Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet cover

Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet

Released

One of the oddest, most beautiful, and most deeply moving compositions of Gavin Bryars’ oeuvre is this piece, which is built on a field recording of a homeless man singing a few lines of the gospel song “Jesus’ Blood Never Failed Me Yet.” The vocal recording is looped, and on each repetition a string ensemble plays a slightly different accompaniment. The back story to this composition is worth seeking out, but even if you know nothing about its genesis, the music is utterly entrancing.

Rick Anderson

Recommended by

Suggestions
Surely cover

Surely

Makiko Hirabayashi, Klavs Hovman, Marilyn Mazur
Songs of Praise cover

Songs of Praise

African Head Charge
Gavin Bryars: The Fifth Century cover

Gavin Bryars: The Fifth Century

Prism Quartet, The Crossing, Gavin Bryars, Donald Nally
Invisible Strings cover

Invisible Strings

Prakash Sontakke, Eraldo Bernocchi
The Last Garden cover

The Last Garden

Birds of Passage
Long As In Short, Walk As In Run cover

Long As In Short, Walk As In Run

Annie Lewandowski, Fred Frith
Gonervill cover

Gonervill

Gonervill