The Still Point of the Turning World
Gord Wilson | Bellingham, WA USA | 03/31/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I first encountered Jeff Johnson while a music reviewer for Campus Life magazine, now called, I think, Ignite Your Faith. By his third album, The Face of the Deep, I was knocked out. The vision behind it was sacramental. I learned that word reading Dorothy L. Sayers and Flannery O'Connor, two of the many authors the widely-read musician also looked to for inspiration. Shortly afterwards, a vocal album (as distinct from his purely instrumental albums) from what I'd call his middle period, called Icons, was, for me, a high point. Besides being filled with amazing songs, it also seemed to transport the listener, so that from the opening bars to the closing finale seemed like no time at all.
This album does that also. It seems far shorter than its 42 minutes. It follows Johnson's recent Selah series of albums, named from a word in the Psalms of King David meaning, "pause and meditate". This album seems to me to take it further, marrying new age style music with ancient Latin liturgy. From the opening bell ringing, with hand bells courtesy of St. Aidan's Episcopal Church, Johnson returns to scenes from earlier albums, including Linsfarne, Germany, and France. He's also joined by an earlier cast, as it were, including long time collaborators: musician Brian Dunning, and vocalist Janet Chvatal. Standing Still begins with the well known praise song from Scotland's Iona Community by John Bell, "Behold the Lamb of God", sung in English. It moves into "Lauds," an instrumental sixth century hymn, then into the Latin "Kyrie" merging into Johnson's "I Call to You", sung in English (the liner notes include the English translation: "Lord, Have Mercy", well known because of the Mr. Mister song by the same name.
In the instrumental "Standing Still" Johnson segues from an original composition into the hymn, "Abide with Me" by eighteenth century author, Henry Francis Lyte. "Gloria", beginning in Latin, moves into a communion song by Brian Moss called "Remember" that could be sung in any communion, even one with a high view of the Eucharist, as with the Catholic or Orthodox communions. "Crux", the closing piece, is actually the "Our Father" or "Lord's Prayer" sung in English, with cello improvisation by Jozef Luptak (there is an accent mark in his name I can't reproduce in this review).
The package unfolds three times, and includes Johnson's meditation that inspired the album's title, and which contains this arresting phrase: "Somehow we must find the grace to stand still". For those of any or no faith, who set out on the Journey (and wouldn't that be all of us?) Standing Still is a good place to start."
Track Listings (6) - Disc #1