Bob

Erica ReedThe Time is NowEDP Productions 2009http://www.ericareed.org/Erica Reed is a fine singer who comes from a family of church leaders.  She possesses a sassy pop style that gives the collection of praise and prayer songs on her CD, The Time is Now, finger-popping attitude. Eschewing background vocalists, Reed simply multi-tracked [...]

Zadella "Mama" Curtis reported this evening that Robert "Sugar" Hightower passed away.As Michael Jackson was to the Jackson Five, "Sugar" Hightower was to the Hightower Brothers (below).  He led the group's early recordings for Nashboro Records with a pre-pubescent alto that he coupled with a diminutive quartet growl.  Hightower went on to play guitar for [...]

By Bob Marovich for The Black Gospel Blog.On September 14, 2010, the world will have a chance to hear what worshippers enjoyed last August when Tyscot Records releases My Worship Experience. It’s a two-CD set that represents what can take place when top-shelf gospel singers such as Joann Rosario-Condrey, Lucinda [...]

More on the unbelievable mess surrounding then-Governor Blagojevich's promise to help Chicago's Pilgrim Baptist Church with $1 million after a January 2006 fire destroyed the historic structure.Pilgrim Baptist Church

“Call Him Up”Keith PringleFrom the Platform Music Group CD Nothing Too Hard for God (available October 5, 2010)After a fifteen-year hiatus from recording, gospel singer and choir guru Keith Pringle is back with a brand new project, Nothing Too Hard for God. Pringle reprises some of his earlier gospel hits on [...]

Pastor T.L. Barrett and the Youth For Christ ChoirLike a Ship…(Without a Sail)Light in the Attic Records 2010http://www.lightintheattic.net/This CD reissue of the 1971 vanity LP (and crate-digger favorite) by Pastor Barrett and the young people’s choir from Chicago’s Mount Zion Baptist Church shows what a profound influence Edwin Hawkins and the Northern California [...]

“Looking Forward to Another Day”DeWitt JohnsonFrom the Jay Records CD Looking Forward to Another Day (2010)www.cdbaby.com/Artist/DeWittJohnsonAt the age of eight, North Carolina native DeWitt Johnson was trampled by a horse, leaving him deaf in one ear. As an adult, his eighteen-wheeler jackknifed and plummeted off the road. Thankfully, Johnson survived [...]

ProvisionDevotion (2010)www.myspace.com/demalbanyboyzProvision is a five-member contemporary quartet from Albany, Georgia. The group’s harmonies conjure memories of Commissioned but their style has the churchy bounce and hard-shouting to please traditionalists.In fact, I cannot decide who shouts harder: Cornelious Drake or Jeffrey Newberry, Jr.  Both give Clarence Fountain and the late Bob Washington a [...]

From a press release:Jazz at Lincoln Center (JALC) and The U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs are pleased to collaborate for a sixth year on The Rhythm Road: American Music Abroad. JALC is now accepting band applications for the 2010-11 season. American music quartets from throughout [...]

“Lost Souls”Kevon CarterFrom the CD Philippians 4:13www.myspace.com/kevoncarterTaking on the persona of a newbie to the church, Kevin Carter sings in “Lost Souls” what some are afraid to talk about. When the lost soul is met by church folk at all, it’s with glaring disapproval for what he wears, what he [...]