As gospel scholar Anthony Heilbut points out in his notes, the most celebrated male gospel singers (R.H. Harris, Sam Cooke, Claude Jeter, Julius Cheeks, Ira Tucker) sang in harmony-group "quartets." On this disc, Heilbut focuses on the neglected tradition of male soloists. Joe May, James Cleveland, and Alex Bradford are fairly well known, but the raspy, bluesy vocals of Eugene Smith and Robert Anderson and the powerful Paul Robeson-like baritones of J. Earle Hines and J. Robert Bradley are welcome revelations. There are 27 performances in all from nine different singers. --Geoffrey Himes