The Experience (CD - 2001)

Personnel includes: Yolanda Adams (vocals); Gerald Levert (vocals); Charles Willis (guitar); Raymond Reeder, Antoinne Wright (keyboards); Anthony Harmon (bass); Quinjuan Anderson (drums); Victoria Purcell, Slyver Logan Sharp, Rosalind White-Gonsalves (background vocals); Eastern High Shcool Choir Of Washington D.C.

Producers include: Shep Crawford.

Engineers include: Anne Catalino, Jay Goin, James Hoover.

Recorded live at Constitution Hall, Washington D.C. and at The Record Plant Studios, Los Angeles, California.

THE EXPERIENCE won the 2002 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Soul Gospel Album.

This is an Enhanced CD, which contains both regular audio tracks and multimedia computer files.

Personnel: Yolanda Adams (vocals); Gerald LeVert (vocals); Charles Willis, Jay Williams (guitar); Raymond Reeder (keyboards, background vocals); A.J. Wright (keyboards); Quinjuan Anderson (drums); Renee Spearman, Victoria Purcell, Fulfillment Choir, Eastern High School Choir, Prosperity Choir, Darrell Crawford, Sylver Logan Sharp (background vocals).

Audio Mixers: Ben Arrindell; Derek Lewis; Peter Mokran; Tony Flores.

Recording information: Constitution Hall, Washington D.C.; Digital Sounds, Houston, TX; Record Plant Studios, Los Angeles, CA.

Photographer: Ken Schles.

1990s Gospel phenomenon Yolanda Adams's second live album (the first was the 1997 Grammy-nominated LIVE IN WASHINGTON) is about as high-gloss as it gets. If you weren't paying careful attention, you might not even notice that it's religiously themed; the opening "I Believe I Can Fly" (a studio duet with Gerald Levert) sounds more like the big romantic ballad from a hit movie than a paean to the Lord. (Hey, wait a minute--it was the big romantic ballad from a hit movie, specifically the Michael Jordan/Bugs Bunny vehicle SPACE JAM).

In any case, it's not long before the listener gets the message, as Adams sends her sultry alto soaring through a nice selection of songs from her hit album MOUNTAIN HIGH, VALLEY LOW, including "Open My Heart," which occasions some particularly serious testifying. The bottom line is that while the album's carefully calculated mix of gospel, hip-hop, and soul is designed for maximum crossover appeal, it undeniably works, and it should strike even the most secular of humanists as uplifting.

1990s Gospel phenomenon Yolanda Adams's second live album (the first was the 1997 Grammy-nominated LIVE IN WASHINGTON) is about as high-gloss as it gets. If you weren't paying careful attention, you might not even notice that it's religiously themed--the opening "I Believe I Can Fly" (a studio duet with Gerald Levert) sounds more like the big romantic ballad from a hit movie than a paean to the Lord. (Wait a minute--it WAS the big romantic ballad from a hit movie, specifically the Michael Jordan-meets-Bugs Bunny vehicle SPACE JAM).

In any case, it's not long before the listener gets the message, as Adams sends her sultry alto soaring through a nice selection of songs from her hit album MOUNTAIN HIGH, VALLEY LOW, including "Open My Heart," which occasions some particularly serious testifying. The bottom line is that while the album's carefully calculated mix of gospel, hip-hop, and soul is designed for maximum crossover appeal, it undeniably works, and it should strike even the most secular of humanists as uplifting. minimize