Perhaps the most remarkable thing is that the venerable
Golden Gate Quartet
still exists after so long. With their "jubilee" stylings, they have had an incalculable influence on
gospel
music. Of course, this version of the quartet inevitably features a different group of people, but they've stayed very true to the original sound, keeping everything classic and pure. Throughout their time, there have been plenty of oddities in their work, such as
"Stalin Wasn't Stallin'"
during the Second World War. And this is another one. It's essentially a studio best-of with tracks taken from their other releases, but with a theme: they take
Louis Armstrong
's 1958 album
The Good Book
and replicate it in their wonderful way, thanks in part to some excellent arrangements by
Quincy Jones
. There's still plenty of energy in the sound, with harmonies that are truly sublime, and the kind of drive that many believe had vanished from
music. Brilliant in every way. ~ Chris Nickson