Various Artists Divine Voices: Pastors of Praise Rendezvous Music (release date: January 27, 2015) www.mackavenue.com By Bob Marovich There are preachers who sing and singers who preach.  Divine Voices: Pastors of Praise includes some of both. This new various artists compilation comes from Mack Avenue Records, a label which features gospel jazz on its Rendezvous imprint and last year released two similar compilation discs: Gospel Praise Duets and Christmas Goes Gospel. Divine Voices reprises a dozen recent selections, mostly from individuals who began as singers and added ministry to their resumes later. Many of the contemporary biggies are present; the ...

“Never Forget It” God’s Chosen From the CD 1 & 6 www.gc3music.com Promising to remember all the things God has brought them through, God’s Chosen brings to “Never Forget” the cheerful harmonies and bubbly tempos of the Clark Sisters, Trin-i-tee 5:7, Virtue, and Mary Mary. Also known as GC3, God’s Chosen—Zebrina Anderson, Nikeisha Whittier, and Sarah Stephens—hails from St. Louis, Missouri. Meeting in high school, the ladies received their first public confirmation as a gospel trio in 2002 when they won the Six Flags Gospel Day Competition and earned a spot as opening act for Yolanda Adams. “Never Forget” is from their independently ...

Pastor Jonathan DuBose Jr. & the Agape House Fellowship Going to a Place Called There JOBO Enterprizes, LLC (2014) www.agapehousefellowship.net By Bob Marovich While music enthusiasts know Jonathan DuBose Jr. as an in-demand guitarist / session musician, they may not know of his life as Pastor Jonathan DuBose Jr. of Agape House Fellowship in his hometown of Bridgeport, Connecticut. Going to a Place Called There, the title based on Ezekiel 48:35, gives some inkling of the musical soundtrack to DuBose’s ministerial calling.  It is his church’s live recording, conducted at West End Tabernacle on May 10, 2014. Part worship service, ...

“Preachers of Detroit” Friday, February 20, 2015 8:00 p.m. ET/PT Oxygen By Bob Marovich Pastor David Bullock is my new hero. God’s gadfly, Bullock evokes the brusque, in-your-face, unfiltered honesty of Deitrick Haddon as he calls out the complacency of prosperity pastors who he feels are more interested in collecting wealth than serving the city’s neediest. An activist at heart, Bullock steals the show on the first episode of Oxygen’s new “Preachers of Detroit.” This unscripted drama follows the “Preachers of L.A.” formula of chronicling the comings and goings of church leaders who represent varying points of view and lifestyles. ...

“Jesus is Real” The Volunteer State Mass Choir (radio release: February 24, 2015) www.facebook.com/TheVolunteerStateMassChoir The Volunteer State Mass Choir gets gospel bluesy and traditional on “Jesus is Real.” The organ warbles, the piano offers dramatic chording, drums emphasize the beat, and the choir participates in a call and response with the lead singers. The lyrics hearken back to old fashioned devotionals and personal testimonies of Jesus’s goodness and saving power. As its name indicates, the Volunteer State Mass Choir hails from Tennessee. Founded in April 2006 by Jeffery Wilford of Nashville, the choir has been nominated in three Rhythm of Gospel ...

Liz Vice There’s A Light Deeper Well Records (2014) http://deeper-well.com/artists/liz-vice/ By Bob Marovich Liz Vice may not sound like your average gospel singer, but then again, she’s not your average gospel singer. On her CD, There’s a Light, the Portland, Oregon-based singer delivers personal inspirational messages to God and to the listener with the raw intensity of Mavis Staples and the soulful confidence of Norah Jones. The album’s ten songs are fresh and inviting, the lyrics poetic, the small band tight and suited to Vice’s voice like bacon to eggs, and the trimmed-down arrangements are like long lost tapes straight ...

Yancy and Friends Little Praise Party: Taste and See Elevate Entertainment (release date: February 10, 2015) www.yancynotnancy.com By Bob Marovich Yancy’s Taste and See is the fourth in the Christian singer-songwriter’s series of Little Praise Party CDs, a series that offers children fun and educational religious music that does not sound childish. The songs work well with Yancy’s key demographic because they employ sugary melodies and infectious rhythms.  They contain messages that are both easy to follow and to sing. Eschewing the Barney-esque electronic rhythms that assume children have undeveloped musical taste, Yancy and her friends get their points across by ...

“Take Your Burdens” Juan Santiago & Uninhibited Praise www.jsuplive.com The group that in 2011 offered one of the most inspirational and uplifting arrangements of the spiritual “Were You There” I have ever heard is back with “Take Your Burdens.” The choir’s new single, led by Jeneal Johnson, is a straight-up traditional choir shouter with a rocking chair tempo and cascading parts evocative of Ricky Dillard, Keith Pringle, or the golden days of Gospel Music Workshop of America.  Righteous!

DeWayne Woods Life Lessons Soul Therapy Music Group (release date: February 3, 2015) dewaynewoods.rocks By Bob Marovich Excellent songwriting, compelling melodies, thoughtful lyrics, and powerful singing combine to make Life Lessons DeWayne Woods’s best project to date. The album is fueled by a team of top-shelf songwriters, such as PJ Morton (son of Bishop Paul S. Morton), Donald Lawrence, Gerald and Tammi Haddon, and Estee Bullock, a founding member of Hezekiah Walker and the Love Fellowship Crusade Choir. Some of Woods’s most cogent life lessons on this, his first album in four years, can be found on “They Said…” and ...