Various ArtistsBMI Trailblazers of Gospel Music Live 2013
BMI/Entertainment One (2013)
By Bob Marovich for The Black Gospel Blog
What if some of gospel’s top-selling artists came together to sing the songs of celebrated gospel artists Edwin Hawkins, Lady Tramaine Hawkins, and Kurt Carr in front of an audience?
This happened last January at the BMI (Broadcast Music, Inc.) 14thAnnual Trailblazers of Gospel Music Awards Luncheon, held in Nashville during Stellar Awards weekend. The BMI Trailblazers of Gospel Music Live 2013—the first-ever recording produced by the performing rights organization—captures the luncheon’s musical highlights on disc.
The mostly female all-star assemblage includes such notables as Yolanda Adams, Kierra Sheard, CeCe Winans, Sheri Jones-Moffett, and quartet maven Lisa Knowles. Ms. Winans and Anaysha Figueroa-Cooper sing the notes off the stave on the album’s radio single, Walter Hawkins’ “Holy One.” Winans does it again, this time with Yolanda Adams, on “He Brought Me,” another Hawkins number. Le’Andria Johnson sounds wise beyond her years on “Changed,” and Amber Bullock offers a heartfelt version of Carr’s praise dancer and mime team favorite, “For Every Mountain.”
Among the album’s highlights are Pastor Shirley Caesar’s improvisatory flourishes during “Oh Happy Day.” She and duet partner Bishop Paul Morton give the song an appropriately Holy Ghost feel—this version was made popular by a COGIC choir, after all—as they reminisce about the day of the week they were saved.
The songs are lovingly rendered and the background vocalists sing in the warm, rich choral style that is the signature of the album’s vocal producers, Donald Lawrence and DeWayne Woods. Lawrence & Company set the album’s tone, in fact, on the opener, a spot-on cover of Carr’s mega-hit, “In the Sanctuary.”
The BMI Trailblazers CD reminds us that powerful singing is important, but when you link powerful singing with unforgettable gospel songs, the combination is unforgettable. I hope BMI continues releasing CDs from this annual luncheon.
Four of Five Stars
Pick: “Oh Happy Day,” “Holy One.”
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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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looking for the 2013 video of the song He Brought Me, by Yolanda Adams and Cece Winans