Heaven & Earth: A Tapestry of Worship

Description

Heaven & Earth: A Tapestry of Worship is a multi-artist project released on Sparrow Records in 1999. Also marketed and distributed in Europe by Alliance Music. Featuring lead vocals on two tracks each by Michelle Tumes, Margaret Becker, Nichole Nordeman, Rebecca St. James, and Jennifer Knapp.

This highly anticipated project is a tour de force of talent. It’s conceived and mainly composed by John Hartley (of Phil & John fame) and instrumentally supported by the likes of Phil Keaggy, bassist Chris Donahue and cellist John Catchings. And with lead vocals from Michelle Tumes, Margaret Becker, Nichole Nordeman, Rebecca St. James and Jennifer Knapp, who could ask for anything more?

This 10-song creation (each singer takes two tracks) displays a mostly slow, mellow, ethereal vibe that’s tasty and inviting. Hartley expertly weaves high church influences with worldbeat sounds.

But the album’s subtitle, “A tapestry of worship,” is a bit thin. While the album’s cohesive – even seamless – instrumental sound is a preferable trait on most projects, here it further reduces any notion of vocal distinctiveness from track to track (i.e., unless you really know these women’s voices, you have to check each tune to determine who’s singing). This shortcoming is amplified when one considers that ethnic diversity on Heaven & Earth would have more accurately captured what a tapestry of worship ought to look and sound like, a weaving of different-colored threads rather than a dyed-to-match collection that robs each artist of what makes them unique.

Heaven & Earth’s dreamy soundscape is exquisite, and the lyrics are refreshingly God-focused. It just would have been nice to take the “tapestry” concept a bit further. [Dave Urbanski, CCM, November 1999]

The news is that after the craze for swing, praise and worship is the latest popu­lar fad in American Christian music, so suddenly everyone is jumping on the bandwagon, recording worship albums or including worship sets in their live gigs. So perhaps it isn’t surprising that Sparrow’s top girl vocalists should be bundled into a studio to add their voices to this set of new worship tunes. Michelle Tumes, Jennifer Knapp, Nichole Nordeman, Rebecca St James and Margaret Becker all contribute and the end results are patchy. The songs were written by John Hartley (the John half of Phil And John) who also produced the project, and it’s a compelling, highly polished blend of classical influences and interesting world beats. Highlights? Jennifer Knapp’s «Whisper My Name» is an atmospheric moment, and the punchy Rebecca St James song «River Of Life» is a strong praise song. The Chris Eaton/John Hartley title song is rather nice too, but «River Of Healing» is too much of a cross between «Saviour’s Day» and Eaton’s «Boat Of Devotion» to feel anything more than contrived. But for me, the fact that the five singers’ make-up artists are all credited on the sleeve is sym­bolic of my one biggest criticism of the project – it is too glossy, too overpro­duced with its choirboys, pipes and multi-layered textures. Is that a kitchen sink I hear being hammered in the background? Hmmmm… Americans might go for this but here in the UK, we’re still light years ahead when it comes to making worship music with integrity. [Mike Rimmer, Cross Rhythms, February 2000]

> iTunes (https://music.apple.com/us/album/heaven-and-earth/716703463)

CD tracklist:

01. Michelle Tumes – For The Glory Of Your Name – 5:50
02. Jennifer Knapp – Whisper My Name – 6:15
03. Nichole Nordeman – In Your Love – 5:14
04. Michelle Tumes – My Dwelling Place – 6:29
05. Rebecca St. James – River Of Life – 4:17
06. Margaret Becker – Jesus Hail The Lamb – 3:51
07. Nichole Nordeman – Heaven & Earth – 4:07
08. Jennifer Knapp – Ocean Of Mercy – 4:08
09. Margaret Becker – Christ Before – 3:37
10. Rebecca St. James – As We Wait – 6:09

Note: Simultaneously released on cassette and CD by Sparrow Records.

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