Bishop Leonard Scott

This is a very strange album. That’s probably not a great way to start off a review, but it’s the phrase that kept going through my mind each time I listened to Be Lifted Up, so there you have it. If you’re a fan of praise and worship music, though, it’s …. Well, maybe it isn’t, exactly. You say you were raised on Andrae Crouch? Okay – there are moments here for you. Maybe you’re more into that big, funky gospel choir thing? There’s a little of that every now and then. Jazz? Carribean? Salsa? Rock? Yes, there’s a little bit of each of those genres represented on this project, but I’m afraid that instead of coming off as a pleasant variety of styles it creates a somewhat schizophrenic listening experience. While it’s true that you can probably find something that you begin to get into musically, it’s taken away abruptly on the next track. The resulting lack of momentum in any particular direction made me wonder exactly who the intended audience for this album might be. Purists of any of the styles here will probably be disappointed.

Be Lifted Up is a live recording and is also being packaged as a DVD, which is probably the better experience although the album alone offers up a generous 77 minutes!. The performances, which sound very clinical and ’studio clean,’ no-doubt come more to life seeing the musicians actually creating the sounds on the DVD. In contrast to the over-polished sound of the band is the sometimes too-intimate ‘worship moments’ which are strategically scattered throughout the project: this might be a personal bias, but I’d rather not hear emotional ‘groanings that cannot be uttered,’ which are intended for God’s ears alone. This is, no doubt, a subject to consider in another context, but is still an aspect of the recording that should be pointed out.

A scan of song titles reveal this to be a fairly generic collection of songs with titles that seem to be common to every other album that’s released to the gospel market: “You Are my Source,” “Mighty God,” “Jesus, You’re Worthy,” “Lord You Reign,” “Send the Rain,” etc. Aside from the basic organ, bass, drums and guitar, there’s a tight horn section, a choir and soloists (at least one of which, Randy Jackson would have to call ‘pitchy’). Joining the concert are Darwin Hobbs and Rachel “We Couldn’t Get Mariah” Lampa, who each perform their guest duties well. As a matter of fact, there’s really not much wrong with Be Lifted Up – the problem is that there’s not much to get excited about, either. It’s only when the ensemble gets into a jazz groove – which they do a few times here – that things start to sound very interesting. If this same group committed to a true jazz-gospel project it would probably be an excellent recording. By trying to become all things (musical) to all men, they’ve no doubt, lost some.

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