Shawn E. Okpebholo: Lord, How Come Me Here?

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The most important word for this album is found in the subtitle, "Reimagined," for though most of the record consists of familiar spiritual and folk song titles, this is new, thought-provoking, often soul-wrenching music from composer Shawn E. Okpebholo. His music is presented by two fast-rising stars in the classical vocal world, mezzo-soprano J'Nai Bridges and baritone Will Liverman. The singers are aided expertly by pianist Paul Sánchez, who has worked with Liverman previously, and Sánchez is given quite a bit of difficult work, both technically and harmonically. Okpebholo doesn't shrink away from challenging the singer's ranges on this album, with Bridges covering three octaves in the setting of He's Got the Whole World in His Hands, which the composer has reimagined as a lullaby. He also takes Liverman well into his upper range for a good amount of time in "The Rain," the second of the Two Black Churches song set. Listed as the only original composition by Okpebholo, Two Black Churches sets poems written about two horrific events targeting Black Americans at their places of worship: "Ballad of Birmingham," written by Dudley Randall about the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing that killed four girls during the American civil rights movement, and "The Rain" by Marcus Amaker, penned for Okpebholo, which deals with the murder of nine members of the Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina. Old and new wounds are felt, and Liverman delivers a clear, powerful performance. Okpebholo's take on perhaps the most familiar of spirituals, Swing Low, Sweet Chariot, has an excellent interplay between the piano and Caen Thomason-Redus on flute, with quick, accented arpeggios from the piano and flourishes and flutters from the flute, both underscoring the excited thoughts of freedom. This album earned a Grammy nomination for Best Classical Solo Vocal Album.
© Keith Finke /TiVo