COMO NOW: The Voices of Panola Co. Mississippi. Recorded Live at Mount Mariah Church July 22nd 2006

From the folks who brought you Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings ...Deep in the heart of Mississippi lies Como, a small rural town where children and grown folks alike have been living and breathing gospel music for as long as they can remember. In July of 2006, Daptone Records placed a small ad in a local paper inviting local singers to come down to Mount Mariah Church to record their songs. The result is ''COMO NOW,'' a stirring collection of traditional and original gospel from the voices of COMO's own families. Deep in the heart of Panola County, Mississippi lies Como, a small rural town where children and grown folks alike have been living and breathing gospel for as long as they can remember. In the summer of 2006, Daptone Records placed a small ad in local papers and on the radio inviting singers to come down to Mt. Mariah Church to record their songs. The result is COMO NOW, a stirring collection of traditional and original a cappella gospel from the voices of Panola County’s own families. It may seem like a leap for Daptone Records to be releasing an album of a cappella gospel music. Daptone has earned a reputation for creating and proliferating the purest of today’s soul and funk music. Why gospel? And why without any instrumentation? If you put aside the analytical categories of the music critic for a moment, and just listen to the record, the answer becomes simple and clear: this is soulful music. The 16 songs on this record feature performances by every one of the singers that came down to Mt. Mariah Church on July 22nd, 2006. Though their music is steeped in tradition, it should not be filed away as some sort of academic field recording. It was not made for the archives of the Library of Congress, nor for the benefit of musicologists and anthropologists. COMO NOW is a contemporary recording of contemporary people. From the slow stirring duets of Brother Raymond and Sister Joella Walker to the bouncing harmonies of the Jones Sisters, every song on this record is meant for you, their contemporary, to hear how the people of Como, Mississippi sing – right now.

Watch a Documentary of this moving story HERE.

Como Mamas- Trouble In My Way MP3

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