January 5. 2001 *
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MORELAND
VETERINARY
HOSPITAL
Spirited music
Gay men wear their souls on their sleeves in two new CDs
by
ell, its another Christmas
past, and that can mean any
number of things. It’s either
time to return that sweater,
haul out the holly or increase the
charge card limit for those after
Christmas sales.
Now if you’re a music lover, you
might want to exchange that sweater
for a couple of new CDs. And if
you’re a fan of contemporary Christ
ian music, it’s easy enough to go down
to your favorite music store or online
retailer and shop by category, but
that’s only going to bring you more of
the usual suspects— and my guess is
they’re not necessarily gay artists.
Here’s a chance for you to support
local gay contemporary Christian
artists in what I find to be a rather
entertaining CD. It’s barbershop
meets Broadway with a distinctively
Christian message. This is not a
Christmas album per se but a sort of
all-around celebration of faith.
The group, called We 3, features
those other three tenors—OK, two
tenors and a baritone— Mark Brown,
Maury Evans and Rick Edmundson.
They are ably accompanied by pianist
Darcy White, who I found to be one
of the surprise delights on this CD, I
Believe in Miracles. Her strong, jazzy
accompaniments are the glue that
holds much of this music together.
1 Believe in Miracles features pri
marily original music written by bari
tone Brown. The harmonies are tight,
and when they are the predominant
focus, the music is at its best.
The opening song, “Glory to God,” is a fine
example of this and is reminiscent of Godspell.
However, the solo singing is weaker and lacks
the punch and joy of the trio.
“Let Us Rejoice” feels a bit like a sea
chantey, while “No One,” written by Brown
and Evans, is distinctively discoesque. This
eclectic mix of styles actually works pretty well
within the contemporary Christian context.
The contemporary blends well with the
traditional in a unique arrangement of two
all-time favorites, “Crown Him with Many
Crowns” and “All Hail the Power of Jesus’
Name." This piece starts out with a lovely
a cappella boy band sound and moves on to
add just enough
piano and key
board with just
the right amount
of syncopation in
the mix to get
your attention
but not lose the
power of the
original work.
The title track,
“I Believe in Mir
acles,” is not my favorite; 1 find the*
lyrics to be not quite up to the stan
dard set by the rest of the album.
And although in a live setting the
recurring upward key modulations
throughout many of these songs are
probably inspiring and uplifting, they
get a little clich&l by the end of a
whole CD.
J
WE
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According to We 3’s Web site: “The impe
tus for forming the group was a benefit concert
for a young Native American boy who was in
need of heart surgery. Brown and Evans gave
the initial concert as a duo. Offers to sing other
concerts in the Portland area soon followed. To
enhance the group’s musical sound, Brown sug
gested that they make an addition of either a
tenor or an alto, so Evans then asked Edmund-
son to join. The rest is history.”
We 3 brings its diverse backgrounds
together to create a rather solid ensemble.
Brown has toured the United States and
Europe as a vocalist and has sung with the
Pacific Northwest Ballet Theater, Edmund
son has an extensive classical background
and was a member of the Portland
Opera Company for six years, and
Evans has spent many years in theater
and has toured the United States as
director of the Missoula Children’s
Theater Company. White is associate
music director for First Christian
Church of Portland.
CDs and other prexfucts
can he ordered from the Inter
net site www.we3.net, where
you can download a sample of
the group’s work, or from
P.O. Box 40668, Portland, OR
97240, where no samples are
downloadable. Phone orders
and bookings can be arranged
at 503-331-8166, where—
who knows?—you might be
able to get a sample if you ask
nicely.
ay folk/rock artist Dave Hall also has a new
release for the new year. True, his third CD,
debuted Dec. 1 on Giuseppe Joe Records.
This mostly acoustic release features a couple
of intriguing instrumental tracks as well as Hall’s
trademark Dylanesque sound. True is a look at
life and death and exploits his gift as a poet.
He opens with a trilogy of stings exploring
the death of a friend whose life was cut short,
and he ends with another trilogy about death,
but this one is that “of a life fulfilled.” Both
trilogies include a version of J.S. Bach’s “Sheep
May Safely Graze,” contrapuntally infused with
a melody of Hall’s making.
The first version of this idea is called
“Across Tiberias"—otherwise known as the Sea
of Galilee; it’s a song about crossing over to the
other side. The second version, which is purely
instrumental, skillfully invokes the ghost of the
first trilogy.
The rest of the CD celebrates life, including
a song for Hall’s grandmother on her 90th and
100th birthdays, “You,” and a humorous yet
insightful look at belief in “God Is Wide." His
music can be found at www.amazon.com,
www.towerrecords.com or Ladyslippcr Music,
800-634-6044, and MP3 clips can be down
loaded from www.giuseppejoe.com. j n
L ynn T h o m a s is a Portland free-lance tenter
and musician.
Katherine’s
B o d y P ie r c in g
S a lo n