Gene Moore The Future Motown Gospel (release date: July 28, 2017) www.motowngospel.com By Bob Marovich It doesn’t take hearing gospel artist Gene Moore singing “Summer Soft” to feel Stevie Wonder’s inspiration throughout Moore’s EP, The Future. “Summer Soft” is the bonus track on a project that has a Wonder feel all over it (sans harmonica), especially during its more rhythmically animated tracks. And it’s available on Motown Gospel, so there’s that connection to Wonder’s roots, also. Moore’s voice, like Wonder’s, is handsome, flexible, and melodic. Yet it is only when he is singing with a minimum of accompaniment, as on the ...

“He Rose” Brent Jones From the EchoPark JDI Entertainment album Joy Comin’ (release date: August 12, 2014) By Bob Marovich Calling “He Rose” a “good old Baptist song,” Brent Jones and his choir offer a good old Easter Sunday song that works for any time of the year. This bouncy and muscular outing finds Jones leading the big-voiced choir in collective enthusiasm about Jesus’s victory over death during the Passion and, in rising, cleansing the sins of humanity. By the conclusion, Jones has the soprano, alto, and tenor sections singing in contrapuntal harmony (it’s so good they could have reprised this ...

“Forever” Jason Nelson From the CD The Answer RCA Inspiration (release date: January 12, 2018) www.rcainspiration.com By Bob Marovich A song birthed as an improvisational line sung by Jason Nelson’s wife Tonya in their kitchen has become the first radio single from the singer-songwriter and pastor’s forthcoming CD, The Answer. “Forever” is a passionately sung melodic ballad, from God’s point of view, on the constancy of His support and the extent of His love. “Forever is a long time / But that’s how long I’ll love you,” Nelson and his background vocalists sing. “No matter what you face, you won’t ...

Dr. Timothy D. Poston Churchin’ on the Hammond B3 Organ “Live” Jeremiah Praze Records (2007) By Bob Marovich Bay Area music minister and organist Dr. Timothy D. Poston’s Churchin’ on the Hammond B3 Organ “Live” may be several years old but, like the hymns he presents and the instrument he plays them on, it’s ageless. Even those only tangentially familiar with church hymnody will know the names of most, if not all, of the fourteen or so selections on the album. “Father I Stretch My Hands to Thee.” “How Great Thou Art.” “Pass Me Not.” “Precious Memories.” “The Old Rugged Cross.” Many ...

“God is in Control” Kerri Gordon Independent Release (release date: July 27, 2017) www.kerrigordon.com By Bob Marovich Kerri Gordon’s debut single, “God is in Control,” is a let-go-and-let-God ballad sung from the point of view of someone who has realized this personally—as a single parent raising three children, one with special needs. “I tried it on my own,” Gordon sings, but “I made up my mind, whatever comes. . .He has it all in control.” She and her background vocalists then repeat the message to benefit listeners feeling the same impatience and disappointment. The musicians give the song a laid back but ...

Horizon Music Victory Maranatha! Music/Capitol Records (release date: October 13, 2017) www.horizoncommunity.church/music By Bob Marovich “What if worship music could be done so well with mainstream pop sounds, that it became interesting to those who haven’t been willing to listen before?” asked Lead Pastor Stan Russell of Horizon Community Church in Tualatin, Oregon. Horizon Music’s debut album Victory, crisply produced by Dave Lubben (Kutless, Hollyn) and Aaron Russell, is the church music ministry’s response to its pastor’s call. The album’s dozen radio-sized selections feature vertical praise lyrics wrapped in chilly, atmospheric Hillsong-meets-Neon Indian electronica with some acoustic moments. While tracks such ...

“Your Will” Bill Moss Jr. feat. J Moss Salathiel Records (release date: July 21, 2017) www.billmossmusic.com By Bob Marovich Although they debuted on the gospel scene as the Moss Brothers, Bill and James “J” Moss have since pursued separate solo careers. They come together again on “Your Will,” an understated, piano-introduced, and jazzy rumination on the personal benefits of living a Godly life. On the single, from Bill Jr.’s project, Live with Third New Hope: Songbook of Praise & Worship, the brothers notch the gospel heat up with every newly sung verse. The song oozes class and sophistication as the brothers deliver ...

Angelo & Veronica The Truth A&V Music (release date: November 23, 2017) www.angeloandveronica.com By Bob Marovich Brown-eyed gospel duo Angelo & Veronica first made waves during the 1990s with their messages of overcoming sung with the suavity of BeBe & CeCe Winans. They racked up three Dove Awards in the process. Their new album, The Truth, offers a remix of two of their best-known hits alongside new songs, each delivered with the husband-and-wife team’s trademark passion and laid-back R&B backdrop. Their voices have matured, however, to where they sound more like Michael McDonald and Anita Baker these days than BeBe and CeCe. Maturity and ...

Anthony Brown & group therAPy [a long way from sunday] Tyscot Records (release date: July 28, 2017) www.tyscot.com By Bob Marovich [a long way from Sunday] is Anthony Brown & group therAPy’s third album for Tyscot Records and the follow-up to 2015’s Everyday Jesus, which earned the group no less than ten Stellar Awards in 2016, including Song of the Year for “Worth.” The album may be third in chronological order, but it is number one in terms of quality and consistency of message. Brown opens with a brief narration that sets the album’s tone. He says he was “raised ...

Javon Inman Agape * Eros Liberty Music (release date: November 10, 2017) www.javoninman.com By Bob Marovich Javon Inman ladles an ample serving of amor into Agape * Eros, a 40 minute musical journey into the realms of spiritual and human love. Agape * Eros reminds me of Fred Hammond’s 2012 offering God, Love & Romance. If Hammond’s release was a tad controversial at the time (truthfully, though, there’s been tension between agape and eros in gospel music for a while), combining sacred and human love on one album is all but de rigueur today. All but one of the opening tracks on Inman’s latest ...