About this CD:

ROAD TO FREEDOM - A tribute to those who never lost hope, and those who helped keep that hope alive...

The history of slavery is woven throughout the history of mankind. It is a tragic story of physical, mental and emotional devastation. Nothing tears at the heart more than loved ones being permanently separated from each other – husband from wife, sister from brother, parent from child. When thinking of slavery, these images are quickly conjured into focus and, once envisioned, are slow to fade. Probing below the surface of inhumanity and suffering, are also stories of faith, of devotion and of hope. Those accounts survive in the few written words that they left behind that occasionally found their way to the page in interviews, newspaper articles, diaries and official records. No less poignant, are the lyrics of the songs that gave voice to their condition. Today, more than a century and a half later, the simple yet rich tones of the spirituals that they once sang still resonate. The content and the melodies, that had the qualities of being comforting and cathartic, were sometime mournful to express their pain, or plaintive in the optimism that they would reach the ears of God.

In the Road To Freedom concert series, a group of friends, spearheaded by choir director Karen Ann Schuessler, have came together to pay tribute to the individuals who were a part of this episode in North American history. The magnificent Karen Schuessler Singers, along with the soulful voice of Denise Pelley, resurrect this story with their provocative and beautiful harmonies. They have been accompanied by the outstanding pianist, Steve Holowitz, as well as Darryl Stacey, Aaron MacDonald, Jeff Christmas, Steve Clark, Greg Mainprize, Ian McKay and Ronald Fox, all superb musicians with the ability to not only compliment the singers but also to summon sounds that touch the soul. The narrations delivered by historians Bryan and Shannon Prince, are the actual words of those who were once enslaved but found the strength and the courage to find freedom for themselves in Canada and those of the underground railroad agents who risked all for a higher cause.

The Road To Freedom will take you on a journey that begins with the horrors of the trans-Atlantic slave trade known as the middle passage, to slavery, contemplating escape, the actual flight, finding freedom and gradually learning what it meant as they built new lives. There is no more affecting way to tell their story than to let them do it in their own words. The voices of the Karen Schuessler Singers and Denise Pelley, singing traditional spirituals as well as more contemporary tunes, plus the accompaniment of the band add a powerful dimension to the telling. The extraordinary Grammy and Juno Award winning producer/engineer, Kevin Doyle, along with his team added their special brand of magic to the CD.

The journey begins…

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