LaShun Pace – Reborn

LaShun Pace

http://www.shanachie.com/

On a salute to Tarrian LaShun Pace that opens Reborn, sister Lydia Pace comments that “there’s a price to pay to sing the songs of the Lord.”

LaShun has paid that price.

Her eleven year-old daughter, Xenia, died of heart trouble. Two marriages fell apart. Her father got sick.  LaShun’s own illness impeded her ability to work, which caused serious financial trouble and her home went into foreclosure. At one point, LaShun asked God, “If you’re not going to heal me, please take me home.”  He healed, she’s still here, and Reborn is the musical tribute.

Reborn is her fittingly-titled first solo project in four years and first with Shanachie Entertainment. Having first come to the fore as a member of the Anointed Pace Sisters, LaShun gives testimony to the price and the healing, and sings God’s praises in her trademark traditional gospel style.

The current radio single, “Something 2 Live 4,” is an upbeat paean to the singer’s brighter future, but the album really shines when it finds its gospel blues center. “You’re So Good” showcases LaShun’s shouts, squalls, and eyebrow-lifting high notes. “God” is southern-fried gospel blues, allowing LaShun to improvise at will. “Keep Going On” has the feel of an extended quartet piece, as LaShun shares how her praying mother brought the strength she needed to overcome an illness that landed her in a Milwaukee hospital. 

Rudolph Stansfield produces and the ensemble David Walker & High Praise offers strong support to the singer, who lets her old-school roots show with a medley of classic gospels and hymns that “brought her through.” In addition, “Say So” is an up-tempo COGIC-style handclapper that morphs into a rock instrumental bolstered by Eric Brice’s steaming electric guitar. “It’s Me Oh Lord” is an antiphonal piece with a thumping backbeat that conjures images of congregational singing in the little wooden church on the hill.

On Reborn, LaShun Pace shouts her troubles over with the verve that anchored gospel’s first generation of vocalists.  Fans of traditional gospel in particular will appreciate this musical demonstration of how the singer got over, one Zion song at a time.

Four of Five Stars

Picks: “You’re So Good,” “It’s Me Oh Lord.”