Gifted – I’ve Learned (Quartet Boyz 2007)

Gifted
I’ve Learned
Quartet Boyz Records 2007
www.myspace.com/giftedofbatonrouge

Although not new to the quartet scene (they will celebrate ten years together in ‘09), Gifted is a group of young men from Baton Rouge, Louisiana that belts out old-fashioned church rousers one moment and more contemporary sounds with modern harmonies the next. And that’s exactly what you hear on their CD, I’ve Learned, released on Dwight Gordon’s Tyler, Texas-based Quartet Boyz label.

The opening hand-clapper, “God is Worthy to be Praised,” invites listeners to put down their brooms and vacuum cleaners and praise the Lord (they don’t have to ask me twice). Other Gifted tracks in the traditional quartet groove are the mid-tempo “Walk With Me,” and a slow-brewing, bluesy “Lord (You Been So Good).”

Contemporary quartet enthusiasts will prefer “Didn’t Have to Do It” and “Do You Know Him,” and fans in both camps will enjoy the concluding piece, “Crown of Life,” a soulful ballad on life after death. In heaven, the singer exhorts, he’ll see Auntie and Uncle but wants to make certain to see Jesus.

During the Golden Age of Gospel, many popular quartets like the Soul Stirrers and Sensational Nightingales had young members (especially lead singers) who were full of energy, vibrancy and tuneful testosterone. They took the walking-rhythm jubilee quartet tradition to a whole new, more sanctified, level. That’s why it’s a special pleasure to hear a young quartet like Gifted perform foot-stomping quartet music alongside the more current sounds in this day and age.

Gifted is Trelvis Griffin, Sr.; James Walker; Charleston Clay and Marcus Fisher. Cleveland Vinning, Darvell Williams, Lester Murphy, Germaria “Bubba” Gross and Charlie Fisher, Jr. provide the group’s instrumental accompaniment.

Two and a Half of Four Stars