Bishop Kenneth Robinson & Chosen – Looking Out for Me

Bishop Kenneth Robinson & Chosen
Looking Out for Me
New Season Records 2010

Looking Out for Me, the new CD by Arkansas’ Bishop Kenneth Robinson & Chosen, not only captures the essence of the group’s live performance, but of gospel quartets in general. It is clearly the product of a seasoned group with a well-tuned and time-tested live program.

The opening track, “After Awhile,” stamps the project as staunchly traditional with its quartet backbeat and bluesy electric guitar riffs. Henceforward, one track blends with another as the quartet improvises, testifies, teases the audience with its penchant for repeated codas, and delivers extended vamps. The album moves along at a crisp pace, keeping the audience captivated.

Bishop Robinson & Chosen, whose hard-shouting leads and muscular harmonies are reminiscent of the Mighty Clouds of Joy and Slim and the Supreme Angels, are particularly effective on up-tempo tracks such as “Marching” and “Ticket.” The latter is a variation on the quintessential gospel train inquiry: “I’ve got my ticket, can I ride?” The quartet performs the spritely spiritual “Standing in the Need of Prayer” (as “It’s Me Oh Lord”) in an uncharacteristic languorous blues mood, but it works.

Quartet audiences are legendary for their fealty to, and support of, their favorite groups, and Chosen’s audience doesn’t disappoint. While you cannot always hear the crowd on Looking Out for Me, when you do, they are encouraging and devoted.

Looking Out for Me is an enjoyable listen. By the conclusion, you feel as if you have just attended the group’s live program. If you have, Looking Out for Me is a true-to-life souvenir of the experience.

Four of Five Stars

gPod Picks: “Marching,” “Ticket.”

Reviewed by Bob Marovich for The Black Gospel Blog.