Gospel Music

“His Glory”Calvin Suggs & FriendsFrom the CD CelebrateMCG Records 2007http://www.calvinsuggs.org/ North Carolina’s Calvin Suggs, former leader of the Carolina Spirituals, teams up with fellow quartet singer Luther Barnes of the Sunset Jubilaires on “His Glory,” a lovely, unpretentious gospel ballad. While the title track is the touted single from Suggs’ [...]

Unfinished BusinessFairest HillVision Productions 2007www.fairesthill.netSon of legendary Detroit gospel vocalist Tessie Hill and original member of the Followers of Christ quartet, Dr. Fairest Hill is now a motivational speaker and gospel singer. On his new project, Unfinished Business, Hill shines the spotlight on these two passions as a mighty band [...]

Robert Darden, a Baylor University professor, former gospel editor for Billboard, and author of People Get Ready: A New History of Black Gospel Music, was a guest on NPR's "Fresh Air" today. He spoke to host Terry Gross about the Black Gospel Music Restoration Project, housed at Baylor.Many of the [...]

JDI Records informed TBGB that Bishop Walter Camps, Presiding Bishop of the Holy Temple of God and father of JDI recording artist Beverly Crawford, passed away. Please keep Beverly and her family in your prayers, as Christmas is a particularly difficult time to lose a loved one. More About Presiding [...]

“Tender Mercy”Lonna HardinFrom the Various Artists CD The New SoulRedeemed Soul.com 2007http://www.redeemedsoul.com/Growing up in Texas and Michigan, Lonna Hardin sang. Sang in church, sang in the classroom, in high school hallways, at her commencement, everywhere. She soloed on a Charles Fold album, released an independent solo project in 1999, and [...]

Today, nearly every popular gospel artist has a Christmas project in his or her catalog. The Mississippi Mass Choir, Luther Barnes, and Yolanda Adams are among those releasing Christmas albums this season. But when did the tradition of gospel artists recording Christmas carols begin? One is inclined to answer that [...]

Over There The Frierson Brothers Joyland Records 2007 www.joylandrecords.com The Frierson Brothers – Rev. Fredrick, Sr.; Rev. Franklin; and Joe, Jr. – hail from New Jersey, but on Over There, the quartet sounds as if it's headquartered in the Carolinas. The song selection runs the gamut from the traditional (“Walk [...]

Witness gospel music history -- correction, American music history -- being made as the Dixie Hummingbirds, Marie Knight, Odetta, the Huff Singers, and Willa Ward with the Johnny Thompson Singers perform for the Sister Rosetta Tharpe Memorial Fund. Music will be in the air and all around at this fundraiser, [...]

Gospel’s uber-producer Percy Bady is always busy Kingdom building with his songs and production. This time, however, the Kingdom he's building is here on earth. It's a brand new record company. And while Bady spends each Sunday afternoon sending the praises up, his partner in the business spends his Sunday [...]

While running in the St. Jude Memphis Marathon this past weekend, I passed the offices of WLOK 1340 AM, "A Family Tradition."Headquartered in a diminutive building on a back street near Memphis’ bustling downtown, WLOK is just as important to the music history of Memphis as Elvis, Sun, Stax, Hi, [...]