'A more honest title for these albums would be "We Needed An Excuse to Flog This Random Selection of Songs to the Public, and This Film (insert title here) Seemed Good Enough"'

George Luke looks at the musical tributes that have been released for the abolition of slavery anniversary.

The 25th of this month marks the bicentenary of the abolition of the Transatlantic slave trade (not that you needed reminding, given all the coverage there’s been leading up to it, especially here!).

And as expected, there are quite a few musical tributes to the great occasion on the market.

The musical Cargo is Paul Field’s offering to the celebrations. It’s a bold attempt to illustrate the parallels between the slave trade of centuries ago and the exploitation of people today, inviting the viewer/listener to put themselves in the slaves’ place and join the Abolition effort.

Sir Tom Courtenay narrates; Coco Mbassi and Sadie Chamberlain join Paul on vocals, and the whole effort has the backing of Compassion International and Stop the Traffik, amongst others.

Moving

Cargo is a very moving piece of work. Paul avoids the pitfall of making Wilberforce the poster boy of the movement, giving equal attention to Equiano, Clarkson and other less prominent Abolitionists.

And the accounts of victims of human trafficking today – particularly the story of ‘Maria’ the sex slave – are just too heartbreaking for words.

If you can get to see Cargo at a venue near you, do. Otherwise, get this CD and the other resources, and see how you can put on a production of your own.

Christian music’s other big Abolition-related release is the album accompanying the Wilberforce biopic, Amazing Grace.

It’s not strictly a soundtrack album; instead it’s one of those “songs inspired by” albums the Christian music industry tends to trot out whenever there’s a big film to rally the flock around.

I’ve always had mixed feelings about the “songs inspired by a movie” concept. At worst, it can seem like a blatant attempt to cash in on a film’s success – a good example being the Moses cartoon The Prince of Egypt, which had two of the things, plus a soundtrack album.

And sometimes it’s hard to see how the films in question inspired the songs on the albums – or even if they really did. The album of songs inspired by Mel Gibson’s Passion of the Christ had a track by Elvis!

The man died 20-odd years before the film was made! How could anything he ever did have been inspired by it?

Title

A more honest title for these albums would be We Needed An Excuse to Flog This Random Selection of Songs to the Public, and This Film (insert title here) Seemed Good Enough. But that’s probably too many words to fit on the front of a CD cover!

My favourite of the lot is Dave Crowder’s sparse but impassioned “Rock of Ages”. Kierra ‘Kiki’ Sheard and Smokie Norful bring some soul to the proceedings with their takes on “Nearer My God to Thee” and “Were You There?” respectively.

They’re the only black artists on an album that’s meant to celebrate the end of slavery. Go figure, as the Americans say.

The weekend before the Abolition bicentenary kicks off, I will go through my annual St. Patrick’s Day ritual of putting on a green shirt and downing a pint of Guinness in any one of the four or so Irish pubs within walking distance of my home.

In columns past, I’ve reviewed a couple of albums that would make a great accompaniment to this (Moya Brennan, Brian Houston). Now here’s another.

Blair

Fields of Freedom (subtitled “Celtic Hymns and Meditations”) is the latest album from the Blair Band – the Celtic rock outfit fronted by Ric Blair, multi-instrumentalist and one-time guitar tutor to Sheryl Crow.

As the subtitle suggests, it’s a collection of popular hymns such as “Be Thou My Vision”, “Just As I Am” and “Amazing Grace”, plus some stirring instrumental interludes and meditations read by Sheila Walsh. Guitar legend Phil Keaggy also guests.

Recorded live in Alabama, it would have been a much stronger album if they’d given us the edited highlights on one disc, as opposed to stretching the whole show over two. Disc Two is an enhanced CD with videos of a couple of performances – no doubt a taster for the inevitable live DVD.

Links to CDs on Amazon.co.uk – use these links to buy these titles and Christian Aid benefits

Paul Field – Cargo
Various – Music Inspired by the Motion Picture Amazing Grace
Ric Blair Band – Fields of Freedom
Juanita Bynum & Jonathan Butler – Gospel Goes Classical

• View other Tunes columns