Earl Bynum & the Mount Unity Choir – Live

Directed by the talented singer-songwriter Earl Bynum, who writes several of the album’s songs and also leads a few, the Mount Unity Choir is as big, bold, and dramatic as the East Coast church it represents.  The choristers stepped up to the plate to ensure that this project, an eight-year vision of the pastor, Bishop K.W. Brown, would come off without a glitch, and they were successful.

The album contains “Bless the Name of the Lord,” the choir’s recent single.   Bynum’s “Bless the Lord Oh My Soul” could be another radio single if the similar title does not confuse listeners.  “Were You There” is a vehicle for the effervescent Bishop Brown to sing and preach to the worshippers assembled.  Chicago’s Lemmie Battles rips into the hand-clapper “Victory” with characteristic aplomb.

The project’s emotional apex is Cora Armstrong. Her mascara-smearing testimony and subsequent singing of her own “Keep on Believing” is nothing less than awe-inspiring. Her riveting performance on the companion DVD—which includes all of the songs on the CD, plus snippets of two tracks that did not make the final cut—is alone worth the price of the project.

It might well have been doxology after Armstrong’s performance, but COGIC’s Dr. Judith McAllister was up next, and she brought the house to its feet on the passionate P&W selection, “Arise.”  Jazz-inspired Sherry Sarrel completed the program with “God is on Your Side,” but her jaunty selection was all but eclipsed by the two powerhouses that preceded her.

The DVD allows the listener to witness the pageantry of the recording session, with its colorful praise dancers and banner bearers.  A festival for the eyes and ears, Live is a tribute to Earl Bynum and the Mount Unity Choir.  It also reflects the inspiration of contemporary gospel architects such as Thomas Whitfield, J.C. White, and Richard Smallwood, whose sophisticated blend of gospel and classical techniques continues to have a profound impact on the church choir.