Judith Christie McAllister – Sound the Trumpet

Judith Christie McAllister
Sound the Trumpet
Shanachie Entertainment (2011)
http://www.shanachie.com/

by Bob Marovich for The Black Gospel Blog.

Judith Christie McAllister’s Sound the Trumpet is her fourth CD but first in five years.

In the years since the release of In His Presence, the President of the Church of God in Christ International Music Department has undergone some very public and private travails. The new album was recorded in August 2008 at the Allen AME Church in New York, just before, as she commented, “all hell broke loose.”

The meaty, high-energy title track is the album’s first single, with McAllister the confident professional P&W leader commanding a troop of worship warriors into holy war against society’s moral erosion. She follows this selection with an equally energetic reading of Chris Tomlin’s quintessential praise and worship anthem, “How Great is Our God.” The album’s first twenty minutes is akin to a praise rally.

But the finest moments are when the songstress turns down the temperature for a handful of worship ballads such as on “Thank You for the Healing,” led by Markita Knight. McAllister’s composition “Just for Who You Are,” a simple, hymn-like inspirational ballad sung with the mighty Nancey Jackson Johnson, is the one song on the album with the most potential for longevity.

A particularly interesting selection is “Fire,” featuring T.C. Bereal, Jr. Here, McAllister reconnects with her Jamaican-Barbados and COGIC roots to produce a fun, island-flavored song about the Pentecost that the singer wrote but sounds for all the world like an old folk song.

The background vocalists support McAllister with strength, and the brassy musicianship is apropos for an album with the word “trumpet” in the title. Talented producer Michael Bereal makes certain the details shine through the wall of sound.

On Sound the Trumpet, Judith Christie McAllister reconfirms why they call her the First Lady of Praise and Worship.

Four of Five Stars

Picks: “Sound the Trumpet,” “Just for Who You Are,” “Fire.”