Big. Huge. Awe-inspiring. Those are the words that came to my mind while watching the first few minutes of Ron Kenoly's Sing Out With One Voice. As was his goal for the project, he created a video that takes praise and worship music to a whole new dimension.
This elaborate video centers around the dedication of Solomon's temple as told in II Chronicles 1-7. Poised against a 100-foot backdrop of the temple is the 350-voice choir which is joined by an orchestra and an all-star band. Also adding to the incredible breadth of the project is The African Children's Choir and a dance troupe led by Tobin James. Over 9,000 people attended the recording at Carpenter's Home Church in Lakeland, Florida. I would go so far as to say that it would be hard for you not to be awestruck at the magnitude of this production.
Concerning the "staging" and lack of spontaneity, Kenoly states, "When you begin to study the dedication of Solomon's temple, as well as the processional, you see that it was a very organized production. From the orchestration to the choreography, it was all very well produced."
The music mixes some Latin flavor (and even a Ron Kenoly rap) into the big gospel-choral performances, along with several scaled-down Kenoly solo-dominated songs which keep the project from leaning too far in any one direction. I think it will have a wide appeal to fans of urban, gospel, and praise and worship music-and maybe even further than that. One small gripe is that there were way too many intellabeams constantly flitting across the set. They keep crossing the camera path and flashing the screen. I think they were also a little distracting to a production that was inspired by such an ancient event.
Unless you really don't like gospel choir music, then I recommend that you see this video. It will probably amaze you.
