Shirley Smith – In Hymn I Trust

Shirley Smith
In Hymn I Trust
The Sirens Records 2009
www.thesirensrecords.com

In Hymn I Trust, singer-pianist Shirley Smith’s debut recording for The Sirens Records, is a sweet album of sing-along hymns and congregational gospel songs straight from the proverbial little wooden church on the hill.

Raised in Detroit, Smith can play and sing in a variety of shades. For example, she gives “O Magnify the Lord” and “Great Is Thy Faithfulness” a smidgen of a jazz lilt while maintaining the simple beauty of the original melodies. Songs such as “Because He Lives” and “Something About that Name” get a more reverent, old-line Protestant church treatment.

Smith also breaks into some up-tempo congregational “handclapping” songs, such as “Can’t Nobody Do Me Like Jesus,” on which she harmonizes with herself; and the introductory classic, “Leaning on the Everlasting Arms.” The latter, which is entirely instrumental, sounds like the opening of a prayer service, during which the musicians get happy prematurely and launch into a praise break. “He’s Sweet I Know” finds Smith swinging on the everlasting piano keys. Throughout the project, she is supported amply by a combo of polished musicians, including jazz bassist Yosef Ben Israel.

Those familiar with other projects from Steve Dolins’ The Sirens label (Donald and Geraldine Gay, Rev. Dwayne Mason, e.g.) know that the imprint delivers consistently crystal clear sound, especially when it comes to recording the intricasies of the keyboards. The music has an almost three-dimensional effect, as if the concert or program is happening right in your living room, car, back porch, office, iPod, or wherever you may be listening.

You can find Shirley Smith in Jacksonville, Florida, where she serves as Minister of Music for the Potter’s House Christian Fellowship, pastored by Bishop Vaughn McLaughlin.

Four of Five Stars