Go Tell It on the Mountain (CD - 2003)

Additional personnel includes: Solomon Burke, Mavis Staples, Les McCann, Tom Waits, Aaron Neville, Michael Franti, John Medeski, Duke Robillard.

GO TELL IT ON THE MOUNTAIN won the 2004 Grammy Award for Best Traditional Soul Gospel Album.

Personnel: Les McCann, Me'Shell Ndegéocello (vocals, piano); Chrissie Hynde, Clarence Fountain, George Clinton , Aaron Neville, Jimmy Carter , Mavis Staples, Michael Franti, Shelby Lynne, Solomon Burke, Tom Waits, George Scott, The Blind Boys of Alabama (vocals); Duke Robillard (guitar); Danny Thompson (double bass); Michael Jerome (drums).

Audio Mixer: Jimmy Hoyson.

Recording information: Capitol Studio 'B", Los Angeles, CA; Paul Smith Music Studios, London, England; Piety Street Recording, New Orleans, LA; The Record Plant, Sausalito, CA.

Photographers: Henry Diltz; John Beverly Jones.

Arrangers: Chris Goldsmith; John Chelew ; The Blind Boys of Alabama.

On the surface, one might fear the taint of market-research exploitation on an album where this classic gospel group backs a variety of famous guests on well known Christmas songs, but that fear is aesthetically unfounded. The Blind Boys of Alabama, for all their soulful gravitas, function extremely well in a support role (though their "solo" track, "Last Month of the Year," is one of the most memorable moments here). Tom Waits comes off like a half-crazed preacher, throwing down the spiritual gauntlet on "Go Tell It on the Mountain." Chrissie Hynde demonstrates why she's one of the more underrated singers in rock, as she heats up "In the Bleak Midwinter." And, of course, the Aaron Neville and Mavis Staples cuts are no-brainers; how could they possibly not work? Some less expected guests include Spearhead frontman Michael Franti and the funkmaster himself, George Clinton, who brings the blues, if not the funk, to "Away in a Manger." minimize