The Concert Supremes – The Message Becomes Clear

The Concert Supremes
The Message Becomes Clear
Quartet Boyz Records 2007
www.theconcertsupremes.org

The Concert Supremes of Natchitoches, Louisiana look like a young group fresh on the scene but make no mistake: the quartet, albeit with the inevitable personnel changes, has sung and recorded together for two decades. Today, the group is comprised of five singers (Ronald Kennedy, Marvin Howard, Napoleon Gilbert, Michael Cutwright and Russell Raymond) and three musicians (Mark Randle, Quinton Helaire, and Michael Larry).

Their latest project for Quartet Boyz Records is The Message Becomes Clear. This is a very impressive, solid piece of work that gets better with each successive track. Of enormous assistance is the album’s producer, Quartet Boyz Records owner Dwight Gordon. A former member of the Mighty Clouds of Joy, Gordon puts his group singing experience and intuition into the engineering, producing a superb sounding album.

The Message Becomes Clear opens with “Down On My Knees,” an uptempo, churchy performance that sets a stimulating tempo for the project. The next several cuts favor a slower, walking bass-led boogie-woogie backbeat, the quartet world’s equivalent of the running play. Many of the songs conclude with an extended vamp by the lead singer, who pleads with the cold sweat and stamina of James Brown, who of course borrowed his technique from the church.

Guest soloists abound: Andre Tate and Ron Staples each contribute one track, and fellow Louisianan Charles Clay shouts troubles over on “Blessing Me.”

“Lord You Know” is properly introduced by several euphemisms for the old time sound, including “like the old folks used to sing” and “let’s go back to the country.” “I Love You” is a new composition with a melody that sounds like it came from a dog-eared hymnal. The final track, “All I Want to Do,” breaks with routine, leaving the listener humming a pop-influenced tune.

I could have stood to hear one more drive-tempo song by the Concert Supremes but no matter: The Message Becomes Clear is a truly enjoyable quartet album, one likely to grow on you after just a few spins.

Three and a Half of Four Stars