“Not Alone” – Eric Maurice Clark feat. Minister Tim White

“Not Alone”
Eric Maurice Clark feat. Minister Tim White
From Songs from the Heart
(release date: October 2, 2017)
https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/ericmauriceclark

By Bob Marovich

For his album Songs from the Heart, emerging songwriter Eric Maurice Clark gathered together seasoned gospel singers and musicians to interpret his compositions, which range from Praise & Worship songs to neo-traditional fare.

The extended intro to the churchy “Not Alone” has the stuffing sung out of it by Chicago’s Minister Tim White, who could sing “Mary Had a Little Lamb” and have people shouting.

To Troy Garner’s gently warbling organ, White sings the verses straight and saves his improvisational tools for the chorus, which centers on the two words of the song’s title. Working with these words as his raw material, White growls, shouts, interjects, weaves bluesy runs, and lofts a falsetto note. Exciting stuff.

Honorable mention goes to “Not Built to Break,” a contemporary gospel piece on which Renee Crutchfield-Patterson’s evangelistic fervor and Pierre Brookins’ low notes lift the song’s inspirational message about resilience.