Just Love – Brian Courtney Wilson (Spirit Rising 2008)

Brian Courtney Wilson
Just Love
Spirit Rising Music/Music World Entertainment 2008
www.musicworldentertainment.com

From Matthew Knowles, father and manager of world-famous daughters Beyonce and Solange, and producer of gospel superstars Trin-I-Tee 5:7, comes Just Love, the debut album by soulful gospel balladeer Brian Courtney Wilson.

Wilson, a Chicagoan now living in Houston, and not to be confused with Bryan Wilson (A Second Coming) is set to release Just Love on Knowles’ Spirit Rising Music imprint in January 2009.

From the title track and first song, which showcases the church as a welcoming center of community and forgiveness, Just Love has an autobiographical feeling. The lyrics by and large depict a soul in search of meaning, purpose and love in an oft-confusing world of come-hither temptations, wrong paths, imperfection and mistakes just itching to be made. Comfort and surety are found in the arms of a strong, loving and redeeming God.

Wilson is a gospel crooner with appealing intensity. Although “Just Love” and the gentle and melodic “All I Need” are the songs destined for radio play, Wilson’s finest work is on “Believe,” a quietly passionate sacred love song well suited for gospel-themed weddings. By the way, dear readers, come January I will ask for your recommendations on gospel songs that work best for a wedding. This is in response to many inquiries TBGB has received on the subject over the past several months.

Nine of the album’s ten songs are unhurried, smooth and cut from quiet storm cloth (or should I say “peaceful praise”). The one exception is “No Other,” which features a finger-popping, bass-thumping club beat courtesy of the multi-talented musician Stan Jones, who pretty much does everything on the track. He also conveys a litany of shout-outs at the end of the song, including one to the gospel industry’s own lovable Telisa Stinson, who now serves as Spirit Rising’s A&R director.

Brian Courtney Wilson’s Just Love is an auspicious debut, a chill-down CD especially effective for warming the heart and reviving the spirit on a rainy Sunday afternoon or a cold winter’s night.

Three and a Half of Four Stars