From a press release on the City of Chicago website, 3/30/07: Mayor Richard M. Daley today applauded the Chicago City Council for passing an ordinance giving official landmark status to the Roberts Temple Church of God in Christ building, the site of the 1955 visitation for Emmett Till. For four days in September 1955, Roberts Temple, 4021 S. State St., was the center of the civil-rights movement. Till, a Chicago teenager, was lynched that August while visiting relatives in Mississippi. His murder and his mother’s decision on an open-casket funeral called national attention to the plight of African-Americans in shockingly ...

J MossV2Zomba Gospel 2007www.insidejmoss.com J Moss’ forthcoming project V2 is an adrenaline rush of hip hop sound and beats, especially during the first third of the album. And yet while it is out of the box aurally, V2 stays true to the gospel lyric tradition of seeking deliverance from today’s struggles and temptations through faith and prayer. For example, “I’m Not Perfect” is a musical head-shaking about having to shoehorn moments of prayer into frenetic days filled with conference calls and other responsibilities. “Let It Go” is an affirmation to keep an arm’s length from anyone who can make you ...

Posted by Candace Walker, Gospel Editor for www.bellaonline.com: The memorial services and funeral arrangements for Church of God In Christ Presiding Bishop G. E. Patterson will be held at Temple of Deliverance Church of God In Christ at 369 G. E. Patterson in Memphis, Tennessee. Three services are planned for Bishop Patterson’s home going. Services for the Temple of Deliverance Family and the local Memphis community will take place Thursday, March 29 at 7 p.m. The Jurisdictional service will be held on Friday, March 30, at 7:00 p.m. The Official National Church of God In Christ funeral service will be ...

From the Los Angeles Times Staff and Wire ReportsMarch 24, 2007 Walter Turnbull, who founded the Boys Choir of Harlem in a church basement and led the organization to international acclaim that included performances at the White House and the Vatican, has died. He was 62. Turnbull died Friday at a New York City hospital, said his brother, Horace Turnbull. He said Turnbull had a stroke months ago. “He was a genius of a man who managed to take his talents in bringing out song in young people who had no training,” said Rep Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.), who helped raise ...

CD Review In His Presence – Live!Judith Christie McAllisterJudah Music/Artemis Gospel 2006www.judah-music.org Dr. Judith Christie McAllister, “the preeminent woman of worship” and recognized widely as a leader in the Praise & Worship category of gospel music, recorded In His Presence – Live! at the Cathedral of Praise COGIC in Nashville on January 22, 2006. True to her COGIC roots and service to the West Angeles COGIC for nearly two decades, McAllister praises with a plethora of instruments, including a brass section and imaginative use of percussion, the latter which gives the opening track, “To Our God,” a South African gospel ...

TBGB has learned from Tammy Taylor and The Belle Report that the Church of God in Christ’s Presiding Bishop G.E. Patterson passed away this afternoon, March 20, in Memphis, Tennessee. He was 67 years old. Bishop Patterson recently earned a Stellar Award for “Traditional Male Vocalist of the Year” for his work on Bishop G.E. Patterson & Congregation: Singing the Old Time Way, Volume 2 (Podium Records). More details about the services will be forthcoming, but in the meantime you can read more about Bishop G.E. Patterson at this site: http://www.bbless.org/biographical.sketch.htm. TBGB extends its most heartfelt sympathies to Bishop Patterson’s ...

Higher GroundDebra HendersonAlpha 7 Ministries 2007http://www.alpha7ministries.com/ I must admit I’m not a big fan of the Praise & Worship style of sacred music, so when I heard “We’ve Come to Bow Down and Worship,” the first track on Elder Debra Henderson’s CD Higher Ground, with its overly-dramatic synth intro and lovely but understated vocals, I was a bit anxious. But make no mistake: though Higher Ground is bookended with P&W tracks, the rich, delicious inside is straight-up gospel music in all its bluesy, uptempo glory. The Hammond organ appears like a familiar friend in the second track, “It’s a Blessing,” ...

From D.A. Johnson of Malaco Records: Jackson, MS. March 14, 2007 – Nicknamed “The Gales” and known also as gospel music’s “Gentlemen of Song,” the Sensational Nightingales are a legendary cornerstone of American gospel quartet music. The quartet, well known for monster hits “It’s Gonna Rain,” “I Want To Be At The Meeting,” “Hold On A Little While Longer,” and “I Surrender All,” is slated to make its first major network television appearance in 65 years on Sunday, March 18, 2007 at 2:00 p.m. (EST) with gospel artists Tye Tribbett and Coko on The Gospel of Music with Jeff Majors. ...

My Father’s WorkDr. C.J. JohnsonMeltone 2007 In March of 1965, Dr. C.J. Johnson recorded an original song, “I Want to Go Where Jesus Is,” for Savoy Records. Sung a cappella and with thunderous enthusiasm by a jubilant congregation, the sound was so raw and primitive that one might have assumed it was recorded forty years prior by Alan Lomax and came straight from the Library of Congress archives. The composition itself sounded as if it was from the pages of Kentucky Harmony. But sure enough, it was recorded at the same time as other Savoy gospel hits of the day, ...

“Nobody but the Lord”Alvin Darling & CelebrationFrom the new release My Blessing is on the WayEmtro Gospel 2007www.emtro.com Alvin Darling’s enviable music resume includes a Pentecostal upbringing and time spent as a member of a gospel quartet. He digs deep into both experiences on “Nobody But the Lord,” the first single from his upcoming full-length release My Blessing is on the Way, due out April 17. Darling and Celebration give the mid-tempo “Nobody” true “country church” treatment. Celebration deftly navigates a mouthful of lyrics with a surgeon’s precision, answering Darling’s quartet-honed baritone exclamations with delight. The result is old-fashioned vocal ...