The Journal of Gospel Music Information about the gospel music of yesterday, today, and tomorrow.

“Wade in the Water” Miss Freddye MMM Records www.missfreddye.com By Bob Marovich Many know Pittsburgh’s Freddye Stover, aka Miss Freddye, as an award-winning blues singer. Her musical roots, however, run deep in the church. Miss Freddye pays tribute to her sacred foundation by releasing “Wade in the Water” as her latest single. She combines her church and blues training into a righteous reading of the folk spiritual. Assisting are vocalist Kim Parent and a musical backdrop that includes a suitably-warbling organ. You can see in your mind’s eye the Leslie speaker’s innards spinning. Produced by Mike Morgan and arranged by ...

“Trouble Don’t Last Always”P.U.S.H.Independent (release date: January 1, 2020) By Bob Marovich Little did P.U.S.H. know when they released their single “Trouble Don’t Last Always” back in January that the sentiment would be more prophetic than they could have ever anticipated. This female quartet from Alexander City, Alabama, has a simple but effective message: “Turn it over to Jesus.” The troupe renders their simple but effective directive in call-and-response style and set to a customary modern quartet arrangement. Their singing is strong but the harmonies could use the same robust production elements given to the lead singer’s vocals. P.U.S.H. is ...

“I Can’t Give Up” Byron Cage From the AIR / Malaco Music Group CD Isolation www.malaco.com By Bob Marovich It turns out the title of multiple Stellar Awardee Byron Cage’s September 2019 album, Isolation, was prophetic. But on “I Can’t Give Up,” the album’s latest single release, Cage and his background vocalists declare that their present circumstances don’t define them. “I’m built to win,” Cage enthuses, singing on his own behalf as well as on behalf of the listeners. The troupe sets pulpit-honed wisdom such as “I’ve come too far” and “no weapon formed against me shall proper” to an ...

Koryn Hawthorne I Am RCA Inspiration (release date: September 18, 2020) www.rcainspiration.com By Bob Marovich I Am, the new album by Koryn Hawthorne, the award-winning gospel singer and finalist on The Voice, is as contemporary as this minute. The musical mission of her best-selling 2018 debut Unstoppable, to bathe Christian messages in an ocean of contemporary soul and R&B sounds, continues on I Am. Her vocals are just as sassy on the current single, a love song to the Most High called “Speak to Me,” as on her breakthrough hit, “Won’t He Do It.” But much of the lyrical mood ...

“Precious Lord, Take My Hand” Dr. Henry Jackson From the Hawke Music CD Good to Me (release date: July 24, 2019) https://www.hawkemusicllc.com By Bob Marovich It’s great to hear new recordings from Dr. Henry Jackson, an alumnus of the Los Angeles Community Choir and Cleveland Singers, as well as a group leader, soloist and songwriter in his own right. From his 2019 album Good to Me, Jackson gives Thomas A. Dorsey’s “Precious Lord” a more optimistic bounce while maintaining the dignity of the composition. Over the course of a few key changes and nearly seven minutes, Jackson and a group ...

PJ Morton Gospel According to PJ Morton Inspiration / Tyscot (digital release date: August 14, 2020; physical release date: November 27, 2020) www.tyscot.com By Bob Marovich Much is being made about Gospel According to PJ being PJ Morton’s return to gospel. But like the Reverend C. L. Franklin said of his GRAMMY-winning daughter Aretha, Bishop Paul S. Morton can say of his GRAMMY-winning son: he never really left the church. That’s because most of Gospel According to PJ is a re-introduction, in new arrangements, of sacred songs that Morton, a multi-genre musician, singer, songwriter and record producer, created for other ...

By Bob Marovich Professor Robert Darden of the Black Gospel Music Restoration Project informed JGM of the passing of Edna Wright in Encino, California, yesterday, September 12. She was 76. Prior to her well-known work with the vocal trio Honey Cone, where she was lead singer on the group’s 1971 chart-topping hit, “Want Ads,” Wright was a member of the COGICs, a mixed-voice gospel group formed by Andrae’ Crouch. In addition to Wright, members of the COGICs included Crouch and his twin sister, Sandra, as well as Sondra “Heartaches” Williams and Gloria Jones (Jones would also go on to stardom ...

“Bow Down” Christina Bell From the Malaco CD For His Glory www.malaco.com By Bob Marovich It’s not easy being the psalm to follow the popular Psalm 23 (“The Lord is My Shepherd”). Nevertheless, Psalm 24 has plenty of wonderful imagery to offer and Christina Bell must agree. The former Z’iel member sets its opening lines to a bracing P&W rhythm on her new single, “Bow Down.” From Bell’s September 2019 debut album for Malaco Music Group, “Bow Down” is the kind of aerobic selection frequently employed today to open worship services. Though Bell’s contralto has plenty of depth and shading, ...

Judges Included Rhett Walker, Sanctus Real, and Tenth Avenue North Nashville, TN, September 9, 2020 — The winners of the US-based Unsigned Only Music Competition were announced today. A total of ten Christian artists garnered wins in the 2020 competition. Taking home First Place in the Christian category is Aaron David from Tampa, FL, for his song “Dirty Heart.” Second Place is awarded to Liz Bailey from Griffin, GA for “Better.” Additionally, eight Christian music artists garnered Honorable Mentions. “From church services to stages, Christian music continues to impact the experience of Christians worldwide with its personal lyrics that can ...

“Alright” Bishop Larry Trotter & Sweet Holy Spirit Choir From the forthcoming album Restored By Bob Marovich Bishop Larry Trotter and the choir of his Sweet Holy Spirit Church on Chicago’s Southeast side offer encouragement in the full-throated, hand-clapping, church-wrecking style emblematic of the Windy City gospel choir sound. In a sandpaper-rough baritone, Trotter sings about “heartaches and pains,” as the choir answers him with a reassuring “alright, it’s gonna be alright.” But it’s the fiery vocalist Betty Lott who sells the song. She works the audience and duets with Trotter as, with the choir, they interpolate a bit of ...