Copyright ©1997, ProMotion, inc.
www@acloserlook.com
For about three years now, Sunday nights in Nashville have offered a great opportunity at the Ryman Auditorium. That's when Gary Chapman opens up "Sam's Place" and everybody flocks downtown to see and hear super Christian music from the famous to the just-starting-out and the just-happened-to-be-in-town.
A big part of the evening is hymn-singing. Chapman set this precedent when at the beginning of the very first show he walked out to center stage and sang an old hymn. It has become his traditional way of opening up "Sam's Place," and now he has released a compilation album of ten of these classic hymns.
Track 1 opens with the haunting and melodic instrumental theme song "Sunday at the Ryman" followed by "Amazing Grace." A piano rendition is soon joined by fiddle, and these two instruments form the musical basis for many of the cuts. It's not until the third cut, "Sweet Hour of Prayer" that we hear Chapman sing with a single guitar as worshipful background.
The CD includes Bach's "Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring" (with a harmonica no less), "Softly and Tenderly" with Chet Atkins master work on guitar, and five more including "'Tis So Sweet" which has the strongest country flavor and beat. The only thing that could be better than hearing this CD is sitting in the balcony at the Ryman.
Copyright ©1997, ProMotion, inc.
www@acloserlook.com