Sweet Honey in the Rock: Selections 1976-1988

Start with some traditional African music, mix in some gospel, add some heightened feminist and civil-rights consciousness and stir with some very strong 'n' spiritual African-American females, and you've got Sweet Honey in the Rock, the a cappella ensemble that's charmed audiences all over the globe. This 2-CD set contains their groundbreaking recordings for the Flying Fish and Redwood labels, including such favorites as Wade in the Water (whose title band member Bernice Johnson Reagon used for her NPR series); Peace; Fannie Lou Hamer; Meyango; The Gift of Love , and more. 34 songs!

Of course they're preachy--that's what preachers do. The long-running black women's a cappella group (plus an extra member who signs the songs in American Sign Language) is absolutely serious about their historically researched narratives of women and liberation: the struggle against oppression is serious business. But Bernice Johnson Reagon and the group she's led since 1973 also sing like the angels, with harmonies drawn from black American gospel and African traditional music, and when their voices fall to a charged hush, wailing and humming in solidarity, they're incredibly powerful. Selections draws on the group's first eight albums, including their long-out-of-print second disc, and it's almost all richly soulful and uplifting. --Douglas Wolk