Detroit, Michigan – The Grammy winning Clark Sisters are throwing a yuletide musical fest and they have invited their family and friends to join them for the musical celebration, A Clark Family Christmas (Karew Records/EMI Gospel), which is now in stores and available online now.
Joining Karen, Twinkie, Dorinda and Jacky for this warm as cocoa holiday treat are Karen’s talented children, Stellar Award winner Kierra Sheard and producer J. Drew Sheard II. The Clarks’ cousins, J. Moss and Bill Moss Jr., also show up for the family reunion. Under the production wan of Asaph A. Ward (who’s produced various members of the Clark family as well as Donnie McClurkin and Kim Burrell), the sizzling live production was recorded on a hot summer night at Detroit’s Arturo’s’ Jazz Theater where the close-knit family sang with all the cheerful merriment that December 25th usually brings.
The sisters recorded their first, and only holiday project till now, New Dimensions of Christmas Carols, back in 1978 near the beginning of their career. They lift three songs from that album and bring them into the 21st century. Jacky reprises “Silent Night”, the group shows off four-part harmonies on an a cappella recap of “O Come Emmanuel” while Karen and Kierra dust off “Hark the Herald Angels Sing” with a smooth jazz treatment that adds a new twist to the bluesy take Twinkie and sister Denise delivered on their original rendition of the timeless tune. J. Drew Sheard II, who played drums on the whole set, wrote the New Jack swinging “Beautiful Christmas” that features Kierra Sheard on lead vocals. Several of the kin grab select verses on their celestial interpretations of “Silver Bells” and “Do You Hear What I Hear?”
Perhaps, the most fun song of the night is the Clark Sisters’ rendering of the “Chipmunk Song” that shows off not only their tight harmonies but also their sense of humor that finds the siblings laughing at themselves as the song closes to a rousing audience applause. The eleven-track project is rounded out with Twinkie declaring a “Celebration” on the mid-tempo R&B-infused track of the same name, J. Moss reclaiming Donny Hathaway’s “This Christmas” while his brother Bill Moss Jr. turns in a majestic reading of David Meece’s lush 1980 classic “We Are the Reason.” The Clark Sisters are gospel royalty. Since 1973 when they made their national debut, they have recorded 15 albums as a unit and numerous solo projects. They are best-known for their classic hits “Miracle”, “Is My Living in Vain?” and “You Brought the Sunshine” that was a Top 20 R&B hit in 1983. After a recording hiatus in 1994, the sisters reunited for the 2007 comeback CD Live One Last Time. The best-selling CD produced the #1 gospel radio smash “Blessed and Highly Favored”, the Top Ten hit “Livin’” and earned them three Grammy Awards.