Roebuck "Pops" Staples, patriarch of the Staple Singers whose down-home singing style and reverb guitar became the family group's trademark, was honored last week with a marker on the Mississippi Blues Trail.The marker was placed on Summit Street near the courthouse in Staples' hometown of Winona, Mississippi. Authorities noted that it made sense to [...]
Kristin SmithExpectingHeavenSent Records (2010)www.tradebit.com/filedetail.php/116576653-expectingIf you don’t know Kristin Smith – although most in gospel music’s inner circle do – you will know her by her musical roots. Her aunt was Ruth Jones, an Alabama migrant who directed a church choir, accompanied an early iteration of the Sallie Martin Singers, but was [...]
Jasmine BurchDeclarationM.Y.R.O.H. Music Group (2010)http://www.jasmineburch.com/Reviewed by Bob Marovich for The Black Gospel Blog.To say Jasmine Burch has grown up with gospel music would be an understatement. She was exposed to it, quite literally, before she was born. While some mothers play Mozart to their gestating babies, Jasmine’s mother picked the [...]
Charlie Bereal of the Soul Seekers had been reported missing in New York City since yesterday morning (December 14). I received a message this evening that he was found -- thank God! -- and reports say he is at Harlem Hospital.
James Fortune & FIYAI Believe: LiveBlack Smoke Music Worldwide (2010)www.myspace.com/blacksmokemusicworldwideReviewed by Bob Marovich for The Black Gospel Blog.James Fortune exclaims “Make some noise” often on his new project, I Believe: Live. He certatinly doesn’t have to ask that of his vocalists. Possessing the energy of ten Pentecostal choirs, FIYA may [...]
“Christmas Drum-Apella”Prez BlackmonListen here: www.reverbnation.com/play_now/song_4479300“Christmas Drum-Apella” is a brief Christmas greeting, less than two minutes in length, but it packs plenty of listening fun with its Take 6-meets-melismatic-gospel-soloist vibe. Prez Blackmon (of the popular gospel duo Renee Spearman and Prez) cooked up this electric combination of overdubbed a cappella voices [...]
J ProphetGetting My Shape Up Vol. 1(private release, 2010)http://www.jprophet.com/Reviewed by Bob Marovich for The Black Gospel Blog.J Prophet shatters all stereotypes of the typical hip hop artist, secular or sacred. He doesn’t rap about growing up on mean streets or even about being saved from a life of sin, shambles [...]
By Bob Marovich for The Black Gospel Blog.Mike Winans is carrying on the family tradition. A third generation Winans, Mike is a popular producer and songwriter for gospel, R&B, and pop artists. He just released his debut solo album, A Mike Winans Christmas: Timeless Noel, and shared with TBGB his [...]
Juanita BynumChristmas at Home with Juanita BynumFlow Records (2006)http://www.juanitabynum.com/Reviewed by Bob Marovich for The Black Gospel Blog.Yes, I know it is no longer 2006, and so why have I waited four years to review Juanita Bynum’s Christmas CD? I heard it for the first time a few days ago, honest, [...]
The Rance Allen GroupThe Live Experience IITyscot Records (release date: January 25, 2011)http://www.tyscot.com/When the Hawkins Family opened the door to contemporary sounds in gospel music, Rance Allen and his brothers walked through with their incendiary brand of funk and psychedelic arrangements. The group endured its share of quizzical looks from [...]
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