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Once again the wildly creative Waterdeep team has joined forces with a merry band of equally talented artists to put forth a new Voice project: "Son of the Most High."
Some of the Christian music community’s most interesting players flew to Kansas City for four days of recording with Don & Lori Chaffer in another effort to bring alive the story of the Bible. Each of the twelve tracks flows from the Scripture references of Handel’s Messiah, using the new Bible translation coming out from Thomas Nelson. Suite reviewed the first project, the deeply compelling “Please Don’t Make Us Sing This Song,” and fell hard for both its spiritual direction and its musical success in attaining it. (Read review here). This second album, “Son of the Most High,” hits all the same high notes, and offers the additional delight of being slightly more accessible than the first. The songs put to music mostly Old Testament passages foretelling and describing the coming King. The effect? They manage to create a beautiful sense of excitement, expectancy, and finally, celebration, of this Greatest Gift from Above. From Tyler Burkum’s softly appealing opener, "He Will Feed His Fold," on, this tight band of artists conveys a joyous excitement and gratitude. I enjoyed the mix of artistic personalities and genres, from Tara Leigh Cobble’s bluesy rocker, “Radiant,” to Kendall Payne’s twangy take on “A Great Light,” to the rhythmic delights of Andrew Osenga’s “He is Coming.” The bluegrass feel of Maeve’s “Fill This House” rides atop a bed of rich vocals that blend gorgeously, and get ready to hear Matt Wertz’ soothing folkie side on "Comfort, Comfort." Don Chaffer’s production skills show up brilliantly all over the place, including Jill Paquette’s rousing rendition of that most beautiful passage, Isaiah 9:6. Andrew Peterson gives us “Arise, Shine,” a piano-driven tableau of focused strength, and Steven Delopoulos’ “The Seventh Trumpet” takes a staccato run at the prophetic passage Isa. 35:5-6, its captivating Mid-eastern beats absolutely perfect. Lori Chaffer’s soft vocals dance prettily with the strong violin of “Perfectly Fitted.” An appealing sense of strength runs throughout this project, and it was one of the attributes I found most enjoyable, important even in a project such as this. The communal closer, “They Were Terrified,” shares this commanding quality as well as a wonderful sense of deep reverence. Don Chaffer has led his merry band of worshippers to a true triumph with “Son of the Most High.” I don’t know what it says about our community that the gifts of Waterdeep are as overlooked as they are, but I consider the loss to be significant. Find out more about “Songs From the Voice, Volume 2” at their website.
The copyright of the article Son of the Most High in Christian Music is owned by Kevan Breitinger. Permission to republish Son of the Most High in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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