gamut from still and beautiful (
's instrumentals) to the wild and abandoned playing of
. This is 75 minutes of music that will appeal to
and
gospel
and even retro-minded
rock & roll
fans willing to take the time to explore this fascinating genre. ~ Cub Koda