Musical Prayers

Editorial Reviews
About the Artist
Born in Chicago, Carol Williams grew up in rural midwestern small towns, always determined to find the voice that would fit her unique style of music. Originally a (keyboardist) singer-songwriter, she belatedly found the tenor sax to be her calling. After 2 years at Berklee College of Music in Boston, she spent 7 years in Army bands before receiving a NEA grant as an instrumentalist. She has recorded 2 albums of poetry-based vocal/instrumental works, plus appears on the album "War Stories" as a featured soloist. An entirely new direction with keyboards now includes "Musical Prayers". Please add the CW attached Photo.

Album Description
"Musical Prayers" is a collection of ten traditional and contemporary hymns set in a new-age style of richly-synthesized keyboard arrangements. Modern yet simple, each is unique and recognizable within a context of rhythmic jazz, blues and folk backgrounds. From a non-traditional version of "Amazing Grace", to the popular 60's anthem "They will know we are Christians (by our love)", "Musical Prayers" (by keyboardist Carol Williams) leaves the listener with an impression of joyous meditation and peace.

Tracks:

Kaddisch
Laudate Dominum
Ave Maria
Amazing Grace
Breit' Uber Mein Haupt
L'assedio Di Corinto: L' Ora Fatal S'appressa... Guisto Ciel !
Pie Jesu
Der Vierjahrige Posten: Gott! hore Meine Stimme!
Sanctus
Maria Stuarda: Preghiera Di Maria
Lacrimosa
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue: Take Care Of This House - Sumi Jo/Phil Chor Koln/Susan Graham
Nun's Chor/Casanova: Laura's Song
Gigi: Say A Prayer For me Tonight
Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child

Amazon.com

This program seems designed primarily to display soprano Sumi Jo's fabulous singing and famous stylistic eclecticism. However, it also exhibits an admirable religious inclusiveness, encompassing expressions of faith from the Latin liturgy to Negro spirituals; there is even a Richard Strauss song that is essentially a paean to love. An incongruous note is struck by a nun's song from an operetta by Benatzky that is a corny Viennese waltz and by a soundtracklike arrangement of a 16th-century Ave Maria. Ranging from Mozart to Broadway, this musical mix is held together by Sumi Jo's ravishingly beautiful, pure, warm voice and the way she can color and inflect it, and by her mastery of every style (though not every language; her German in particular is unintelligible). Her intonation is impeccable, her breath control incredible. Jo's top notes soar triumphantly, and she can sustain them indefinitely, with enough power left to make a crescendo at the end. Highlights include Ravel's "Kaddisch," which sends shivers down the spine; arias from operas by Rossini and Donizetti; and arias from sacred works by Gounod and Fauré. Of two spirituals, the second one is simpler and more convincing. The accompanying forces are excellent; James Conlon doubles as pianist when not conducting. Susan Graham also makes an appearance in the moving invocation "Take Care of This House" from Bernstein's 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. --Edith Eisler

Customer Reviews:

Nice Voice.......2007-05-06

Sumi Jo has a beautiful voice but her renditions of Motherless Child and Amazing Grace were not impressive at all. The vibrato was too uncontrollable. The Ave Maria was so,so. I did not hear the richeness others have declared in their assesments. Don't get me wrong, the instrument is quite beautiful but only in some selected selections.

a voice teacher and early music fan.......2007-02-17

"Music and poetry emerge from man's desire to give thanks, to praise and to pray to his gods. One of the magical powers of the human voice is that it can fly, on the wings of songs (a la Mendelssohn) to heaven and appear to be in direct communication with God." Therefore, it is no surprise that prayer is omnipresent throughout the history of music. Sumi Jo has chosen an excellent representation of songs including most styles and periods which include : Baroque (Caccini)-Classical (Mozart)-Contemporary (Preisner)-Romantic Opera (Rossini,Donizetti)-German 'Singspiel'(Schubert)-Lieder (Richard Strauss)-French church music (Gounod ,Faure)-traditional music (spiritual)-Jewish melodies (Ravel)-Viennese operetta (Johann Strauss) and the American musical (Bernstein).

Sumi Jo, born in Korea,is a much sought after coloratura soprano, having triumphed on stage, and in recitals all over the world. Not being fond of coloraturas, I make an exception for her voice, because of its depth along with the very high register. She shows a great deal of sensitivity to all of her varied selections on this disc, and each delivery is a 'gem' unto itself.

I must personally comment on those works that I particularly enjoy. Hearing her sing Mozart's 'Laudate Dominum' was a real treat; it doesn't matter how often one hears that lovely piece, just like all of his music, it 'wears' well. The 'Pie Jesu' was absolutely stunning as Sumi Jo sang it, and it is a pleasure for me to hear the selection from "GIGI" by Lerner & Loewe; not being a great broadway fan, I have always liked that specific musical. I think because it was well-done when I saw it years and years ago.

This disc is abolutely totally enjoyable. There is something for all musical tastes, and the conductor/pianist James Conlon does a great job pulling it together!!!!!

Sumi Jo- coloratura supreme.......2006-04-09

One word: Lacrimosa. It haunts you and will stay with you long after you hear it. I actually forced several if my coworkers to listen to it many of which are not opera fans and even they could not argue the beauty of it. One of my coworkers was actual on the verge of tears by the end of the song.

The rest of the album is enchanting as well as breath taking. I am a harsh critic when it comes to singers so I do not give those compliments very often, nor am I easily moved by singers but Sumi Jo has certainly done that with this album.

My only complaint is that I would have liked to hear her take of "Ave Maria" by Schubert which, while recorded many times over, would complimented her voice perfectly due to it's simplicity. "Sing low sweet chariot" would have been another great one to hear but as far as spirtuals are concerned I was very happy with her acepella version of "Amazing Grace." I was never a huge fan of "Amazing Grace" since it's been done a thousand times over but she brought such seetness and emotion to it. Of course I am kind of biased becuase I offically hate the "belting" version of this song and that's how it's usually done. It's nice to hear a simple, straight forward version.

My last comment is that it's nice to hear Sumi Jo sing less operatic pieces considering most opera singers are rarely bold enough to sing anything other than classical pieces, excluding Renee Fleming of recent.

Prayerful and beautiful.......2005-11-14

It is a refreshing change to have a collection of arias on a CD with a title that actually bears some relevance to the contents. This is indeed a prayerful collection. That means, of course, that you have to be in the appropriately contemplative mood in order to appreciate it.

Another nice change is that the orchestral accompaniment enhances the singing rather than just tagging along as an afterthought, which often seems to be the case. It is fitting that James Conlon gets equal billing here. This is splendid singing to splendid music.

Sumi Jo is comfortable in any language and in a broad range of styles. I was uncertain how she would tackle songs like Amazing Grace and Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child. I need not have worried. In the latter she reveals a soulfulness that fits the lyrics perfectly.

The only track not worthy of this collection is Bernstein's Take Care of This House. I suppose, as it is a prayer, it was an obvious song to include, and Jo sings it very well, but it is just a very poor song. That still leaves 14 excellent tracks that, if you are a lover of good singing, you will want in your collection.

A spectalce of voice and vocalization.......2004-12-29

I bought this used from an Amazon.com dealer and it came with a cutout on the left side of the CD box. Can this specacular CD possibly have gone out of print by Christmas 2004? If so we have lost one of the benchmark recordings of this splendid artist.

Never is there a weak moment in this incredibly beautiful collection of classical bleeding chunks and spirituals. I don't think you'll confuse Sumi for your favorite spiritual singer in "Amazing Grace" and "Sometimes I feel like a motherless child" but she is magnificent singing the complete and incomplete tunes elsewhere on the CD by famous classical composers including Mozart, Richard Strauss, Rossini, Schubert and Donizetti, to name some of them.

She is in wonderful voice and fresh-faced for the Loewe-Lerner "Say a prayer for me tonight" and does an equally nice job with Susan Graham accompanying Leonard Bernstein's "Take care of this house" from "1600 Pennsylvania Avenue". I'm not much for this kind of music -- I bought this exclusively for her rendition of Mozart's "Laudate Dominum" -- but it adds a dimension to the concert that brings it into the realm of popular Broadway tunes.

This is a wonderful concert of familiar and not so familiar songs from a singer whose voice is eloquent, beautiful and rich, with significant range and span from PPP to FFF. Sumi Jo controls her voice well throughout the concert, giving everyone something to think about regardelss of musical preference. This might have been improved if she'd included a Beatles tune -- maybe "Elenor Rigby" or "Yesterday" -- accompanied by the orchestra and James Conlon's direction. But it stands with any similar collection by any singer as it is.

Average customer rating:

Messianic praise to God how great is that!!

One From Many
Echad
Manufacturer: Independant
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | International | Styles | Music

General | Jazz | Styles | Music

Latin Jazz | Jazz | Styles | Music

General | Miscellaneous | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | International | Indie Music | Stores | Music
ASIN: B000BGQVQA
Release Date: 2005-07-08

Tracks:

Echad
Nachamu Ami
The Wall
Y'hi Ratzon
Kol Adonai
Lest We Forget
Yad Vashem
Baruch Sheamar
Ma Tovu
Eitz Chayim
One Man
Seven
The Wall (acoustic version)

Product Description

From modern versions of traditional Hebrew prayers to melodic expressions of prayer and reflection to praiseful songs with moving rhythms, ONE FROM MANY features a wide variety of musical styles incorporating Jazz, Latin and Klezmer, all in a contemporary Messianic framework.

Customer Reviews:

Messianic praise to God how great is that!!.......2005-10-08

The songs from the CD One From Many by Echad have a Jewish/Spanish flavor to the music. Song Echad speaks of Jewish/Christian unity in Yeshua/Jesus. Guitars and bongos add a unique beat to Messianic music. I really liked many of the songs. Baruch Sheamar is one of my favorites, a song that "Blesses" God. It has a smooth upbeat rhythm blessing God and singing of God's mercy. The female singer has a soothing voice with background singers echoing "Baruch" I really love it. Another favorite of mine is Eitz Chayim. The words "He is the tree of life". The beat is like Klezmer music it makes you want to dance like they did in Fiddler on the Roof. The song is cheerful with the flute, drums and guitar so Jewish so much fun. The art work on the CD is also touching with a Jewish man praying at the Wall (one of the songs). I recommend this CD for its soothing and prayerful affect it has when listening to it but mostly that it honors and praises the most high God.

Average customer rating:

Musical Prayers

ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Christian & Gospel | Styles | Music

General | New Age | Styles | Music

General | Christian & Gospel | Indie Music | Stores | Music

General | New Age | Indie Music | Stores | Music
ASIN: B00000J23R
Release Date: 1998-11-17

Tracks:

Be Thou My Vision
Amazing Grace
All Glory, Laud, and Honor
What Wondrous Love is This
Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise
Shalom
Let Us Break Bread Together
In Christ There Is No East Or West
They Will Know We Are Christians By Our Love
For The Beauty Of The Earth

Album Description

"Musical Prayers" is a collection of ten traditional and contemporary hymns set in a new-age style of richly-synthesized keyboard arrangements. Modern yet simple, each is unique and recognizable within a context of rhythmic jazz, blues and folk backgrounds. From a non-traditional version of "Amazing Grace", to the popular 60's anthem "They will know we are Christians (by our love)", "Musical Prayers" (by keyboardist Carol Williams) leaves the listener with an impression of joyous meditation and peace.

Music:

Music

Music