Fred Hammond I Will Trust RCA Inspiration (release date: November 17, 2014) www.rcainspiration.com By Bob Marovich One thing’s for sure: listen to Fred Hammond and you can’t help but have a good time praising the Lord. His latest album, I Will Trust, is packed to the CD’s brim with bracing musicianship, creative melodies and arrangements, rich singing, and demonstrative lyrics. The opening selection, “Festival of Praise,” could easily have been an alternate title for the CD, as the entire album is a musical festival, a cornucopia of praise and worship, Fred Hammond style. Hammond shifts effortlessly from an appropriately Brazilian ...

The Journal of Gospel Music‘s Bob Marovich talks with Fred Hammond about his new album, I Will Trust; his approach to songwriting; and the future of gospel music.  The title track plays immediately following the interview.

The Journal of Gospel Music‘s Bob Marovich interviews Dominique Jones of foreverJONES (“He Wants It All”) on her new solo career. Listen to a snippet of her new single, “Access,” which she unveils during the interview.

Pastor Riva Tims Presents Majestic Praise Access Granted Zion Records (2014) www.majesticlifechurch.com By Bob Marovich Florida Pastor Riva Tims introduces to the general public the music ministry at her Majestic Praise Church in Orlando on the ten-selection Access Granted. It is the first CD on her new Zion Records imprint. In the album’s dramatic introduction, Tims explains the title: “When you are on purpose and on assignment, God says ‘access granted.’” The ensemble employs that access to loft vertical praises to God on high. The songs and arrangements on Access Granted are CCM-tempered praise and worship, something on the order of Shekinah Glory Ministry. ...

by Bob Marovich Juan Santiago & Uninhibited Praise are turning their new record contract signing into a party. The group, whose Ultimate Worship Experience: Live was reviewed in 2012 by the Journal of Gospel Music (see below), will be signing with First Choice Gospel Records of Nashville, Tennessee. John Smiley is the label’s CEO. Santiago told JGM that the first release with the new label will drop January 26, 2015. The Record Contract Signing Press Party will take place at the Holiday Inn Express Ballroom, 615 East Main Street, in Hendersonville, Tennessee on Saturday, November 22, from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. ...

“Greater” Chad Brawley From the forthcoming album The We Worship Experience (Spring 2015) Available from digital music providers A melodic, energetic, and eminently radio-friendly praiser from Houston’s Chad Brawley. He and his background vocalists sing with muscle and conviction about the greatness of God. “Greater” evokes the quintessential urban P&W sound of artists such as VaShawn Mitchell and William McDowell. An experienced music minister, Brawley has worked for The Potter’s House, Heritage Christian Center, and Good Hope Baptist Church in Houston. He is currently Director of Worship Arts at The Luke Church of Humble, TX, cited as one of the fastest ...

Bob Marovich of the Journal of Gospel Music interviews Casey J, whose “Fill Me Up” is currently in the Top 20 of Billboard‘s Top Gospel Airplay Chart.

NEW YORK, October 16, 2014 – Broadcast Music, Inc.® (BMI®), a global leader in music rights management, is set to salute gospel leaders Israel Houghton, LaShun Pace and The Anointed Pace Sisters at its 16th annual Trailblazers of Gospel Music Awards in Atlanta. The event, which was previously held in Nashville, is slated for Saturday, January 17, 2015 at the Rialto Center for the Arts (80 Forsyth Street NW, Atlanta, Ga.). Gospel music’s premier songwriters, brightest stars and leading industry executives will attend the invitation-only event, which is part industry celebration and part awe-inspiring worship service. BMI will also announce ...

“The Greater” J. Grant Thompson Available on iTunes and other digital outlets on October 7, 2014 “The Greater” is the debut single from Washington, DC singer, songwriter, producer, and PK J. Grant Thompson. A notable debut it is. It is the gorgeous arrangement that imbues this lyrically and musically uncomplicated P&W anthem with its distinctive character. Thompson establishes an effective call and response with the background vocalists. I can imagine “The Greater” becoming just as popular with praise teams as songs by William McDowell and VaShawn Mitchell.

David Daughtry Self-Titled Karew Records/eOne Entertainment www.karewrecords.com By Bob Marovich It is fascinating how gospel music, a genre where the signature sound is brisk and exuberant, can be most beautiful when sung slowly and melodically. David Daughtry includes both the rapid and the measured on his impressive self-titled debut project. Although Daughtry delivers several fine uptempo selections on the album, the worshipful ballads “You Are” and the hypnotic “I Call Your Name” demonstrate his dexterous, earnest tenor. He launches falsetto notes well into the upper register and gets as high as Philippe Wynne (Spinners) on a cover of the Winans’ question-and-answer ...