Ref. Stef and Jubilation – Just Like Sunday Mornin’!

Rev. Stef and Jubilation
Just Like Sunday Mornin’!
http://www.jubilationinc.com/

By Bob Marovich for The Black Gospel Blog.

Rev. Stefanie Minatee and Jubilation have been around for a while but they earned national recognition in 2010 backing Queen Latifah on the title track of EMI Gospel’s Grammy-winning Oh Happy Day: All Star Music Celebration.

The ensemble is back with Just Like Sunday Mornin’! The CD highlights what Sunday Morning sounds like in the wooden churches on the hill, in the storefronts, and on the corner; and in the churches with stadium-like seating and foyers as big as a hotel’s.

While the style of songs varies, the constants are the group’s big, brassy sound, their commitment to push every performance to its limit, and the lyrical content of the selections, which favors the meaty and time-honored themes of encouragement, determination and redemption over vertical praise and worship.

“The Blood,” the current single and opening selection, is the familiar congregational song sung with gusto. It is followed by the hair-raising “Lord, You’re Worthy,” an old-school contemporary gospel ballad rendered soulfully by Rev. Stef.

Songs run the gamut of urban R&B (“Cover Me,” “He’s Alright” and “No Fear”) and the bluesy evangelistic and semi-autobiographical reading of A. Jeffrey LaValley’s “Still Standing” (the album’s first single) to the epic ‘80s choral sound of “Hold to His Hand.” “Keep On Believing” evokes the essence of Kirk Franklin’s “Why We Sing.” The lovely voice of Nancey Jackson-Johnson can be heard on “He’s Everything to Me.”

Just Like Sunday Mornin’! is crisply produced by Rev. Stef. A First Baptist Church of Nutley, New Jersey alumna, Rev. Stef follows in the footsteps of her famous producer uncle, the late Rev. Lawrence Roberts. The album is an indie release, but it belongs on a major label.

Four of Five Stars

Picks: “The Blood,” “Lord, You’re Worthy.”