Afternoon Tapestry

Description

Afternoon Tapestry is a multi-artist project released on Warner Alliance in 1992, a gospel division of Warner Bros. Records. Its one out of three albums in the Tapestry Series, the two other installments being Morning Tapestry and Evening Tapestry.

You may have already seen these albums in your local book or records store, and thought to yourself how much their design looks like an advertisement from ‘House Beautiful’ or ‘Victoria’ magazine. And a casual glimpse at the back covers and song listening might yield a few familiar names, but would tell you nothing of the delightful music contained therein.

These albums are primarily aimed at women in the 30-plus age bracket, who are often searching for praise & worship songs to supplement their personal devotional time, or just want some pleasant and uplifting music to accompany household chores, car-pool time or various other daily activities. Although the album were beautifully designed, this marketing approach misses a much larger audience who will could appreciate the classical and jazz-oriented instrumentals on the three albums. More important, the packages don’t mention the many high-profile guest vocalists who participate in the project.

‘Morning’, for instance, features Phil Keaggy singing and playing on the lovely «Day Before Tomorrow», Allies‘ Bob Carlisle wailing «I Am Not My Own» (ala Michael Bolton) and the much-missed Kelly Willard on two tracks. The ‘Afternoon‘ title finds White Heart‘s Rick Florian, Mark Gersmehl and Billy Smiley featured on «Unto The Hills», a Gersmehl tune which is as good as anything he’s written for his band; Vince Ebo can also be heard on the understated «Psalm 62». The ‘Evening‘ collection again features Willard in two tracks, as well as Bruce Carroll in a decidedly non-country setting. Steve Green and Michael English take lead vocals on one song each.

While it is an unusual concept – tailoring music to fit a person’s spiritual needs at a particular time of day – be advised that these recordings are well worth your investment. As with the recent ‘Coram Deo‘ album, there’s a wealth of contemporary music to be enjoyed. [Bruce A. Brown, CCM, September 1992]

CD tracklist:

01. Prologue – 1:23
02. Ric Florian, Mark Gersmehl, Billy Smiley – Unto The Hills (Psalm 121) – 4:15
03. Ric Florian, Mark Ivey – He Who Dwells (Psalm 91) – 3:57
04. Ron David Moore – Strength Of My Heart (Psalm 73) – 3:46
05. Vicki Hampton – Hear My Voice Lord (Psalm 130) – 3:02
06. John Phillips – Many Will Seek (Psalm 40) – 4:29
07. Billy Simon – Bless The Lord, O My Soul (Psalm 103) – 2:59
08. Connie Harrington – O Lord, The King Rejoices (Psalm 21) – 3:57
09. Vince Ebo – My Soul Waits In Silence (Psalm 62) – 5:05
10. Barbara Hearn – Focus My Eyes – 2:14

Note: Simultaneously released on cassette and CD by Warner Alliance.