M E R I D I A N     M A G A Z I N E

Soothing Sabbath Sounds in New Instrumental Recordings
By Laurie Williams Sowby

Happily for those looking for some Sabbath-day listening or anytime uplift, new instrumental albums by Latter-day Saint composers and artists abound. Here's a sampling; all are available through their web sites and wherever LDS music is sold.

·     Marshall McDonald presents his fifth full-length album in as many years with "Our Savior's Love," featuring 12 hymns and religious anthems with the pianist's personal touch. Variations in melody and rhythm help set McDonald's arrangements apart from the usual. Some, such as "O Divine Redeemer" and "The Spirit of God," are embellished by full orchestration by Robert Bowden, while others, such as "Jesus, the Very Thought of Thee," a lovely cello-piano duet with Steve Nelson, are beautiful in their simplicity.

It's almost all instrumental, with the exception of a vocal duet, "How Great Thou Art." While well done by McDonald and high soprano Jennifer White, the vocal seems a bit out of place here. Check out this recording by Covenant at www.covenant-lds.com.

·     For pure piano aficionados who appreciate hymns played in less elaborate yet pleasantly appealing arrangements, newcomer Clifford Robinson offers "Sabbath Day, Volume I," an hour's worth of spirituality-inducing listening. The talent that saw him called as stake organist at age 13 is evident in the 16 gentle hymns played in an understated yet elegant style.Robinson, well-known for his musical abilities throughout the Northwest U.S. as well as western Canada, came up with the idea of recording his arrangements while laid off from his computer job. He seems such a natural, we can only hope he'll keep finding time to record more once he's fully employed again. You can hear more of his work at www.CliffRobinsonMusic.biz.

·     J. Ryan Moody is a young man in American Fork, Utah, whose body is limited by spina bifida but whose spirit has other ideas.  He has produced his second album of hymn arrangements. Moody enlisted the help of Sam Cardon to orchestrate strings to go with his original renditions on the piano, which he's been performing for years in church and at funerals.

·     Guitarist Michael Dowdle is in his usual fine form with his latest album, "Beloved Hymns of Prayer and Faith," his third in the "Beloved Hymns" series. In this generous collection of 25 hymns, Dowdle displays his considerable expertise in not just performance but arrangement. His acoustic guitar solos include not only the melody but also the harmony and accompanying broken chords.

·     Floridian Marvin Goldstein offers "My Favorite Songs from LDS Songwriters," a two-CD set from MG Productions. Rather than hymns, these are his piano arrangements of popular but more mellow LDS songs from albums, stage productions and seminary films. For anyone old enough to remember when "Saturday's Warrior" started it all, this CD is a trip down memory lane.

·     "The Very Best of David Glen Hatch" is a two-disc collection on the Covenant label featuring the pianist and his intriguing arrangements. One disc contains 16 arrangements of inspirational music – hymns as well as a couple of Janice Kapp Perry tunes.  The second disc has 17 romantic and classical favorites culled from previous albums.

·     Probably the least mainstream yet thoroughly enjoyable new instrumental CD is "Emma's Hymns," subtitled "Beautiful Hymns to Warm the Heart." From Covenant, it features folk artists Mark Geslison and Geoff Groberg playing several unusual instruments, including many they've crafted themselves.

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