"Twelve Gates To The City," on the other hand, is given a more up tempo, straight-jazz treatment by Wiley, with the front-line horns of Wiley Geechi Taylor (trumpet) and Danny Armstrong (trombone) replacing the a capella vocals of the customary arrangement. The result is a song that possesses the inspiration of gospel and the spunk of Dixieland jazz.

Even more forceful is the shouting of the horns in Wiley's own "Rosie," which approximates the field hollers of the inmates working on prison farms. The addition of cello and violins provide a more somber shading, and a vocal scat gives it a stronger jazz element.

The small string sections are used more extensively on the downcast numbers like "Angola" (where Wiley is joined on tenor by avant garde legend David Murray, who contributes an impassioned wailer of a solo), "The Conversation" and "Trouble Of The World." These selections, as well as "Amazing Grace" and "No More My Lawd" also feature female vocals sung opera-style, which feels out of place on this set of recordings; it's rooted in neither jazz nor prison spirituals. My guess is that Wiley sought to add a more despondent mood appropriate to the subject matter.

Also out of place (but welcome, nonetheless) is a fairly straightforward rendition of Ornette Coleman's "Peace," who Riley dedicated to his recently deceased uncle.

The album ends on a merry note; "Second Line" is just a traditional New Orleans Mardi Gras blues number, but played with an contagious exuberence by Wiley and his cohorts. It represents the Crescent City destination where Angola inmates up the road dreamed about being.

The Angola Project isn't the first time the infamous state prison has provided impetus for music on the outside; the bluesman Robert Pete Williams drew heavily from his time there after he got out and started performing. Aaron Neville's "Angola Bound" from Warm Your Heart was clearly drawn from these spirituals.

But it took a talented young man with no prior connection with Angola to transform the music into something new without ever losing the connection with the songs as they were sung with inspiration many decades ago by people who had little to be inspired about.

Purchase: Howard Wiley - The Angola Project (not available on Amazon)