Gospel winners at the 58th GRAMMY Awards: 36. Best Gospel Performance/Song "Wanna Be Happy?" – Kirk Franklin 37. Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song "Holy Spirit" – Francesca Battistelli 38. Best Gospel Album Covered: Alive in Asia [Live] (Deluxe) – Israel & Newbreed (RGM Newbreed/RCA Inspiration) 39. Best Contemporary Christian Music [...]
“Breakthrough” Bonita Burney Simmons (released October 19, 2015) @alicjanai creator profilewww.bonitaburneysimmons.com Bonita Burney Simmons infuses her single, “Breakthrough,” with a toolkit of traditional church soloist techniques. Melismatic runs, soulful top notes, and lyric attacks a la Jennifer Hudson--all in the service of encouraging listeners to stay faithful, because their own breakthroughs [...]
Mavis! Produced and Directed by Jessica Edwards www.mavisfilm.com Airs Monday, February 29, 8:00 p.m. CT (HBO) By Bob Marovich - Journal of Gospel Music Mavis!, the first full-length film to chronicle the life and artistry of Mavis Staples and the Staple Singers, is one of the most entertaining, moving, and informative [...]
By Bob Marovich The year 2016 is not even two months old and is already looking like it will go down in history as The Year the Music Died. One more gospel artist, and a young person, no less, has left this earth for her eternal reward. Erica Bratton-McCollough, 43, [...]
The Dynamic Abraham Brothers Use What I Have New Ham Records By Bob Marovich I don’t know what else the Dynamic Abraham Brothers could possibly have done to make Use What I Have a more archetypal gospel quartet album. First, the quintessential quartet drive tempo quickens the title track as [...]
“My All and All” Derrell Thomas Full Circle Records www.fullcirclerecords.us Commencing with a compelling piano intro that resonates with Elton John's deftness for encircling a melody with bright and shiny musical jewels, Derrell Thomas’s “My All and All” offers a melody and chorus that combine to be one heck of an earworm. [...]
“Wait For You” Ratu Suguturaga (2016) Available on iTunes and other digital outlets Ratu Suguturaga’s eager tenor on “Wait For You” evokes today’s leading male P&W balladeers. He revels in the song’s andante tempo and gentle melody like a refreshing spring drizzle, as he expresses earnest and prayerful yearnings to [...]
By Bob Marovich The stage curtains opened on JJ Hairston & Youthful Praise as the group was about to introduce its new song and soon-to-become-hit, “Incredible God, Incredible Praise.” Holding the microphone was the song’s creator, Deon Kipping. That wasn’t the way it was supposed to go down. “I didn’t [...]
A lovely tribute from gospel singer-songwriter Calvin Bridges : Black History Month - My Tribute IV I am blessed and elated to express my gratitude and veneration of several people who have made an indelible impartation in and have had significant impact on my life... my Heroes! Today... Pastor [...]
By Bob Marovich Marcel West and Gregory Gay reported to JGM today that gospel singer Doris Sykes passed away. From A City Called Heaven: Chicago and the Birth of Gospel Music: Born in St. Louis and raised by an aunt and an uncle who was pastor of a Baptist Church, [...]
