"Come to the River: An Early American Gathering" (Avie AV2205), by Jeannette Sorrell and Apollo's Fire of Cleveland Heights ... The Apollo's Fire arrangement thrusts the instruments forward, starting with Ms. Sorrell's harpsichord. The women and, eventually, men sing beautifully ... Those harmonies are present from the start - and how! - in the Apollo's Fire version, which turns ["Morning Trumpet"] into something of a production number, though an entertaining one.

In a nice, quaint touch, the Apollo's Fire vocalists begin "The Morning Trumpet" by singing their lines as untrained congregants would, without words but with solfège syllables to plant the tunes in their ears. This practice is central to shape-note singing, where the syllables are represented in the hymnbook by musical notation using square, triangular and other types of note heads ...

The Apollo's Fire disc mixes Appalachian songs and instrumentals with Southern hymns. Though perhaps too artfully countrified in its vocal accents and in instrumental arrangements heavy on fiddle and hammered dulcimer, it may offer the greatest popular appeal, as reflected in its swift ascent to the Billboard charts.