Dan Willis – A Man, His Piano and His Worship

Dan Willis

Dan Willis Ministries (2012)

By Bob Marovich for The Black Gospel Blog.

You may know Pastor Dan Willis as head of Lighthouse Church of All Nations in South Suburban Chicago, from his popular I’m Just Sayin’ television program on TCT, or perhaps from way back when he fronted the Pentecostals of Chicago (POC) chorus.

If so, you know this blue eyed soul child–my acknowledged “brother from another mother”–can sing gospel.  What I learned from Willis’ new CD, A Man, His Piano and His Worship, is that he is also an accomplished pianist.  Not satisfied with merely accompanying himself with standard chording, he draws from an arsenal of arpeggios and other techniques to ornament his singing.

The album, mixed and mastered by Tommies alum Darius Brooks, captures Willis in recital at Trinity Christian Collegein Palos Heights, Illinois.  A polite but enthusiastic audience absorbs Willis’ acoustic performance of contemporary inspirational favorites, which range from Kevin LaVar’s introspective “A Heart That Forgives” and Malcolm Williams’ “You Shall Live and Not Die,” to Rolf Lovland’s international smash, “You Raise Me Up.”  “You Love Me” is the album’s most gentle, most heartwarming selection.

Willis can, and does, shout sanctified during the recital, but for the most part, he renders the songs in what can best be described as a musical theater voice.  He even sounds startingly like Michael Crawford on “Isn’t He Good All the Time.”  The main focus is Willis on piano, but instrumentalists Marvalinn Stull and Katie Bern join in on “You Raise Me Up” and “In Your Embrace,” respectively.  Willis also gets assistance on the prayerful final selection, “Be Still And Know Your Time Has Come,” by Kevon Carter, a young man with a handsome voice.  And yes, turntablist DJ Pookie of I’m Just Sayin’ also cameos!

I was hoping that Willis would include a medley of old-school Baptist hymns in the recital, but “I’m Just Sayin’.”  A Man, His Piano and His Worship is a gentle and prayerful album with a high likability factor.

Picks: “You Love Me.”