Renee Spearman Whoa to Wow! JDI Records (2012) By Bob Marovich for The Black Gospel Blog. I first heard Renee Spearman on the multi-faceted JDI Records release, He Changed Me (2008), as one-half of the duo, Renee Spearman and Prez. The lovely singer-songwriter with the pop-inflected voice must have taken [...]
Sarah Hearn of The Examiner reported that Edwin Hawkins, Lady Tramaine Hawkins, and Kurt Carr have been named 2013 BMI Trailblazers.Read more here: 2013 BMI Trailblazers.
Vincent Tharpe & KenosisLive In MemphisEPM Music Group (2012)www.epmmusicgroup.comBy Bob Marovich for The Black Gospel Blog.Ah, Memphis. My second favorite city, next to Chicago.Memphis gave the world two of gospel's greatest songwriters—Lucie Campbell and Rev. W.H. Brewster. Early gospel-promoting pastors Rev. Clarence H. Cobbs of First Church of Deliverance and Bishop [...]
Modern Day DavidFeelin’ BetterFresh Entertainment, Inc. (2012)www.moderndaydavid.comBy Bob Marovich for The Black Gospel Blog.“Clap your hands for Jesus,” Lawrence Williams—aka Modern Day David—exclaims on the single and title track of his album, Feelin’ Better. The rhythm of this (literally) feel-good anthem evokes the steady beat of a Gap Band stepper, [...]
Sarah Hearn of The Examiner.com reports on the passing and homegoing services for BET Sunday Best finalist Dontavies Boatwright.Click here: Dontavies Boatwright
James Fortune & FIYAGrace GiftLight Records (2012)www.jamesfortunemusic.comBy Bob Marovich for The Black Gospel Blog.Knowing how vocally and instrumentally explosive James Fortune & FIYA can be, I was fascinated to hear how Grace Gift, the ensemble’s first holiday release, would sound. I was more than pleasantly surprised. Fortune and the ensemble [...]
“I Need You”Latre'Alyaka Productions (2012)Cleveland Ohio’s Latre’ Morris, known simply as “Latre',” delivers a lovely solo on “I Need You,” an uncomplicated, atmospheric ballad of praise for, and continued assistance from, Jesus, without whom the singer cannot live, breathe, or move. To a delicate but insistent rhythm, Latre’ repeats her message [...]
Cadillac James Restoration (2012) www.reverbnation.com/cadillacjames By Bob Marovich for The Black Gospel Blog. You can take the man out of the quartet, but you can’t take the quartet out of the man. "Cadillac James" Cotton of the famed Cotton Brothers quartet, a group known for the New Year’s Day perennial, “Another [...]
Anthony Heilbut The Fan Who Knew Too Much: Aretha Franklin, the Rise of the Soap Opera, Children of the Gospel Church, and Other MeditationsAlfred A. Knopf, 354 pages (2012)www.anthonyheilbut.comBy Bob Marovich for The Black Gospel Blog.Anthony Heilbut is quite possibly the smartest person I have ever met. Although he completed The Gospel [...]
Ronnie DiamondSings the Songs of James Myers (2008)Available from CD UniverseBy Bob Marovich for The Black Gospel BlogBorn in Buffalo, New York, James Myers was saved at age 24 and abandoned the entertainment lifestyle to assist Pastor David Costantino at Lighthouse BaptistChurch in North Tonawanda, NY. Myers and his wife [...]
