Gospel Music

“Yet Love”Luther Barnes and the Sunset JubilairesAIR Gospel 2011http://www.malaco.com/Luther Barnes, sporting the best groomed beard in gospel music, puts forth his softer, gentler side on “Yet Love,” a ballad about the importance of loving one’s enemies (Luke 6:27-28). Barnes even playfully coins a new noun, ‘yet love.’ It describes in [...]

PRoDying to LiveReach Records 2011http://www.reachrecords.com/By Bob Marovich for The Black Gospel Blog.“Ladies and gentleman, I’d like to welcome you to the truth.”So announces Christian hip hop artist PRo on “A Life Worth Dying For,” a track from his new (and third official) CD, Dying to Live. That truth, delivered with [...]

ManifestHighest Praise Manifest Music, LLC (2011)http://www.manifestsings.com/By Bob Marovich for The Black Gospel Blog.Manifest calls themselves a “Christian men’s ensemble” – with fourteen members, they are technically a choir – and they bring a little bit of everything to their debut CD, Highest Praise. The fact that they are hard to [...]

“Rejoicing in Heaven”Operation Faith, feat. Rev. Harold Johnson (2011)www.cdbaby.com/cd/operationfaithBy Bob Marovich for The Black Gospel Blog.The way-too-serious intonation at the start of this song about joy in the afterworld is quickly (and thankfully) overcome by the song’s funky beat and more than a sampling of Memphis-style gospel soul. The gurgling [...]

“Medicine for Someone Else”Ruben StuddardFrom Medicine – Live at the Black Academy of Arts and LettersMCG Records (2011) http://www.mcgrecords.com/By Bob Marovich for The Black Gospel Blog.In an interesting twist on the “pay it forward” mantra, American Idol’s teddy bear of a man Ruben Studdard instructs the audience to turn the [...]

“The Balance”Marsha McWilsonwww.myspace.com/marshamcwilsonOn “The Balance,” Niagra Falls, NY native Marsha McWilson intones her problems in a smoky, after-hours, girlfriend-to-girlfriend voice. It’s a slow, introspective and intimate urban AC song about the pressures of contemporary life and the need for a “balance to hold me up so that I won’t fall.” [...]

Marian Elaine BlairSongs of DeliveranceMarian Elaine Blair 2011http://www.marianelaineblair.com/By Bob Marovich for The Black Gospel Blog.Songs of Deliverance – part live, part studio-produced – is the third release from Marian Elaine Blair, a psalmist whose ministry began on the streets of Washington DC, feeding the homeless.A flatfooted singer, Blair doesn’t possess [...]

Chicago's Historic Roberts Temple COGIC, 4021 South State Street, is celebrating its 95th anniversary in fine style with six nights of activities, including guest speakers and the Roberts Temple Reunion Choir under the direction of Dr. Delores "Honey" Sykes of the famed Duncanaires.A special musical will take place at Roberts Temple COGIC on Saturday, [...]

“You’re So Amazing”James “Kelly Fox!” Davis and A Bunch of Friends (2011)http://www.kellyfoxonline.com/As James “Kelly Fox!” Davis announces at the outset, this is a “new jam,” and jam it is. “You’re So Amazing” is a bouncily hypnotic ode to God’s majesty wrapped in a psychedelic swirl of voices. The carnival-like rhythm, evocative of [...]