.

Group Name: Cavaliers Quartet
Website: www.cavaliersquartet.com
Album Title: “God Is”
Song Titles:

1. God Is
2. It’s Alright
3. Praise To The Lord, The Almighty
4. I’ll Keep Trusting On
5. Count On You
6. That’s What Love Looks Like
7. I’ll Be Long Gone
8. Jesus Knows Just What To Do
9. Oh What A Difference
10. You Are My King (Amazing Love)

Based out of the state of Tennessee, the Cavaliers Quartet has been around since the 1990’s.  Two of its founding members are still with the group- baritone vocalist Anthony O’Neal, and his brother, bass vocalist Wayne O’Neal.  They are joined by tenor vocalist Ben Mullins and his nephew, lead vocalist Jason Reese.

“God Is” was recorded on Song Garden Music Group’s Garden Creek label.  Their previous album, “Drinking From The Well”, was their first Song Garden album and was recorded on their Grapevine label.  The album features 10 songs by such songwriters as Diane Wilkinson, Chris Binion, and David Staton.  The group showcases a variety of song styles on this album, and there will be a DVD released later this year that goes along with this project while also featuring some favorites from their “Drinking From The Well” album.  Also, I again like the fact that they included the song lyrics inside the cover.

Now, the moment you’ve all been waiting for: THE SONGS!

The album kicks off with the title track, the up-tempo “God Is”.  The vocal blend is nice throughout the song, and it’s truly a fun song to listen to.  The tempo stays the same for Song #2, “It’s Alright”.  Tenor vocalist Ben Mullins has the lead throughout, and he demonstrates some solid singing.  The third song is an old, familiar hymn called “Praise To The Lord, The Almighty”.  This song was actually written in 1665, but the group gives it a nice modern-sounding arrangement while staying true to the original melody.  The fourth song is a medium-tempo number entitled “I’ll Keep Trusting On”.  The vocals are very smooth here, and the message in the song is one that many need to hear.

Song #5 is one that has been a favorite of mine for a number of years.  It’s a medium-tempo number called “Count On You”.  This is another song that features tenor vocalist Ben Mullins on the lead part.  The sixth song gives us the album’s first true power ballad.  “That’s What Love Looks Like”.  I have to admit that, being the father of an infant daughter, the second verse almost brought a tear to my eye as it talked about a father and his little girl.  This is one of those songs whose message builds throughout the verses before fully climaxing with the chorus.  The only thing I noticed here- and this may just be a personal preference- was that the vocals on the verses could have been sung a bit more softly both to match the instrumentation a bit better and to give the chorus more of a punch.  The tempo then speeds up for the first radio release from the album, “I’ll Be Long Gone”.  This song has a bit of a progressive/country feel, and I think it will do well at radio.

The eighth song is another smooth ballad called “Jesus Knows Just What To Do”.  Here we get the chance to hear bass vocalist Wayne O’Neal featured.  He delivers some smooth vocals in his higher bass register while still touching on some lower notes.  Song #9 is a medium-tempo song called “Oh What A Difference”.  The album then ends with the popular Praise & Worship song, “You Are My King (Amazing Love)”.  It’s hard to say that Praise & Worship isn’t a good style for the group since they did so well on their arrangement of “Praise To The Lord, The Almighty”, but something about their arrangement of this song just didn’t resonate with me.  It’s not badly done at all, but it’s just not up to the standard of the rest of the songs on the album.

“God Is” takes several good steps forward from the Cavaliers’ previous album.  The vocals are tighter and smoother, and the arrangements fit the group very well.  I think that the group has found it’s niche in the progressive Southern Gospel arena.  The song selection was strong, and the album flowed very well from start to finish.  Overall, I was very impressed with this album, and I think that the Cavaliers have a good future ahead of them.  I would give this album a rating of 9 out of 10 microphones!

Favorites: “God Is”, “Praise To The Lord, The Almighty”, “I’ll Keep Trusting On”, and “Count On You”