This buoyant, spacious album is a delightful time capsule of sanctified soul. Originally released in 1971 in a small private pressing, Like A Ship (Without A Sail) offers up inventive arrangements of old and new gospel numbers. It's a slow-burner, one that's been in demand for years by crate-diggers and gospel soul fanatics.

It's easy to hear why in the title track alone — a slow-rolling slice of choir and keyboard propelled funk-pop. Barrett's arrangement of the "Dr. Watts Hymn" sounds as ready for a hepcat nightclub as it does the church. "Ever Since" is a funky, rhythmically complex tune that builds to an ecstatic release. The instrumental "Blessed Quietness" is an almost-barrelhouse tour de force of electric and acoustic keyboards. And their take on "It's Me O Lord" is slowed-down, meditative and groovy.

Barrett was born in Queens in 1944, but spent most of his time in Chicago. That town is rightly considered the birthplace of modern gospel, and Pastor T.L. Barrett was around to see the music grow in both size and scope. Thanks largely to the Rev. James Cleveland, the sound of gospel got huge in the early '60s, with large church-based choirs abetted by big, funky organs. At… read more »