The LoveTones – Jubilee

The LoveTones
Jubilee
Myracle Records (2002)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=TS9U0gu_dpw

With a name like the LoveTones, you’d think this New England–based group would be singing street corner vocal harmony classics such as “Lily Maybelle,” “A Thousand Miles Away” or “In the Still of the Night.”

Instead, they sing hymns and spirituals.

In fact, their 2002 release, Jubilee, is a rarity today: a CD dedicated completely to old hymns and spirituals or, as the front cover proclaims, “American songs that are a spiritual legacy to all people.”

Walter Cooper of the LoveTones reports that the a cappella group has been together for twenty years and has established a large following in the process. The group performs in a variety of venues, “from homeless shelters to grand ballroom events,” Cooper said, “and in secular as well as faith-based programs.”

On Jubilee, the LoveTones ensemble sometimes sings with the formality of jubilee singers (“Give Me Jesus”) and other times with the vocal flexibility of a quartet (“Amen”). Some selections get an a cappella treatment and others are backed with keyboard, bass and percussion.

The group is busy working on a new project to be released soon, and is promoting Jubilee in the meantime. Jubilee includes spiritual staples such as “Wade in the Water,” “Steal Away,” and “Deep River.” Despite their proclivity for hymns and spirituals, the LoveTones inject gospel techniques into their work. For example, the hymn “Near the Cross” includes some hard-singing by the lead, and “Glory, Glory” is an out-and-out congregational sing-along.

Most of the songs feature a lead vocalist, and some leads are stronger than others. You can see and hear the group ministering live on YouTube via the link above.

Three of Five Stars


gPod Picks: “Give Me Jesus,” “Glory, Glory.”

Reviewed by Bob Marovich for The Black Gospel Blog.