The songs in this collection represent some of the best-loved hymns and spirituals in America. Their durability is intriguing. Generations of handing down new renditions have reduced them to their essential qualities. This 'essence' offers a composer and musician plenty of room for interpretation and improvisation. Memorable melodies such as these make great material for variations since the listener, knowing the tune so well, can appreciate its changing directions.
Shorter songs call for original but stylistically similar additional sections.
The addition of blue notes, favorite licks, alternative harmonies and improvisations helps me reinterpret this familiar music into nearly original compositions. Having sought to make them my own, I now invite you to do the same. In the 1770s, John Newton, a former slave trader turned evangelical preacher, was moved to write new words to fit a traditional tune. His inspired composition has come to be one of the best-loved songs in America. For some, it is an easily recognizable folk song.