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Our Review

It is amazing how much I learn each time I listen to a new offering from the Revels, the Massachusetts-based organization dedicated to preserving and celebrating traditional seasonal music. This year's CD, Behold that Star! An American Song Quilt, commemorates the struggle of African Americans after the Civil War. The recording consists primarily of African American and Anglo-American traditionals, many of which I hadn't heard. These are rendered theatrically, within the framework of a narrative documenting the African American experience of the time. To be sure, this is a seasonal recording; but it is much less "Christmassy" than most.

The Shepherd Alley Singers perform throughout the narrative, lending the work a traditional spiritual (and at times "gospel") sound. Punctuating the performance are brief appearances by the Eastern Star Children, the Good News Brass, and the Tiber Creek String Band. I enjoyed all of the brass arrangements and, in particular, the string arrangement of Eastern Star Waltz.

Listeners will find Behold that Star! to be purposeful and uplifting.

--Richard Banks
(Reviewed in 2000)

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Revels Records is a division of Revels, Inc., a national non-profit cultural organization dedicated to promoting the understanding and appreciation of traditional folk materials from around the world. Founded in 1971 by musician John Langstaff, Revels produces a line of CDs, songbooks and educational products, as well as The Christmas Revels, large-scale celebrations of the winter solstice, now performed annyally in 11 cities across the country.

Revels

Behold that Star! An American Song Quilt

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Track List