Gospel Music

David Wright & the DW ProjectHeavenGodfather Records (2011)By Bob Marovich for The Black Gospel BlogAnother ensemble featuring the progeny of gospel royalty is David Wright and the DW Project.  Wright’s father, Godfather of Gospel Music Rev. Timothy Wright, met an untimely end in April 2009, the result of a tragic [...]

The McCrary SistersAll the WayMcC Records (released April 30, 2013)www.mccrarysisters.netBy Bob Marovich for The Black Gospel BlogThe acorn doesn’t fall far from the tree, as the saying goes.In the McCrary Sisters’ case, the spark doesn’t travel far from the flame.The sisters—Ann, Deborah, and Regina McCrary and Alfreda McCrary Lee—come from [...]

TBGB provides more info on this year's Chicago Gospel Music Festival.  Click here: Gospel Fest.

“Release Me”Hope Askew (2013)www.cdbaby.com/cd/hopeaskew32“Release Me” is a pleasant, satisfying contemporary ballad from Hope Askew of Portsmouth, Virginia, who sings about being an empty vessel that seeks filling from the Most High.  “I’ve tried the pleasures of this world, but the hurt still remains.” In a voice brimming with honesty and authenticity, [...]

Erica ReedSold OutEden Recordswww.ericareed.orgBy Bob Marovich for The Black Gospel BlogSold Out, the latest full-length CD from St. Louis gospel singer (and restaurateur) Erica Reed, traverses some of the same musical and lyric territory as her 2009 offering, The Time is Now.  Once again, Reed sings urban AC melodies in [...]

“Worshiper In Me”Javen feat. Jonathan NelsonFrom the forthcoming Tyscot CD Worship in the Now - Livewww.tyscot.comPraise leaders Javen and Jonathan Nelson form a strong duo on "Worshiper In Me," an elegant, well-developed P&W piece about tapping into the worshiper inside.  The graceful melody backed ably by smooth background vocalists is [...]

To Do This, You Must Know How: Music Pedagogy in the Black Gospel Quartet TraditionLynn Abbott and Doug SeroffUniversity Press of Mississippi, 458 pages, illus.www.upress.state.ms.usBy Bob Marovich for The Black Gospel BlogVenerable gospel music historians Lynn Abbott and Doug Seroff decant the contents of their sizable notebooks into To Do This, [...]

“Shine On Me”Roscoe Robinson & the Birmingham Blind BoysArchie Brownlee selected quartet tenor (and future soul star) Roscoe Robinson to lead the Original Five Blind Boys of Mississippi after his passing.  After a few years with the Mississippi Blind Boys, Robinson teamed with Lawrence Abrams to organize the Blind Boys [...]

ATLANTA, GA (May 09, 2013) - Bounce TV (www.BounceTV.com), the nation’s first-ever broadcast television network for African Americans, will premiere its first original non-scripted series, Forever Jones is presented by Walmart on Wednesday, June 5th at 9:00 p.m. ET.Coming on the heels of Bounce TV’s successful original special, A Forever Jones [...]

Nada GrantSacrifice of Praise (2012)By Bob Marovich for The Black Gospel Blog“Love of My Life,” the opening track of singer-songwriter Nada Grant’s full-length CD, Sacrifice of Praise, is a love song to the Lord delivered in an attractively modernized ‘60s/’70s soft soul.  The listener eagerly anticipates more tracks like it [...]