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SharonPhasesShalamusic 2009www.myspace.com/shalamusicSharon Cotten (with an "e") has a voice that’s easy to fall in love with.The New York-native’s sophomore project Phases teams her RnB- and pop-flavored vocals with a spirited menagerie of world sounds (Spanish guitar, Latin beat, Caribbean flavoring) on songs that range from energetic to heart-melting sweet. The [...]

"I Wanna Go”Dorothy NorwoodFrom the CD Fifty Years, It’s Been Worth It All (Malaco 2009)www.malaco.comSeeing Shirley Caesar’s 2008 bid and raising it by ten years, fellow Caravan Dorothy Norwood celebrates a half-century in gospel music for Malaco Records on Fifty Years, It’s Been Worth It All.The second single from the [...]

It’s AmazingStavanger Gospel CompanySGCompany Records 2008www.sgcompany.noIt’s amazing, indeed…how you can hear gospel music just about everywhere on Earth, whether on CD, on the radio or the Internet, or, better yet, in live performance. In less than 90 years’ time, this folk-urban amalgam of African American sacred music has worked its [...]

Grace LaJoy (featuring Zenobia Smith)Songs by Grace LaJoy, Volume 1IGL Publishing 2009www.gracelajoy.comPoet, songwriter, businesswoman, youth leader, mother of two and author of twelve books who earned a Ph.D., hosts book publishing workshops and maintains a ministry, Dr. Grace LaJoy Henderson has a lot on her plate. She now has three [...]

From a Light Records Press Release:Nashville, TN - It has long been noted that rock and roll has its roots in gospel music, so it was only fitting that the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame kicked off its 2009 Induction Week by honoring Pastor Shirley Caesar with the first [...]

Ben TankardMercy Mercy MercyVerity Records 2009 (in stores April 28, 2009)www.verityrecords.com “Words put you on a thought path,” says inspirational instrumentalist Ben Tankard. His latest project, Mercy Mercy Mercy, demonstrates the verity of this (pun intended) by featuring several RnB songs with titles that, while secular in origin, take on [...]

“I Wouldn’t Know You”James Fortune & FIYA, feat. Nakitta FoxFrom the CD The Transformation (Black Smoke Music Worldwide 2008)www.myspace.com/jamesfortuneA fountain of top hits continues to pour forth from James Fortune and FIYA’s album The Transformation. The latest, “I Wouldn’t Know You,” is not only the chronological follow-up to Fortune’s smash [...]

“Power of the Holy Ghost”Shirley BellFrom the OverBoard Records CD God Can Do Anything!www.overboardrecords.comAt Chicagoan Shirley Bell’s CD release party for God Can Do Anything!, she belted out this song with such sanctified fervor that the audience was momentarily transported from the basement of Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church to a [...]

“Let’s Celebrate (He Is Risen)”Reverend Timothy WrightFrom the AIR Records CD Live: Vol. III (2005)(also included on The Godfather of Gospel, in stores May 5)www.malaco.comReverend Timothy Wright continues to heal from the horrific automobile accident that took the lives of his wife and grandson last July, and left him physically [...]

The Stavanger Gospel Company of Norway performs in ChicagoA longtime gospel music enthusiast, Norwegian guitarist and arranger Aril Schold had also built a fair amount of expertise in its performance working with artists such as Richard Smallwood and Andrae Crouch during their various European tours. Schold also accompanied Norwegian gospel [...]