This 1964 album, commonly known as Black Christ Of The Andes (and later reissued under that title), arrived a little over a decade after pianist Williams converted to Catholicism and began developing an interest in what came to be called “sacred jazz.” The semi-title piece, “Black Christ Of The Andes (St. Martin de Porres),” was a dedication to a Dominican monk from Peru who was canonized in 1962; it features a choral group led by Howard Roberts. They appear again on the third track, “The Devil,” singing witty lyrics by Ada Moore. The album includes two other religiously themed Williams compositions, “Anima Christi” and “Praise The Lord,” as well as versions of the Gershwin standard “It Ain’t Necessarily So,” Billy Taylor’s “A Grand Night For Swinging,” and Walter Donaldson and George Whiting’s “My Blue Heaven,” the latter delivered in a pure soul-jazz style made for jukeboxes. Those arrive alongside new versions of older Williams compositions like “Miss D.D.,” “Dirge Blues,” and “A Fungus Amungus,” recorded at various sessions with different personnel, making this more of a compilation than an album. And some of it is decidedly weird, like “Anima Christi,” which combines overtly religious lyrics (delivered by Jimmy Mitchell and the George Gordon Singers) with a swinging, bluesy musical backdrop full of pounding piano from Williams and stinging guitar from Grant Green. The earnestness of the religious material, when placed alongside the swinging instrumental numbers, can cause mild whiplash in the listener. But Williams was a ferociously talented player, particularly in the blues idiom, and every track on here has something to recommend it. No one else could or would have made an album quite like this.