To all the Texans, Happy Belated Juneteenth! Even if you’re out of the state, we hope you got to unwind, enjoy some much-needed shade, and maybe even connect better with your local community over the weekend. When it comes to that last bit, there aren’t a whole lot of creatives that’ve gotten tight with their community quite like Los Angeles producer-arranger-singer-songwriter Jimetta Rose. Rose put out an open call for community choir members on social media and whittled down the prospects based more on their passion for growth and healing rather than sole musical ability. The result is a fervent and diverse nine-piece, The Voices of Creation.

With a constituency that includes Sly Stone’s daughter (alto Novena Carmel), Jimetta Rose & The Voices of Creation quickly invites comparisons to progressive gospel, jazz, and soul groups of the ’60s and ’70s, but thanks to Rose’s visionary instincts, The Voices of Creation caters comfortably to contemporary listeners. Last Tuesday, Jimetta Rose & The Voices of Creation announced their debut album, How Good It Is, for release on August 12th. Produced by Beastie Boys/Seu Jorge cohort Mario Caldato Jr. and recorded in an East Pasadena church, How Good It Is offers six uplifting tracks of “new Black classical music” as means of formally introducing The Voices of Creation. The original gospel numbers are impeccably inspiring, but the two Sons and Daughters of Lite re-works (like “Let The Sunshine In”) really earmark the ingenuity of this deep and divine debut record.