Kerry Douglas Presents Gospel Mix Volume VI

By Bob Marovich for The Black Gospel Blog

Gospel Mix Volume VI could well be titled Kerry Douglas’s Greatest Hits because that is what it is: a compilation of the best songs released through Douglas’s Worldwide Music, Inc. in the past several years.

Created in 2008 by gospel music wunderkind Douglas to showcase emerging artists and rekindle interest in the genre’s hit makers, the Gospel Mix series has done well, but this latest entry–with the able assistance of compilers Amber Douglas and Bil Carpenter–is the best of the lot.

Fans of James Fortune and FIYA will find their two mega-hits for Douglas, “I Trust You” and “I Believe,” as well as Greg O’Quin’s “I Told the Storm,” a simmering traditional-flavored declaration for the storm of life to be over.  Bryan Andrew Wilson’s “It Will Happen for Me” is bubbly and supremely melodic and optimistic.

Three of TBGB’s “Best of” singles appear here: Zacardi Cortez’s “1 on 1,” a plaintive call for you-and-me time with God; “Every Promise,” Cortez’s fantastic 2012 duet with Lalah Hathaway; and “Medicine for Someone Else,” one of Ruben Studdard’s finest moments since “Superstar,” recorded to raise money for the Black Academy of Arts and Letters in Dallas, Texas.

There are several nice surprises, among them a reissue of the late Rev. Paul Jones singing his own oft-covered “I Won’t Complain,” and tearing the church up in the process.  Then-unknown Le’Andria Johnson of BET Sunday Best fame assists Jimmy Hicks in 2006 on “Praises Go Up,” sounding every bit as good as she did on her breakout solo hit, “Jesus.”  “You Deserve My Praise” is vintage Tamela “Take Me to the King” Mann.

Entrepreneurial as always, Douglas includes a new selection, “You Are the Reason,” by Ted Winn (of Ted & Sheri) and Balance.  Winn wrings every ounce of holy sweat into this praiser.  A digital version of the compilation includes five bonus songs by rising artists such as Kenny Smith and Derrick Horne.

If you are momentarily tired of the radio, Kerry Douglas Presents Gospel Mix Volume VI is a splendid substitution.

Pick: “Praises Go Up,” “I Won’t Complain.”