February 2007

Bishop Joseph W. Walker III Presents Judah GenerationLight Records 2006Junior (or youth) gospel choirs have been around since the early 1930s, when Theodore Frye organized the very first junior gospel chorus at Ebenezer Baptist Church on Chicago’s south side. As if Professor Frye didn’t provide the group with enough star [...]

From a Malaco press release, sent by D.A. Johnson:GOSPEL QUARTET LEGEND 'SLIM' OF SUPREME ANGELS PASSES AWAYJackson, MS. February 25, 2007 - Sunday, February 25, 2007, gospel music lost one of its own, Howard Hunt, aka 'Slim' of Slim and the Supreme Angels. Elder Hunt was the Pastor at the [...]

If you were among those who applauded Chicago's Jennifer Hudson after her Oscar-winning, show-stopping performance of "And I'm Telling You I'm Not Going" in the musical Dreamgirls, you were applauding a 100 percent gospel performance with secular lyrics. Yesterday, Hudson's singing at the 79th Annual Academy Awards ceremony once again [...]

Henry Harrison of Down Home Gospel Productions informed me that Howard "Slim" Hunt, leader of the Supreme Angels, passed away Sunday, February 25.As more information becomes available, TBGB will pass it along.Meanwhile, a marvelous mini-autobiography of Hunt is available at http://www.malaco.com/Catalog/Gospel/Slim-The-Supreme-Angels/list.php.

“Just For Who You Are”Earnest PughFrom the release Earnest Pugh Live – A Worshipper’s PerspectiveCrystal Rose Records 2006On the relaxed “Just For Who You Are,” Memphis native Earnest Pugh sings at slow simmer until the recording’s latter moments, when he and the live audience together build the song’s intensity to [...]

CD ReviewStellar Awards Hits 2007Various ArtistsLight Records 2007While the WOW Gospel two-CD series has served as gospel’s de facto greatest hits compilation since its inception in 1997, Light Records’ Stellar Awards Hits 2007 is a shorter but equally enjoyable swatch of the past year’s gospel music highlights.Don’t expect to hear [...]

“Blessed and Highly Favored”The Clark SistersFrom the upcoming release Live – One Last TimeEMI Gospel 2007http://www.theclarksistersreunion.com/There’s not a young female gospel group out on the highway today that cannot – and does not – acknowledge the Clark Sisters as a source of inspiration. Though the late Mattie Moss Clark’s progeny [...]

“Traditional Praise and Worship”Rev. Oscar Hayes & Abundant Life FellowshipFrom Seasoned & Settled(Private Press) 2006(313) 867-9112“Y’all don’t mind havin’ a little Missionary Baptist church for a minute?”Thus inquires Detroit’s Rev. Oscar Hayes, rhetorically of course, as he and his Abundant Life Fellowship launch into a nearly eight-minute medley of traditional [...]

From Mrs. Henry Thomas-Harrison of Down Home Gospel Productions in Chicago:Brother Joe Watson of The Blind Boys of Mississippi passed away Monday, February 5th, 2007 at 7:55 p.m. at Yale Hospital in New Haven, Connecticut. Brother Joe Watson joined the Blind Boys of Mississippi in 1975. He was 64 years [...]

From a Malaco Records Press Release: Jackson, MS. February 9, 2007 - On February 6, 2007, Soul Train announced nominees for their 21st annual prestigious music awards among whom is found The Caravans, for their 2006 release Paved The Way, in the category of Best Gospel Album. The event takes [...]