Sacred Ground

Sacred Ground is an album by the American a capella group Sweet Honey in the Rock, released in 1995. Production The album was produced by Bernice Johnson Reagon and her daughter, Toshi Reagon. It was inspired by the group's work locating religious songs for NPR's "Wade in the Water" program. Eight of the songs are originals; of the covers, one dates to the late 1940s, while the others are traditional gospel songs with unclear authorship. The group recorded the album over a period of more than six months, beginning in December 1994. Critical reception The Washington Post concluded: "On Sacred Ground, Sweet Honey in the Rock turns its attention to an older approach that stresses smoother, longer vocal phrases, gentler rhythms and fuller, more sustained harmonies. On both the traditional 'Jordan River' and Aisha Kahlil's 'Mystic Oceans', the group's voices actually imitate the overlapping ripples of water." The St. Petersburg Times wrote that the album "traces a capella gospel's progression from ancient cotton fields to modern-day urban landscapes."