Live

Description

An album simply entitled Live is the debut effort by the Norwegian gospel group Oslo Gospel Choir, independently released in Norway on Noah in 1990. Also released on Myrrh Records in Europe, distributed by Word UK. Re-issued in Europe by Spark Music in 1994. The album was recorded November 18 and 19, 1989 by Ingar Helgesen at Trefoldighetskirken in Oslo, Norway; with Tore W. Aas producing. (“Produced in co-operation with Strømmestiftelsen.”)

Trivia: Oslo Gospel Choir was the best selling Norwegian recording act in the 90’s with over 2 million sold records.

Get Together & Live, CD Re-issue, Spark 1999

The Oslo Gospel Choir have been on the go for 10 years now and have recorded about a dozen albums. If you’ve never come across them before then this release which sees their first two recordings (re-packaged) into a two-disc set by Dutch record label Spark, is as good as any place to start, And if you can’t quite get your head around the idea of a white Norwegian choir singing black gospel music then you’re in for a pleasant surprise because these brothers and sisters can really swing. In fact, the greatest compliment this reviewer can pay them is that at their best you’d be hard pushed to tell the difference between them and the real thing. Okay, so maybe they’re a little conservative – you won’t find too much whooping and hollering here – and maybe they don’t have quite enough power particulary among the male voices, but they clearly enjoy what they’re doing; they boast some very fine female vocalists and there are some genuinely touching moments especially in their ‘Live’ album. The first disc is a live recording which kicks off with the Jessy Dixon classic «Operator» and this pretty much sets the tone for the rest of the album – mainly cover versions of popular gospel songs by the likes of Andrae Crouch. They also throw in Paul Simon’s «Bridge Over Troubled Water», Andrew Lloyd Webber’s «Pie Jesus» and James Taylor’s «Shower The People» for good measure. On the second disc, ‘Get Together‘, which is a studio recording, they are aided and abetted by the awesome Abe Laboriel on bass and Fletch Wiley on flute. This time the songwriting talent of Jan Groth and musical director Tore W Aas is given a chance to shine and you begin to wonder if the choir really is Caucasian after all. Can white men sing the blues? Judge for yourself. An album it’s impossible not to enjoy. [Ronnie Payne, Cross Rhythms, August 1999]

CD tracklist:

01. Operator (Soloist: Kristine Pettersen) – 3:22
02. Never Gonna Lose My Way (Soloist: Kristine Pettersen) – 4:30
03. Oh, It Is Jesus (Soloist: Grethe Svensen) – 4:18
04. Bridge Over Troubled Water – 4:54
05. Pie Jesu (Soloist: Sissel Kyrkjebø) – 3:03
06. Shine Your Light On Me (Soloist: Marian Lisland) – 4:41
07. I Wanna Be Ready (Gospel – Blues) (Soloist: Grethe Svensen) – 4:25
08. We Are Not Ashamed (Soloists: Kristine Pettersen and Harald Skorpen) – 4:07
09. Shower The People (Soloist: Hans Jacob Torkildsen) – 3:52
10. What Child Is This? (Greensleeves) (Soloist: Sissel Kyrkjebø) – 3:46
11. He’s Waiting (Soloists: Kristin Reitan and Ole-Edvard Reitan) – 4:36
12. My Tribute (To God Be The Glory) (Soloist: Sissel Kyrkjebø) – 4:27

Note: Released on cassette, 12-inch vinyl LP, and CD. (“Denne CD er produsert i samarbeid med Strømmestiftelsen. Overskuddet går til en øyeklinikk i Calcutta. Uten gratis behandling ville de fattigste bli henvist til et liv i blindhet.”)