The Journal of Gospel Music Information about the gospel music of yesterday, today, and tomorrow.

“God Said It”The Canton Spirituals ft. Doug Williams and Pastor Darrel PettiesFrom the Malaco Music Group album Hallelujah Anyhow(release date: January 28, 2022)www.malaco.com By Robert M. Marovich It’s a Mississippi singers reunion as the Canton Spirituals, Doug Williams of the Williams Brothers, and Pastor Darrel Petties of Olive Branch, Mississippi, assemble to sing that if God said it, “you can count it all done.” To hammer home the point, Harvey Watkins Jr. and Company provide listeners with a few examples from the Old and New Testaments when God did just what He said. I think it’s Doug Williams who interjects ...

Episode 163 Playlist: A beautiful day – Trenton Kirksey feat. Nikki Ross Jesus is Lord – Calvin Bridges All of my help – Dedicated Souls Grateful – Earnest Pugh Never give up – Michelle Brooks-Thompson Highest praise – Terry Fuller Project Make it with me – Ray Curenton God’s promises – Gregory King I got joy – The Dorsetts Best days – Martha Munizzi Invisible – Damara Melissa Console my heart – Lawrence Hancock At the cross – Tommy Walker

“Shake ‘Em Off” David E. Johnson Jr. feat. 1K Phew Trucast Music Digital (release date: March 25, 2022) www.DavidEJohnsonJr.com By Robert M. Marovich On “Shake ‘Em Off,” Memphis native David E. Johnson Jr. summons the percussive go-go sound of Washington, DC,  to bid good riddance to the devil. Johnson launched his gospel career in October 2021 with the original version of “Shake ‘Em Off,” co-written with Makeba Riddick-Woods. The extended version features a double-time rap interlude from Christian hip-hop artist Isaac “1K Phew” Gordon. The dynamic refrain is ready-made for full-body congregational participation. Plenty of kinetic energy in this piece.

Michele Thomas The Assumption Soulstream Music (release date: March 25, 2022) www.michelethomasmusic.com By Robert M. Marovich First of all, the title of The Assumption, jazz singer Michele Thomas’s third album, is a play on words. By referencing the Roman Catholic Church’s belief (assumption) that Mary, mother of Jesus, departed immediately to heaven upon death, she puts a sacred touch on the project’s point: trust. Second, Thomas combines her experience as a church singer, which included forming the gospel choir at North Park University, with her jazz career. The result is a sound as easy as Sunday morning but with messages ...

Nashville, TN (May 12, 2022) – RCA Inspiration celebrates multiple nominations for the upcoming 37th Annual Stellar Gospel Music Awards, with multiple artists nominated for their album and song projects over the past year in 17 categories. Eighteen Stellar Award nominations for hit artists Mali Music, Kelontae Gavin, Travis Greene, Kevin Lemons & Higher Calling, and Kirk Franklin (Fo Yo Soul/RCA) include the major categories of Artist of the Year, Male Artist of the Year, Duo/Chorus Group of the Year, Album of the Year, and Choir of the Year, along with nominations in Contemporary, Traditional, Urban/Inspirational, and Praise and Worship ...

“He’ll Do It Again”Wright Family SingersHigher Praise Records (release date: April 15, 2022) By Robert M. Marovich On “He’ll Do It Again,” the Wright Family Singers come as close as anyone currently to the deep groove Muscle Shoals-era sound of the Staple Singers. The female trio even evokes the low alto of Mavis Staples on this song of encouragement, that if Jesus did it once upon a time, he’ll do it for you—in the courtroom, in the sick room, in the midst of confusion and—cue Wilson Pickett—in the midnight hour. Not to be confused with the Wright Family Singers of ...

“I’m Encouraged” Patrick Noble Allen presents Claude Deuce Embrace Your Texture Enterprises (release date: February 24, 2022)www.ClaudeDeuce.com By Robert M. Marovich Written last year by Claude Deuce, who is also the featured vocalist, “I’m Encouraged,” presented by music industry veteran Patrick Noble Allen, is a gospel power ballad about holding onto blind faith, no matter the size of the tribulation. Motivated, no doubt, by a combination of societal and personal tempests, “I’m Encouraged” contemporizes the axiom that trouble doesn’t last always: “Made it through that / make it through this / It won’t always be this way.” The song gets ...

“Never Lost” Tribl featuring Joe L. Barnes, Lizzie Morgan & Melvin Crispell III Tribl Music (album release date: November 11, 2021) www.tribl.com By Robert M. Marovich If you follow gospel music, you are aware of the rise of worship collectives like Elevation Worship, Nashville Life Music, and the recent Grammy Award-winning Maverick City Music. Worship collectives, which are often multicultural in composition, possess a style that falls somewhere between CCM and gospel. Sometimes this blend, designed to appeal to an increasingly multicultural megachurch environment, lands the groups’ music on the CCM and gospel charts at the same time. Tribl is ...

First Run Features presents …Fresh from its Theatrical Release… Robert Clem’s New Music Documentary HOW THEY GOT OVER How They Got Over celebrates the spirit of gospel performers and how they helped usher in a musical revolution that changed the world forever! Beginning in the 1920s, Black singers across the country took to the highways as the new technology of radio and records made it possible to reach a wider audience. Intense competition brought new ways to entertain, first with guitars, later with full bands, then with a performance style that would inspire Mick Jagger and a host of other ...

Tommy Walker Generation Hymns 3 (release date: March 18, 2022) By Robert M. Marovich On Generation Hymns 3, worship leader, singer, and songwriter Tommy Walker teams with the Bethesda Community Church Choir and several featured vocalists to bind the hymnbook in a new cover. The Bethesda choir has a smiley Jesus People vibe. Indeed, the choir, Walker, the featured vocalists, and the robust rhythm section are uniformly upbeat, even on the album’s more sensitive selections like “He Leadeth Me” and “At the Cross.” For his part, Walker possesses a warm, friendly baritone voice that conjures Michael Buble and Harry Connick ...