Search - Chelle! & Friends :: Sweetbread

Get out there and shake some joy!

J. Angus Macdonald | Concord, CA United States | 02/06/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Chelle! & Friends is one of the most emotionally intense acts currently running in the San Francisco Bay Area. Michelle Jacques, Rhonda Crane, Jay Lamont Bryan Dyer, Debbie Fier and, Sam Bevan form a group that runs the musical gamut form joyous gospel to smokey blues to world-weary work songs and mix in a pure happiness that lifts the spirit with a bit of sorrow that is always tinged with hope. Not being as well-versed with the antecedants of this music, I have a hard time drawing direct comparisons in terms of groups and styles, but what a wonder it is to hear this group in action!



Sea Line Woman -- With minimal percussion and some amazing harmonica work to back it up, this is a near a capella track about the mysterious and seductive lady seen out of the corner of your eye. Such seductions, however, you quickly find have a price tag attached to them.

Come Ye -- Wow. "Come ye, ye who would have peace"; who would have thought those words to be so sensuous? A song of hope, a song of possibilities, but also a song to leave you fanning yourself as the temperature rises.

My God is a Rock -- These are roots that go down to the core, faith as pure as you could want coupled with true acts. This is a song that will lift your spirits as quickly as anything.

Universal Soldier -- The first time I heard this cover I cried. The second time, I cried. The third time, I cried. Every time I have heard it, I have cried. This is a powerful, spare double song, beginning with an a capella rendition of "Univerisal Soldier", slowly adding in "America the Beautiful" with a snap-snare beating a tattoo in the background. Devastating. Magnificent. So sad.

John the Revelator -- The introduction sounds like it is pulled from an old 78 from back in the '30s or '40s, but then whips into the modern day with a full-throated gospel sound that will sweep you along. And then there is the "out-tro"...

How Long? -- "Before this time another year, I may be gone in some lonesome graveyard"; how, with opening lyrics like that, do you have a song that has you up out of your seat and dancing and singing for joy? The pure hope, happiness and love of this song just calls you to your feet. Say amen, somebody!

Doncha Hear Your Poor Mother Calling? -- Feel the sweat, feel the heat, feel the muscles strained to exhaustion, this is a song done as a chaingang work piece, replete with the rise and fall of the hammers on the rock.

Be My Husband -- A song of love, devotion, and also of the compromises all relationships necessarily entail, here is the tale of a woman promising much to her man, as long as he is willing to keep his end of the bargain. Sometimes love is a little bit complicated, but it is oh so worth it.

Four Women -- One voice, a variety of instruments blending in and out, and in short form deft sketches of the lives of four women. You feel their troubles, their aspirations, their anger, their hope. Powerful, deep, emotional, and personal.

Sweetbread -- This song has some of the funkiest bass lines I have ever heard in my life! This is a song for family, especially children; it's all about love, family, home cookin', and being purely, happily alive! When the song ends you keep singing along with it anyway. What a great way to end an album!



Obviously I love this album and these people. So why have I only given this album four star? It's Too Short! The album leaves me wanting more, just the same sort of feeling I get when I hear them live! This is not a very long album by modern cd standards, though it does have the advantage here of a low price. However, if this album doesn't make you cry, laugh, and get out of your chair and DANCE, then I would be simply amazed.



Feel the love. Feel the joy. Hope and dance. That's what Chelle! & Friends is all about."

Hand Raisin', Booty Shaking Praisin'

Rowan Cordelia | 02/11/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Sweetbread is artfully layered with thoughtful, soulful praise that raises the listener to a higher place in mind and spirit. An artful mix of instrumentation and vocals that is promised to lead you on what is almost a spiritual journey of America's history.



This is not a release to be easily ignored."