Trin-I-Tee 5:7 – Love, Peace, Joy at Christmas

Trin-I-Tee 5:7
Love, Peace, Joy at Christmas
Spirit Rising Music 2009
http://www.musicworldent.com/

The award-winning trio Trin-I-Tee 5:7 has delivered the best gospel Christmas project I’ve heard thus far this season.

Love, Peace, Joy at Christmas is a mix of live performances from the New Orleans group’s appearance on the Gospel Music Channel’s “Christmas at Union Station” program and studio tracks. The selections range from traditional carols such as “Silent Night” and “Joy to the World” to more recently-penned favorites “Mary Did You Know” and “Welcome to Our World.”

Trin-I-Tee (Chanelle Haynes, Angel Taylor and Adrian Anderson) caress the songs on Love, Peace, Joy at Christmas with their lovely voices while giving the arrangements a dose of their trademark rhythmic swagger. Label mate Brian Courtney Wilson, currently riding the gospel music charts, closes the album with a soulful “This Christmas.”

The lullaby-like “Welcome to Our World,” is the best recording on the album, but a close second – believe it or not – is Trin-I-Tee’s “Little Drummer Boy.” Here the vocal lines are nearly as percussive as the drummer, who in this variation provides a throbbing beat that out-performs every other Little Drummer Boy I’ve heard on record.

The album works because it has a friendly, easy-going, light bounce to it. Adrian explained in a press release, “Before Trin-I-Tee even went into the studio, we went back and studied classic albums and video clips of Christmas material that we considered timeless.” The ladies clearly did their homework, because that is exactly how the album sounds. The Bama Boyz, who produced the album, also helped tremendously by accentuating the vocals and keeping the talented musicians at a modest distance.

The five live performances from “Christmas at Union Station” are available for viewing, courtesy of the special companion DVD.

Four of Five Stars

gPod Picks: “Welcome to Our World”