“If I Be Lifted Up”The Anointed Pace SistersFrom the Tyscot CD Access Granted (release date: October 20, 2009)www.tyscot.comSinging together for 40 years and with debut projects for the Faith Record label under their collective belts, the Anointed Pace Sisters finally received national attention in 1992 with their initial release for [...]
"Just Couldn’t Keep It”Angela Spivey & the Voices of VictoryFrom Eyes on the Prize (Tekoa Records 2008)www.tekoarecords.comIt’s hard to listen to or watch Chicagoan Angela Spivey and not have a smile on your face. When it comes to positive energy, Angie is a force of nature. Her happiness is infectious, [...]
“When I Rise”Cathy TownsendFrom the CD RE-Born! RE-Juvenated! RE-Joicing!www.cdbaby.comChicago psalmist Cathy Townsend is a veteran gospel singer. Since making her music debut at the age of seven, Cathy has soloed, sang in trios and groups, and directed and participated in choir. Her relaxed jazz vocal style has taken her from [...]
Seon ThompsonI’m Out – LiveJust Wait Records 2009www.justwaitrecords.comSinging preachers have thrilled congregations for many generations. Not surprising: gospel songs and preaching are natural comrades. By mixing the fiery rhetoric of the sermon with which they are so skilled with the emotionality of music, preachers don’t just sing, they minister.The latest [...]
While performing at The Fillmore in San Francisco, Raphael Saadiq, multi-instrumentalist and former lead singer of the RnB group Tony! Toni! Tone!, pays public homage to a musical influence that I’ll bet many of his fans were unaware: Bay Area gospel quartet singing. To prove it, Saadiq brings on stage [...]
Youthful Praise featuring JJ HairstonResting On His PromiseEvidence Gospel/Light Records 2009 (release date: September 1, 2009)www.lightrecords.comWhen at the beginning of the decade JJ Hairston assumed leadership of Youthful Praise at Turner’s Faith Temple COGIC in Bridgeport, Connecticut, he may not have realized it at the time, but he was walking [...]
"Working It Out"The Gospel Spiritualswww.myspace.com/gospelspiritualsThe Gospel Spirituals of Houston, Texas was founded by Pastor Lee LeFleur in 1982 as a family group. After a few personnel comings and goings, the quartet today consists of original members Evang. LaKeisha "Keisha" LaFleur-Clayton, Evang. Lori LaFleur and Nkita "Nikki" LaFleur. Broderick LaFleur handles [...]
Bishop Steven J. Bennett PresentsHouse of Prayer & Praise Ministries Mass ChoirExpectancyHouse of Prayer & Praise Ministries 2008www.HOPPministries.orgStraight outta Detroit’s west side come Bishop Steven J. Bennett and the House of Prayer & Praise Ministries Mass Choir. Expectancy is part of the church’s theme for the year: Expectation, Expansion and [...]
“They That Wait”Fred Hammond feat. John P. KeeFrom the forthcoming CD Love Unstoppable (release date: September 29, 2009)www.verityrecords.comSomeone coined the phrase “Commissioned Nation” to describe the legions of gospel enthusiasts who helped make the genre-bending Detroit ensemble Commissioned one of the top gospel groups of the 1980s and early 1990s. [...]
“Made It”Praise ReportFrom the Ace Beat Records album It’s Time 2009www.acebeatmusic.comAce Mungin’s Ace Beat Records of Fayetteville, Georgia “bridges the sound of the young and hip with the classic and timely.” It’s gospel house music with “the power of the grooving bass line working the dance floor.” One of the [...]
