“Been Good” Torry Dulaney Raw Camp Records (release date: May 24, 2019) By Bob Marovich If you didn’t know that gospel wunderkind Todd Dulaney has a singing brother, now you know. Serving as minster of music for the Church at Rock Creek in Little Rock, Arkansas, Torry Dulaney is a solo artist who put out a Christmas album a few years ago. Torry’s latest single, “Been Good,” represents a musical style he calls “R&G,” or rhythm and gospel. This song of adulation and gratitude to the Most High fuses the uncomplicated honesty of modern gospel quartet singing to a beat ...

“Show Me” Ms. Ruby ARTX Records (release date: October 28, 2019) By Bob Marovich Written and sung out of heartbreak over the loss of her only son, “Show Me” gives Ruby Settles, aka Ms. Ruby, a chance to shout her troubles over. It’s a sung prayer that moves from gently supplicant (but with a touch of suppressed anger) to passionate shouting as Ms. Ruby seeks strength in the midst of her darkest hour. By the end, after she hears “His voice” giving her the direction she seeks, you get the sense that she is on her way to better days. ...

“Arise” Jason Williams Paper City Records (release date: October 9, 2019) By Bob Marovich “Arise” by Jason Williams is an easy-to-learn worship song suited for church praise teams. Though on the single, an almost breathless Williams and his background vocalists are accompanied by bumping bass, grinding guitar, flashes of organ, and the complex drumming characteristic of post-modern gospel, the song can easily be stripped down for a simpler arrangement. The song concludes with a praise-inducing vamp that likely lights up audiences at live programs. Williams is an Arkansas-based singer and songwriter. “Arise” is the first release from his forthcoming EP, ...

By Bob Marovich The collaboration between Stellar Award-winning Arkansas gospel quartet Tim Rogers and the Fellas and the Grammy-nominated R&B sensation Calvin Richardson that resulted in the Fellas’ latest single, “Hold Out,” began in the unlikeliest of places: an airport. Rogers and Richardson ran into one another while moving through the Memphis International Airport. Rogers told the Journal of Gospel Music that although the two men had never met face-to-face, “his family knew me and of course I knew him. We vowed to do something together, and we made sure we kept our word.” The result of their collaboration, “Hold Out” ...

“He’s Never Failed Me Yet” Saint Mark Sanctuary Choir From The Saint Mark Experience Live (2018) https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/saintmarksanctuarychoir By Bob Marovich From the opening strains of “He’s Never Failed Me Yet,” the Sanctuary Choir of Saint Mark Baptist Church in Little Rock, Arkansas, is unrelenting in its praise of an unfailing God. Backed by deliciously thick harmonies from the open-throated choir, the lead singer declares that “Momma may fail / Daddy may fail / Sister may fail / Brother may fail / Friend may fail / Pastor may fail,” but God won’t fail. Under the leadership of Darius Nelson, the choir dedicated its album ...

Cameron Ross Power: Instrumental Praise & Worship Cameron Ross Music (release date: April 19, 2018) www.cameronrossmusic.com By Bob Marovich Jazz saxophonist Cameron Ross’s sophomore album Power lives up to its subtitle. Ross renders contemporary Praise & Worship favorites in the smooth jazz format and then commences to improvise on their melodies on saxophone. Songs such as Israel Houghton’s “You Are Good,” Martha Munizzi’s “Glorious,” and William Murphy’s “You Reign” get this restful but restless treatment. Without lyric context, however, songs such as “Jump” and the title track are virtually indistinguishable from non-sacred jazz instrumentals. A music educator in the Memphis school system, Ross grew ...

Pastor Terrell Rogers & Men of Destiny Stand By Me “Live” 4 Winds Records / Malaco Music Group (release date: March 2, 2018) www.malaco.com By Bob Marovich Listening to Pastor Terrell Rogers’ rough-hewn lead vocals meet the smooth harmonies of Men of Destiny is like eating salted caramel: they are delicious together. The 4 Winds release, Stand By Me “Live,” captures the young quartet singing at the Prince of Peace Church in their hometown of Blytheville, Arkansas (the Rogers Family founded the church in 1965). There’s plenty of antiphonal singing between Rogers and the quartet. Rogers, who cut his professional ...

“Stand by Me” Pastor Terrell Rogers & Men of Destiny From the 4 Winds Records album Stand By Me “Live” (expected release date: March 2, 2018) www.malaco.com By Bob Marovich In front of God and a live audience, Pastor Terrell Rogers & Men of Destiny pray fervently for heavenly assistance on “Stand By Me.” It’s a prayer Rogers utters in the darkness of anguish, in the midst of an internal storm, when friends do him wrong and, he sings, “sometimes I feel like I’m all alone.” Ah, there’s that sacred conjunction, but, which good gospel songs employ to shift the tone ...

Debbie Cochran Born Again Wildflower Independent Release (release date: June 16, 2017) www.debbiecochran.com By Bob Marovich Debbie Cochran, the Arkansas singer whose “Faith Can” was a JGM Pick of the Week in September 2016, scores big by landing Dolly Parton as a duet partner on the title track of her new album, Born Again Wildflower. Cochran, a self-described “classic country” singer, has a voice that is wizened, expressive, and passionate. Her rich, low warble evokes another classic country singer, Kitty Wells, and her aggressive vocal projection reminds me of Opry stars. Her street-level lyrics are like country poetry, not unlike Dolly ...

Marvin Williams Gospel Sing Night Independent Release 2016 https://form.jotform.us/marvinwilliams/shop-with-marvin-williams- By Bob Marovich Gospel Sing Night, a combination CD and DVD offering from Arkansas-based pianist and singer Marvin Williams, contains the same zestful singing of traditional gospel songs and church hymns that the late Bishop G. E. Patterson presented in 2005 and 2006 in his two-volume Singing the Old Time Way. One difference between Patterson’s and Williams’s projects: instead of simply offering a congregational singalong, Williams talks about the components of an old fashioned worship service as he presents songs associated with each part. Including everything but the offering and altar call, Williams’s narrative, singing, ...