TBGB Pick of the Week: September 18, 2005

“Not Forgotten”
Israel & New Breed
From the forthcoming CD Alive in South Africa (available in stores October 25) Integrity Gospel

After performing at an artists’ showcase during last year’s Gospel Music Workshop of America in Kansas City, Israel & New Breed hopped a plane to South Africa for a series of concerts and a live recording. The recording took place in Cape Town on August 20, and “Not Forgotten” is the first single from this new project, Alive in South Africa, due out October 25 from Integrity Gospel.

The polyrhythmic “Not Forgotten,” with its simple lyrics (“I am not forgotten/God knows my name”) is memorable for a recurrent Middle Eastern-sounding instrumental riff that serves as the track’s hook. The song has a pulsating urgency in its arrangement and its message, a particularly cogent message for a nation ravaged by AIDS and the repercussions of decades of social and economic degradation by a ruling class that forgot (or ignored) the Golden Rule.

Given that South Africa has a thriving gospel music community known for its beautiful and spontaneous harmonies, one can only hope that other tracks on the live CD will include collaborations with one or more of these breath-taking choral ensembles.