Search - Mahalia Jackson :: Recorded Live Europe Latest Concert

MJ Live in Europe: Essential, InDISpensable, Eternal Joy

Dan Fee | Berkeley, CA USA | 08/15/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Finally, at last! I thought when I saw this released on CD again. I have been an MJ fan since high school when I started on my long spiritual journey through life via an old-fashioned conversion experience in a country church, with an outhouse planted among the weeds and flowers of the field.



My spiritual views have changed lots since then, as I became more aware of life and learned some about world religions, ancient and modern. What hasn't changed is the primacy of Mahaliah Jackson, singing this gospel music.



Growing up in New Orleans, MH heard lots of jazz, blues, and even opera on a neighbor's windup phonograph. But she was born to sing gospel music, and she knew it. Offers came throughout her career to venture into either jazz or blues, since her voice was one of the most notable physical instruments since ... whom? The most MJ would do was join Duke Ellington at the Newport Jazz Festival in a vocal section of his suite for jazz orchestra.



Three things made MJ's gospel singing unique. Musically, her voice was capable of the most amazing mezzo range, as well as being able to whisper, lift, trumpet, pray, and shout joy with the best of them. It is safe to say that no other voice yet recorded ever surpassed MJ, though some may have, in their own ways, reached equal heights of gospel witness. And that witness is the necessary second hallmark of MJ's greatness. She believed, and to all accounts, tried to live the witness she sang in her songs. One classic is titled, I gotta live the life I sing about in my song. It would be a truthful title for MJ's whole life. As she herself said, 'I never feel tempted to sing the blues. A person singing the blues is calling out, from the bottom of a deep, dark well, all alone. And as a Christian I just am never really in that position." The last hallmark that distinguishes MJ is her accompanist, Mildred Falls.



The special place of this CD is that is combines all three main ingredients in a live concert mix that instantly goes to the very top ... of MJ recordings, as well as gospel recordings. If you ever thought that Mildred Falls was often called upon to lead backup groups in MJ recordings, some of whom just couldn't quite keep up with her authenticity, this album gives you the pure, undiluted MF on the piano. Not only is Mildred Falls capable of impeccable gospel piano style, she is an angel of an accompanist. The rapport with her singer is a lesson many musicians of all genres might take to heart, and every time you listen, if you are really listening, you must light a witness candle of your own to the example of Mildred Falls' genius.



Then you have the real MJ here, too. The voice is power, the voice is magic, the voice is God's trumpet sounding off the walls of Jericho. Oddly enough, in these contentious days when Religious Right factions of all sorts are busy demonizing and condemning everybody who doesn't agree exactly with their religion, Mahaliah Jackson shows that a true and genuine faith commitment doesn't need to hide its lights under a bushel, nor occupy itself with judging the unchurched neighbor.



For better or for worse, ... and I say, definitely, for better ... MJ sang about God in her own life. In the best African American Baptist traditions, she simply rose to her feet, opened her mouth, and sang what was in her heart and mind. She sang about what she thought God had done in her own life. The polls tell us that the fictionalized triology about the end of the world, based loosely on the New Testament Book of Revelations (as read in that eccentric millenial theology that extreme right Christianity has long carried in USA religious history), has become best seller. It cannot help but wring its hands gleefully over the waywardness of sinners, and the apocalypse of world destruction that millenial believers always expect to happen in their own generation. Truth is, its theology comes across as more than a bit bloodthirsty, and smug.



But when MJ sings, you never hear even a scintilla of that smug, I-am-saved-and-you-are-not religious superiority. No, MJ is welcoming in her religious witness, throwing the gates of the heavenly city wide open, and saying/singing, in effect, "Whosoever will, let him or her come in." How else to account for the worldwide audiences who welcomed MJ whenever she sang? People knew she was one African American Baptist Christian who sang to each of them, whoever they were. This is indeed a hallmark of any great singing artist, that ability to seem to sing to each individual's heart and mind (and soul, in gospel music), even when the audience numbers in the hundreds or thousands. But in MJ's case, her charisma was inseparable from her witness as a believer. It is not unlikely that many people attended her concerts, to get an experience of church that was otherwise not accessible to them as the demonizing and judgmental religions shut the bank-vault, time-locked doors of their self-righteous kingdoms in the faces of somebody who might have gone to an MJ concert.



When MJ sings of God's goodness, you believe that goodness can exist in the world. And that makes for a rare moment, more and more difficult to come by in our current era of music-for-money and totalitarian, slick religion. When MJ sings she is not marketing, and she is not doing a focus group. She is telling her truth, and she doesn't have to diss anybody else in particular to prophesy. (cf. prophecy is defined as: 'speaking truth to power.') Thank goodness!



The other incredible dimension of this CD is that it was recorded live. You can experience that ebb and flow between MJ, MF, and the audience. Everybody is obviously on board the gospel train in this concert, if my ears can be trusted. The moments of jubilation are participation moments, just as they are in MJ's home church. The quiet moments of reflection are ever so clear a window on some kind of musical eternity, billowing and broadening vocally into that uniquely generous big sound MJ could muster as easily as not.



In MJ's witness, then, God is not against spontaneity, nor ashamed of human feelings, nor capable of bad music. No bad music in God's kingdom, if MJ is any saint to lead us there. And lead us there, she does, in this CD.



I confess I own other MJ recordings. How could I resist? But this one is the truest, purest, and most unadulterated of them all. It disappears from the catalogue, and stays gone for decades. My advice is, get it now. Every time you play it, you realize how accurate and apt the titles, Queen of Gospel, and World's Greatest Gospel Singer, were. Through MJ's singing, you can join in. Dare to sway along with her as part of the great historical communion of saints, for that is what she brings to this concert in the most vivid, alive manner possible. Who knows? You might want to try out your own calling, to speak some truth to power, however that suits your situation. MJ reminds us this is possible, perhaps even inevitable, when you are living your life truthfully.



If all you care about is the music, then go ahead and buy this CD. If you care about music, plus; ditto. Five stars in that starry crown of heaven which MJ is no doubt wearing as I write. Yeah, people, this CD is just that good. Final hint: the other absolutely brilliant CD is mono, The World's Greatest Gospel Singer, one of MJ's first under contract to Columbia. It has the most incredible backup group ever assembled for her. They all cook bacon while juggling chairs, and MJ is MJ. Yes, MF is pianist in that backup group, too. Check it out, while you wait for this hit to arrive in the mails.



"

Hallelujah!

J. Lawson | Springfield, MO United States | 07/11/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Thanks to the good folks at Sony Legacy, I can put away my time-worn mono lp of this fabulous Mahalia Jackson release. The CD is amazing, bringing out every nuance in Mahalia's glorious voice and accompanist Mildred Falls' piano. A friend listening to this with me thought it was the best Mahalia CD he had ever heard. A great reissue--keep them coming. The bonus tracks, recorded in France during the same 1961 tour, are thrilling."

Recorded Live in Europe

jhgme | Los Angeles, CA USA | 12/12/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I have been an avid collector of Mahalia's recordings for more than 35 years including the original release of her Recorded Live In Europe. This is the absolutely the best recording she has ever done. The pairing of longtime gospel pianist Mildred Falls accompanying Mahalia brings out the best of their talents. Fortunately, Mahalia was stripped of the excessive orchestration of later recordings. The energy of this live audience drives her to the heights of her powers. No Mahalia fan should be without this. It is simply miles beyond any of her other recordings. I've never tired of hearing it for the last 35 years."