Elvis Presley Where No One Stands Alone RCA / Legacy Recordings (release date: August 10, 2018) www.legacyrecordings.com By Bob Marovich When Elvis Presley became a national sensation in the mid-1950s, there were those who thought he was the devil personified, what with the hip shaking, sneering, and rock ‘n’ roll music. They did not realize that the twisting and sneering phenom from Memphis grew up listening to southern gospel quartet singing on the radio and hung out by New Trigg Baptist Church to hear the choir of the Reverend W. Herbert Brewster. And in December 1956, when Elvis and fellow ...

Chicago—September 12, 2017— Every Sunday morning from 1963 until 1984, Chicago gospel music lovers watched Jubilee Showcase for the inspiring and soul-stirring performances by nationally known artists and local favorites, including the Staple Singers, Andrae Crouch, the Edwin Hawkins Singers, the Soul Stirrers, Albertina Walker, the Caravans, Jessy Dixon, the Barrett Sisters, Vernon Oliver Price and the Norfleet Brothers. Choral groups such as George Mays and Voices of Praise, the Wooten Choral Ensemble as well as the Institutional Church of God in Christ Radio Choir from Brooklyn, NY, were also regularly featured on the program. Episodes of this classic gospel ...

Howard Gospel Choir of Howard University Glorious God Howard Gospel Choir (2016) www.howardgospelchoir.com By Bob Marovich It might surprise some that, prior to the late 1960s, college and university music departments sniffed at starting a gospel choir. In a reprise of the early twentieth century church’s disdain for the gospel music of Thomas A. Dorsey, colleges treated the vernacular sacred music with arrogance and condescension. It took a dedicated group of students, Melanie Russell-Lee, the Reverend Rosalind Thompkins-Lynch, and Richard Smallwood among them, to persuade their alma mater, Howard University, that a gospel choir was not only a good idea, it would serve ...

By Bob Marovich On March 18, the Stellar Award-winning singer-songwriter Jonathan Nelson released Fearless (Light Records / eOne Music), a live recording that JGM gave its highest possible rating, five stars, for its ability to “be musically versatile and passionate yet remain firmly rooted in the atmospheric and hypnotic P&W technique.” Nelson spoke to JGM about how his songwriting process contributed to the creation of Fearless. “My songwriting process is ‘when it comes,’” Nelson said. “I could be in a car–and a lot of times songs come to me in the car because I’m alone–or in meditation time, and I pull ...

By Bob Marovich The stage curtains opened on JJ Hairston & Youthful Praise as the group was about to introduce its new song and soon-to-become-hit, “Incredible God, Incredible Praise.” Holding the microphone was the song’s creator, Deon Kipping. That wasn’t the way it was supposed to go down. “I didn’t want to lead the song,” Kipping told JGM. “I wanted to give it to somebody else to lead, but the curtain was opening and I had the microphone in my hand. So I had to walk out and sing it.” That moment, and that song, became Kipping’s inadvertent introduction into ...

Damion Murrill & Siloam Take a Stand Divinity Music Group (release date: June 9, 2015) https://www.facebook.com/damionmurrill2 By Bob Marovich On his debut solo CD, Take a Stand, Damion Murrill demonstrates effective tutelage as a protégé of Donald Lawrence as he leads his own gospel group, Siloam (pron. Sill-OAM) on a baker’s dozen of thoughtful and rousing selections. Damion Murrill & Siloam possess that room-filling extroverted vocal sound representative of today’s contemporary gospel ensembles. The musicians’ complex chords and learned changes are also emblematic of this popular style. What is distinctive about Take a Stand, however, is its lyrical emphasis on ...

By Bob Marovich From 1963 to 1984, the Emmy Award-winning television program Jubilee Showcase brought the nation’s greatest gospel singers and groups into living rooms throughout Chicagoland. Every Sunday morning, host Sid Ordower treated viewers to performances by such stalwarts as the Caravans, the Mighty Clouds of Joy, the Norfleet Brothers, Andrae’ Crouch, Jessy Dixon, the Staple Singers, and the Barrett Sisters. The show featured pioneering gospel performers such as Roberta Martin and Thomas Dorsey. There were many gospel greats whose taped appearance on Jubilee Showcase represents the only video footage of their live performances. Jubilee Showcase was the longest-running ...

Richard Smallwood with Vision Anthology Live RCA Inspiration (release date: June 29, 2015) By Bob Marovich Arguably the most anticipated gospel album thus far this year is Richard Smallwood with Vision’s Anthology Live. The seminal group’s first project in four years is a double-CD live recording that offers new selections as well as an extended retrospective of Smallwood’s artistic legacy. In addition to reflecting on his own opus, Smallwood pays tribute to the Roberta Martin Singers, Edwin Hawkins, and Andrae’ Crouch—gospel legends who inspired him to play, write, and direct. The Martin Singers, and especially the ensemble’s accompanist Little Lucy ...

By Bob Marovich for the Journal of Gospel Music If Richard Smallwood had his druthers, the autobiography he is writing would have been released simultaneously with his new album, the two-CD Anthology Live. The album, recorded with his group, Vision, is essentially the “musical soundtrack” to his autobiography.  But the music came first, and Anthology Live (RCA Inspiration) hits stores June 29. The maestro, whose song canon is among the finest in modern sacred music, talked with the Journal of Gospel Music about the new release, his and Vision’s first CD in four years. The genesis of Anthology Live, Smallwood ...

LOS ANGELES, CA — Music legend Andraé Crouch has died. The Grammy and Dove Award winner passed away on Thursday, January 8, 2015 at approximately 4:30pm PST at Northridge Hospital Medical Center in the Los Angeles area. Andraé, 72, was hospitalized on January 3rd. Andraé’s family requests privacy at this time. Andraé’s accolades include 7 Grammy Awards, 6 GMA Dove Awards, an Academy Award nomination for “The Color Purple,” induction into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. His songs have been recorded by everyone from Elvis Presley to Paul Simon, and ...