I was first turned on to the Sojourners on the tribute to The Mississippi Shieks, ‘Things About Comin' My Way.’ Their version of 'He Calls That Religion' was one of the highlights on an album filled with a multitude of highlights. When I listen to Gospel blues, in the vein of The Sojourners, I'm not immediately turned off by the message as I am with contemporary Christian music. The message seems more subtle, more open to a vast array of interpretations, more about the common sense of justice and tolerance than for the common furthering of a particular religious belief. I'm sure there's contemporary Christian music that is open for similar interpretation, I just haven't gone that deep into it. Enough on that. The Sojourners eponymous release, their second,is a brilliant recording that celebrates that  common message of justice,  equality and tolerance in harmony with a trio of skillful vocalists backed by a band of superb players.

The Sojourners actually formed in 2006 by accident. As the legend has it Canadian blues staple Jim Byrnes was in need of some heavy backing vocalists during a recording session. He phoned Marcus Mosely and asked him to round up a backing trio. Mosely, a Texas native living in Vancouver, contacted two friends Will Sanders and Ron Small to join him in the session. Byrnes dubbed them The Sojourners, the name stuck and well for lack of a less cliche sentiment, the rest is, or will be, history. Magic is magic and The Sojourners have it.

Shortly after those sessions the band released 'Hold On' (Black Hen 2007) under the  guidance of Juno Award winning guitarist and label head for Black Hen Music, Steve Dawson. With some fifty years each in the music business one can hardly call the Sojourners newcomers.  This is a trio of highly seasoned professional singers with airtight harmony, perfect pitch and unworldly range. That they are now featured as a trio is a testamentto the commitment by Steve Dawson and Black Hen to release quality music with unyielding hope that the public will gather around it.

The Sojourners (Black Hen 2010) is part of a growing continuation of traditional gospel music that is weaving it's way back into the fabric of popular music. You can hear it in many configurations that draw on the very roots of blues, country, soul and Americana music. Norah Jones, Shemekia Copeland, Ruthie Foster and even Band of Heathens among many others are finding that when you strip away the layers of paint most of the
traditional forms of music are rooted in Gospel. Gospel itself rooted in the "sorrow songs" that arose during repatriation after the  abolishment of slavery. Listen to the Band of Heathens 'Golden Calf' or go back to Sam Cooke 'Touch The Hem of His Garment' if you need to find a reference point. When you listen to The Sojourners, the vocals and the Hammond B3 along
with some understated guitar by Dawson don't overwhelm the message of the material, they allow you to breathe it in within the context of the power that the music wields. It's there if you want it and it's just outstanding music if you don't.

The Sojourners is a collection of traditional songs arranged by Mosely, Sanders, Small andDawson, along with some well known classics from some of the genres most acclaimed members like Doris Akers, Rev. Gary Davis, D.L.Coates and others. Hammond B3 master Mike Kalanj fills around the vocals with cathedral-like precision and the rhythm section of Keith Lowe, bass and Geoff Hicks, drums round out the quartet (along with Dawson on guitars) that drives the album. There's an interesting cover of the Los Lobos track 'The Neighborhood' which doesn't seem as out of place as it sounds when viwed in the context of civil rights and social justice that David Hidalgo champions.

Their version of Rev. Davis' classic 'Death Don't Have No Mercy' is chilling if not eerily reminiscent of the Grateful Dead's tribute. 'Another Soldier Gone' written during the Civil War, it's most memorable rendition done by The Violinaires, is as contemporary now as I'm sure it was then and is perhaps the selling point for this collection. If you are unfamiliar with what true Gospel music is about, that song is a fine entry point. In fact this entire  collection should be on your list of things to do when you are searching for music that just makes you go back to why you lovemusic in the first place. The fact that it's a spirited message for troubled times is just extra.

REVIEWS

Blogcritics.org:
http://blogcritics.org/music/article/music-review-the-sojourners-the-sojourn
ers1/

Quiverfullfamily.com:

http://quiverfullfamily.com/2010/02/26/music-review-the-sojourners-the-sojou
rners/

Another great Sojourners CD review, this time by John Taylor in Blog Critics:
http://blogcritics.org/music/article/music-review-the-sojourners-the-sojourners/