Kirk FranklinHello FearVerity Gospel Music Group (release date: March 22, 2011)http://www.kirkfranklin.com/Reviewed by Bob Marovich for The Black Gospel Blog.The title of Kirk Franklin’s twelfth CD, Hello Fear, could just as easily be Goodbye Fear. Straightaway, in the opening title track, Franklin and his impressive body of top-notch singers bid a [...]
To launch its new 10-piece 10 Buck Sunday Bucket deal, Kentucky Fried Chicken is offering 11 struggling choirs across the country $1,000 grants to help keep their harmonies alive. Members of The St. Louis Children’s Choirs kicked off the program at a KFC restaurant in St. Louis on Sunday, singing [...]
“I’m Gonna Make It”Markise Hicks and the MO Bandwww.cdbaby.com/cd/markisehicksthemobandFor their debut single, "I'm Gonna Make It," Markise Hicks and the MO Band (Melchizedek Order) of singers and musicians offer a mid-tempo new-age gospel song with a simple lyric message or, more realistically, an affirmation. Over and over they sing, “I [...]
“Remember”David Altenor (2011)http://www.davidisoffkey.com/By Bob Marovich for The Black Gospel Blog.“This track has a new sound/But if you think it’s about the club, slow down.”Over a thumping beat and a techno soundscape, 23 year-old singer-songwriter-producer David Altenor implores listeners to give props to the Almighty when He blesses you and not [...]
The music community recently lost a towering personage in composer, conductor, producer and musician Howard Roberts. Founder of the Howard Roberts Chorale and musical director of the Alvin Ailey Dance Theater, Roberts died on March 10 in Chatsworth, California at the age of 86. Eugene Simpson sent me the link [...]
Vashawn MitchellMy SongbookTyscot Records (2011)http://www.tyscot.com/Following in the wake of triple-threat Vashawn Mitchell’s GRAMMY nominations and critically-acclaimed CD Triumphant (EMI Gospel), Tyscot Records mined its catalog to present the Chicagoan’s best early recordings and performances as a CD/DVD combination called My Songbook. The two-disc set hits stores today.The selections on My [...]
Dominic Massa of New Orleans' WWL TV reported that Sherman Washington, the last original member of the Zion Harmonizers quartet, passed away Monday, March 14. He was 86.Washington was also the Gospel Tent coordinator for the annual New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. He will be sorely missed but surely feted in that grand New [...]
“I Smile”Kirk FranklinFrom the forthcoming Verity Gospel Music Group CD Hello Fear (available March 22, 2011)http://www.verityrecords.com/On his latest hit single, “I Smile,” Kirk Franklin smiles in the face of “recession, depression and unemployment” because it’s not the storm but your response to the storm that makes all the difference. Plus, [...]
“You Are Jehovah” Judy Jacobs From the CD I Feel a Change (2011) http://www.judyjacobs.com/ Judy Jacobs flexes her muscular preaching voice to power “You Are Jehovah,” a praise song that benefits from strong musicianship and tom-busting percussion. The uncomplicated call-and-response between Jacobs and the ensemble builds in intensity to the [...]
Blessid Union of SoulsThe Mission FieldSalvation Road Records (2011)www.blessidunionofsouls.netReviewed by Bob Marovich for The Black Gospel Blog.Like the sonically similar Goo Goo Dolls, Matchbox 20 and Foo Fighters, Blessid Union of Souls was a top 40 radio staple during the 1990s. The buoyant, feel-good sound of Eliot Sloan fueled such [...]
