Right Now Praise
Jonathan Nelson featuring Purpose
Integrity Music 2008
www.integrityMusic.com/JonathanNelson
Stellar Award-winning songwriter, praise and worship leader, and “PK” Jonathan Nelson of Baltimore grew up in a singing family and attended the Baltimore School for the Arts, but received his first real taste of professional singing while backing Karen Clark-Sheard. The singer was to appear at his father’s Greater Bethlehem Temple Church and needed backing singers. Nelson and a group of his friends stepped in to assist, and the rest is history.
Right Now Praise is Nelson’s first project, a live recording that showcases his affection for a variety of sacred sounds: from urban inspirational to gospel to praise & worship, though no matter the style, the songs and melodies are simple and encourage singing along. The first few songs are urban inspirational numbers featuring energetic antiphonal singing by Nelson and Purpose, who are backed by a wall of instruments (Hallelujah! Real horns!), with the first single, “My Name is Victory,” a fine example. “Drench My Heart” spotlights Purpose, which navigates cascading harmonic lines deftly and delivers a hypnotic, meditative lyric to boot.
About halfway through the project, however, the low rumble of a Hammond organ changes the character of the session. With “Yes Out There,” and a medley of hymns, it becomes all about traditional gospel. Sheri Jones-Moffett, an excellent female singer, leads “Yes Out There” (“Yes in the house!”) and then Nelson cools everything down with expressively reverent readings of “Fill My Cup, Lord” and “I Need Thee Every Hour.” The traditional portion is the finest part of the entire project.
Later, the group demonstrates its praise & worship side with a string of simple, melodic songs that blend one into the other. One of them, “How Great is Our God,” reprises the hypnotic, mantra-like lyric of “Drench My Heart.”
Fans of Israel and New Breed in particular will enjoy Right Now Praise, an auspicious debut for Jonathan Nelson and Purpose.
Three of Four Stars
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Written by : Bob Marovich
Bob Marovich is a gospel music historian, author, and radio host. Founder of Journal of Gospel Music blog (formally The Black Gospel Blog) and producer of the Gospel Memories Radio Show.
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Jonathan Nelson,we saw you in Memphis. You have the best project that has surfaced this style. I would very much appreciate it if Bobby Jones will host you on his show. I saw you again on TBN Network and that song stuck with me, until I had to contact the music store here in Chicag, Ill (Harvest Christian BookStore to locate your project. THEY FOUND IT!
I Love “My Name Is Victory”.
I have downloaded it on both of my Dell computer system. I’m praying that I can get you to come to Chi-Town especially at our convocation in August. Keep producing those good songs.
Evangelist Dr. Katrina Glenn-Cornelious
I,too, saw Jonathan Nelson on TBN and was moved by his song “My Name is Victory”. I went to Walmart trying to find the CD. I couldn’t remember his name, but I remembered what he looked like and the name of the song. To my surprise, I found it in Walmart in a rural town. This entire CD is awesome. It has fast become one of my favorites. Whatever the test or trial comes my way, I just put on “My Name is Victory” and give God the glory in advance for my victory.