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Things you may or may not know about Amazing Grace
This isn’t my favorite version of Amazing Grace but it’s great in its own way. Some interesting back ground on gospel music included. Did you know gospel music can be played on all the black notes of the piano. The gospel singer here, Wintley Phipps made me laugh when he relayed a piece of advise someone in his life gave to him. Paraphrasing a bit, “You can’t climb a mountain if the sides are smooth.” Love that. Anyway when it’s sung by someone with the right voice but more importantly the right heart it’s on my top ten of songs. This isn’t in my top ten of the top ten versions but the history appealed to me. You could fast forward to where the history lesson ends but it helps accent the performance. This is a cut and paste” “At Carnegie Hall, gospel singer Wintley Phipps delivers perhaps the most powerful rendition of Amazing Grace ever recorded. He says, “A lot of people don’t realize that just about all Negro spirituals are written on the black notes of the piano. Probably the most famous on this slave scale was written by John Newton, who used to be the captain of a slave ship, and many believe he heard this melody that sounds very much like a West African sorrow chant. And it has a haunting, haunting plaintive quality to it that reaches past your arrogance, past your pride, and it speaks to that part of you that’s in bondage. And we feel it. We feel it. It’s just one of the most amazing melodies in all of human history.” After sharing the noteworthy history of the song, Mr. Phipps delivers a stirring performance that brings the audience to its feet! If you have a version you like let me know I’ll check it out and add it to my collection.
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