Smokie Norful – Once In a Lifetime

Smokie Norful

EMI Gospel (released April 3, 2012)

By Bob Marovich for The Black Gospel Blog.

Ten years ago, Smokie Norful emerged as one of the most talented male vocalists in modern gospel music.  

His breakout hit “I Need You Now” made its way onto the playlists of urban contemporary stations as well as gospel radio.  Many an evening I would listen to the “Quiet Storm” program on Chicago’s V-103 and hear “I Need You Now” squeezed in between love songs by Luther Vandross and Anita Baker.

An ordained elder in the AME church and former high school history teacher, Norful can write and produce music and play piano.  But it is Norful’s vocal versatility that has won his audience over.  He can stand flatfooted and deliver intensely personal songs with embellishments that run up and down the gospel scale.  His performances build to crescendos of excitement that send listeners into fits.

Once In a Lifetime is a collection of Norful’s most popular songs over the past decade.  The singer himself shies away from the term “greatest hits” because, to him, it sounds like the apex of his career is in the rear view mirror.  Of course that’s not true.  The title track, the album’s one new song, is a lovely autobiographical reflection on life’s ups and downs.  It demonstrates that Norful, now Senior Pastor of Victory Cathedral Worship Center, still possesses the clarity of tone and message that has brought him this far.

 

In addition to “I Need You Now,” the album reprises such hits as Percy Bady’s “I Understand” and the breathtaking love song to the Highest One, “Dear God.”  The bluesy “Don’t Quit,” complete with punctuating brass lines, is included, as are the acoustic “Nothing Without You” and “Run Til I Finish.”  While Norful is at his best singing to nothing more than his own piano accompaniment, songs such as “No One Else” showcase his dynamic interaction with a live audience.

Once in a Lifetime is a well-assembled chronicle of Smokie Norful’s chart-topping songs.  Listening to it is like taking a nostalgic walk through the last ten years of gospel radio.

Picks: “Once In a Lifetime,” “I Need You Now,” “Dear God.”