Still on the Journey: The 20th Anniversary Album
Sweet Honey in the Rock celebrated their musical, political, and personal triumphs in style and in public with this benchmark 1993 album.Still on the Journeyoffers a banquet of songs that center on love and living, struggle and death. After 20 years and many lineup shifts, the all-women African Americana cappellagroup continues to demonstrate what a beautiful instrument the human voice can be. A mildly self-indulgent rap self-tribute is offset by the mournful "Spiritual." "Come By Here" illustrates the group's unique capacity to layer vocal lines into a loose net of improvised rhythms and melodies without losing the thread of the song. Here also Sweet Honey dabbles for the first time in vocal percussion. Reflections on Africa come into crisp focus in "Wodabe Nights," while "Wanting Memories" makes it clear that, though the journey has been long and hard, Sweet Honey has no plans to rest.--Sally Weinbach