Mahalia Jackson 16 Most Requested Songs CD

Recorded between 1954 and 1967.
If you're looking for something a little less comprehensive and pricey than one of the Mahalia Jackson box sets, this is the best single-disc compilation of her Columbia recordings, spanning the years 1954-1967 in 66 1/2 minutes. It features some amazing performances, including an April 1961 take of "How I Got Over" recorded live in Sweden, a few selections from the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival, and several tracks featuring Billy Preston on organ, among them the seven-minute 1963 version of "In The Upper Room." Jackson is uniformly excellent, and this sampler gives a good sense of the different approaches she took to her music during the Columbia years. Start here, and go on to the more extensive collections. ~ William Ruhlmann
During her tenure at Columbia Records, Mahalia Jackson became a bona fide superstar. These recordings, culled from sessions cut at the peak of Jackson's commercial success (from the early 1950s to the late 1960s), are excellent examples of her stirring, blues-infused church music. Her combination of swinging cadences, bluesy phrasing, and passionate Christian messages made many of her recordings from this period--16 of which are included on this set--enormously popular in the U.S. and abroad.
Jackson brings an energy to traditional songs like "Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen" that infuses the material with new life. Her definitive treatment of Rev. W.H. Brewster's "I Will Move On Up a Little Higher" is also here. While her jubilees, hymns, and spirituals are sometimes imbued with a quiet intensity, elsewhere they overflow with exuberance and joy (her fine backing bands and choirs don't hurt either). It's not a comprehensive career overview, but 16 MOST REQUESTED SONGS is one of the better single-disc introductions to this all-time gospel great.