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“Family (There’s a Healing)”Donald Lawrence Introduces The MurrillsQuiet Water Entertainment 2007Supported by Stellar Award-winning gospel artist Donald Lawrence (left), the Murrills deliver a slow, contemplative call-and-response paean to the imperative of family strength and personal forgiveness. The delicate melody tugs at the heartstrings while the lyrics remind us that “Life [...]

“I Found a Friend”Major ChoirboyGospel Management Group 2007www.choirboyonline.comTrained at the world-class Berklee School of Music, Major Choirboy asserts that he wants to establish “a new brand of sophisticated gospel music.” If so, “I Found a Friend” is an excellent start, because it's anchored in cool combo jazz, not generic-sounding smooth [...]

Walk With MeSister Elizabeth EustisDelmark 2000www.delmark.comNew Orleans may be known for giving birth to jazz, but Crescent City musicians and vocalists also made important contributions to gospel music. Mahalia Jackson, Helen Robinson, the Jackson Gospel Singers, Zion Harmonizers, the Greater St. Stevens Choir, and many more from New Orleans praised [...]

From the Chicago Sun-Times:SOUTH SIDE Deacon at Trinity United Church of Christ found shot multiple times in his home on Sunday December 26, 2007SUN-TIMES STAFF REPORTSChicago Police were searching for answers Tuesday about who shot and killed a beloved choir director and teacher in his South Side home.Meanwhile, funeral arrangements [...]

“His Glory”Calvin Suggs & FriendsFrom the CD CelebrateMCG Records 2007http://www.calvinsuggs.org/ North Carolina’s Calvin Suggs, former leader of the Carolina Spirituals, teams up with fellow quartet singer Luther Barnes of the Sunset Jubilaires on “His Glory,” a lovely, unpretentious gospel ballad. While the title track is the touted single from Suggs’ [...]

Unfinished BusinessFairest HillVision Productions 2007www.fairesthill.netSon of legendary Detroit gospel vocalist Tessie Hill and original member of the Followers of Christ quartet, Dr. Fairest Hill is now a motivational speaker and gospel singer. On his new project, Unfinished Business, Hill shines the spotlight on these two passions as a mighty band [...]

Robert Darden, a Baylor University professor, former gospel editor for Billboard, and author of People Get Ready: A New History of Black Gospel Music, was a guest on NPR's "Fresh Air" today. He spoke to host Terry Gross about the Black Gospel Music Restoration Project, housed at Baylor.Many of the [...]

JDI Records informed TBGB that Bishop Walter Camps, Presiding Bishop of the Holy Temple of God and father of JDI recording artist Beverly Crawford, passed away. Please keep Beverly and her family in your prayers, as Christmas is a particularly difficult time to lose a loved one. More About Presiding [...]

“Tender Mercy”Lonna HardinFrom the Various Artists CD The New SoulRedeemed Soul.com 2007http://www.redeemedsoul.com/Growing up in Texas and Michigan, Lonna Hardin sang. Sang in church, sang in the classroom, in high school hallways, at her commencement, everywhere. She soloed on a Charles Fold album, released an independent solo project in 1999, and [...]

Today, nearly every popular gospel artist has a Christmas project in his or her catalog. The Mississippi Mass Choir, Luther Barnes, and Yolanda Adams are among those releasing Christmas albums this season. But when did the tradition of gospel artists recording Christmas carols begin? One is inclined to answer that [...]