Eddie RobinsonThis is My Story, This is My SongThe Sirens Records (2011)www.thesirensrecords.comBy Bob Marovich for The Black Gospel Blog.Eddie Robinson isn’t a household name in gospel music, but he should be.For decades, his keyboard work has supported a chapel full of Chicago gospel singers, most notably the first Queen of [...]
And she was: Dorothy Norwood appeared as part of the Malaco Records showcase during the 2011 GMWA Quartet Division celebration last night at the Tampa Convention Center. Monica Lisa Stevenson and Gloretta McNeil prepare to join in as Dorothy Norwood sings a tribute to Albertina Walker. Norwood sang a tribute [...]
By Bob Marovich for The Black Gospel Blog.Quartets were there before gospel, they're here today, and will still be around tomorrow!That was the sentiment Wednesday evening, August 17, as the Brooklyn All Stars, Five Singing Stars, Spencer Taylor & the Highway QCs, Sensational Nightingales, and Violinaires were honored at the [...]
GIThe Next DimensionBGA Records (2011)http://www.giforever.com/The youthful harmonies of GI (God’s Image) call to mind the early work of Boyz II Men and a techno-fueled version of New Edition. This Virginia-based group has been singing together for more than a decade, and although it was once a quartet (in number, not [...]
“If God Has a Face”Zacardi Cortez feat. John Legend and ScarfaceFrom the forthcoming Black Smoke Media CD CoCo Brother Presents Gospel Mix Vol. V (street date: September 27, 2011)Zacardi Cortez, who sang the lid off of Andrae Crouch’s “The Blood” on James Fortune and FIYA's The Transformation, teams with pop [...]
By Bob Marovich for The Black Gospel Blog. Syreeta Thompson is in a class by herself. Literally. The Chicago-born artist is the only female gospel singer who plays trumpet. Even the trumpets she carries are distinctive: one is white, the other red. Syreeta picked up the trumpet at age twelve, she [...]
Deitrick HaddonAnthology: The Writer and His MusicTyscot Records (street date: August 23, 2011)http://www.tyscot.com/Deitrick Haddon is among a legion of fellow Detroit artists – starting with the Rance Allen Group in 1970 and including the Winans and Moss-Clark Families and wife Damita Haddon – who have ensured that gospel music remains in synch [...]
“Jesus Said”LaShell GriffinDetroiter LaShell Griffin’s newest single, “Jesus Said,” is a catchy, shoulder-moving inspirational lesson sung from Jesus’s perspective. Regardless of one’s problems, the song says, He’ll be right there. As LaShell shouts in her open-throated gospel voice, “Bring it on to me and you’ll never have to worry…you’ll never [...]
“Keep it 100”F1 DiamondFrom the forthcoming CD LIFEMUSIC (2011)gospelhousebooking@gmail.comEmploying his talent of rhyme and beat, the Pastor of the Traphouse encourages everyone to keep it real with God, because 99 ½ won’t do. “Keep it 100,” produced by the Beat Brokers Network, is part autobiographical, part warning, and a natural [...]
Norman ThomasOverture (EP)From Hamden, Connecticut, Norman Thomas is in the category of earnest young male gospel singers (Jack Yates and Todd Dulaney also come to mind) whose genuine feelings for God are audible in the authenticity of their crystal-clear voices and lyric delivery.On his EP Overture, released mid-June, Thomas teamed [...]
