Juanita Bynum & Jonathan Butler - Gospel Goes Classical

Reviewed by Simon Redfern

The Gospel Goes Classical event started in 2003 with this DVD being recorded live at the last performance. New York-based singer, author, teacher and preacher (or prophetess as she likes to be known) Juanita Bynum has teamed up with South African guitar virtuoso and singer Jonathan Butler to bring gospel fans a rather glamorous presentation of songs with the backing of a full symphonic orchestra. The presentation as you can imagine is top-notch with a glossy DVD recorded in high definition for greater audio visual clarity. The event itself is equally as glossy, with all the glitz of the orchestra in penguin suits and the backing of a gospel choir in a huge venue. The songs begin with "Ride On King Jesus", which takes awhile to get going given the amount of talking Juanita does over the music before the singing commences. When it does move on, the orchestral backing is slightly overpowering and has the feel of a Disney soundtrack (as with the majority of tracks on the DVD) with Juanita's vocals being reminiscent of Phylis Nelson. Track two, "I Need You To Survive" is more of a ballad-style song, but again has a Disney feel to it with vocals edging more towards Mariah Carey - this warbling style is very prominent in a great deal of modern R&B, but maybe if she just held the one note it would better showcase her vocal range! Jonathan is a brilliant guitarist and brings an air of jazz to his songs with "Don't You Worry" being a great example with an excellent full band helping to pick up the pace. I have to say his performances do more to switch me on as his musicianship is so strong and his vocals have a more real feeling. Sadly, although Juanita is obviously a technically impressive singer, to me her lyrics seem a bit too clichéd and her vocal stylings don't, in truth, stand out from the crowd of gospel divas. Also, Juanita's pained expressions whilst singing don't do her any favours on a DVD! So, despite its big sales, this DVD is an acquired taste.