Original Anthem: Swing Low, Sweet Chariot
Country: Africa/America
Style: Gospel
The first bars of “The Gospel According to Abdullah” are derived from the popular anthem, “Swing Low, Sweet Chariot”, an African-American spiritual.
Since its composition in the 1860s, attributed to Wallace Willis, it has been recorded and performed many times, including in films and television, perhaps most famously as a reggae version by Eric Clapton.
More recently it was adopted in English rugby union from the 1980s, and often sung at matches, including at Twickenham. In this context, it has been recorded several times since 1991 as an anthem for England in the Rugby World Cup.
Although the opening of “The Gospel According to Abdullah” is derived from “Swing Low”, it is more developed harmonically, with extensive use of secondary dominants, as with another spiritual dating from the same period, “Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen”.
The title refers to South African pianist and composer, Adbullah Ibrahim (formerly Dollar Brand) who recorded “Nobody Knows” on his album, “African Sun”.
As a jazz-gospel piece, it has an uplifting mood to it, consistent with a spiritual, and entirely appropriate to close the album.
Instrumentation
Alto sax: Charlie Hearnshaw
Piano: Chris Lee
Acoustic bass: Neil Todd
Drums: Tony Plato
