Gospel Music

My Best to YouKatie SankeyMeltone Records 2007www.meltonerevue.comKatie Sankey’s voice is so large it can hardly be contained within the borders of her home state of Alabama, where she is a Jefferson County native. It’s no surprise Katie won the Dorothy Love Coates Life Achievement Award at the 2006 American Gospel [...]

“Fisher of Men”BatisteFrom the DaMil Records CD Love is Your Greatest Gift 2006www.batistemusic.comDeLois Barrett Campbell believes that the Barrett Sisters blend harmonies so well because they are blood-related sisters. If kinship breeds quality harmony, it’s no wonder brothers Lionel (Ray) and Lyndon Batiste create such a heavenly sound together. Not [...]

Tramaine TreasuryTramaine HawkinsLight Records 2004www.lightrecords.comEdwin and Walter Hawkins may have smoothed the edges of gospel music with jazz chords and soft-rock arrangements to render it more appealing to the masses, but Tramaine’s churchy shouting was a constant reminder of its raising.A product of the Church of God in Christ, Tramaine [...]

We’ll Never Turn BackMavis StaplesAnti- 2007www.mavisstaples.com“It’s the 21st Century – it feels like it’s 1960!”Mavis Staples’ lament in “99 and ½,” a track on her new project, We’ll Never Turn Back, pretty much sums up the album’s theme. A revisiting of the Civil Rights Movement's musical lexicon, We’ll Never Turn [...]

Gospel DreamVarious ArtistsVerity 2007www.verityrecords.comGospel Dream is the debut compilation of performances by the Christian and Gospel finalists from the popular Gospel Music Channel program based on you-know-what ubiquitous television sensation (unnecessary hint: one judge wears a black t-shirt). The project demonstrates aurally what we already know intuitively: that any Gospel [...]

“You Can Make It”Terrence Mackey & Nu RestorationFrom the CD Nu Restoration - Vol. 1 (Spiritual City Music 2007)www.spiritualcitymusic.comWhile “Crossover,” with its fresh hip hop beats, is the signature single from Dallas native Terrence Mackey and Nu Restoration’s debut project Nu Restoration - Vol. 1, I’m partial to the traditional [...]

From a press release on the City of Chicago website, 3/30/07:Mayor Richard M. Daley today applauded the Chicago City Council for passing an ordinance giving official landmark status to the Roberts Temple Church of God in Christ building, the site of the 1955 visitation for Emmett Till.For four days in [...]

J MossV2Zomba Gospel 2007www.insidejmoss.comJ Moss’ forthcoming project V2 is an adrenaline rush of hip hop sound and beats, especially during the first third of the album. And yet while it is out of the box aurally, V2 stays true to the gospel lyric tradition of seeking deliverance from today’s struggles [...]

Posted by Candace Walker, Gospel Editor for www.bellaonline.com:The memorial services and funeral arrangements for Church of God In Christ Presiding Bishop G. E. Patterson will be held at Temple of Deliverance Church of God In Christ at 369 G. E. Patterson in Memphis, Tennessee. Three services are planned for Bishop [...]

From the Los Angeles Times Staff and Wire ReportsMarch 24, 2007Walter Turnbull, who founded the Boys Choir of Harlem in a church basement and led the organization to international acclaim that included performances at the White House and the Vatican, has died. He was 62. Turnbull died Friday at a [...]