In 1994, twelve year-old boy soprano Bryan Wilson stepped up to the recording microphone to lead “His Eye is On the Sparrow” with the Mississippi Children’s Choir. When Wilson finished, his world changed. The astounding popularity of the recording brought the pre-teen Dove and Stellar Award nominations, recordings, and tours with top-shelf gospel artists.

Then Wilson’s voice changed.

Alas, it happens to all young men at one time or another, including James Cleveland, who was once a boy soprano in Thomas Dorsey’s Pilgrim Baptist Church gospel choir. After his voice changed, Cleveland joined the Lux Singers with Bertha Melson and Clay Evans, and became a cause celebre in Chicago’s gospel community.

For Wilson, it was off to Princeton University to get an education.

Wilson is back on the gospel highway and his first CD since 1999, A Second Coming, is just that. Whereas gospel enthusiasts will recall Wilson’s penchant for traditional gospel, his new CD blends the sacred with more of a Top 40 urban contemporary feel. Actually, Wilson’s elastic voice and his focus on here-and-now lyrics reminds me of J Moss. The title track is especially catchy and “Still My Father/God’s There” is an audience rouser.

That is not to say that traditionalists won’t find something on A Second Coming to their liking. “Sun is Shining” has an infectious, sing-along ‘70s soul groove, and “A Secret Place” – the finest track on the project – is slow, melismatic, and moving. During this particular performance, the listener is drawn into a dramatic and intimate worship moment, shifting from voyeur to active participant by the conclusion.

The production is raw and edgy, but at times a tad too percussive and heavy-handed on the upper range. Overall, however, A Second Coming is a promising and enjoyable project by a young man who clearly has talent and is in search of his own unique place in gospel music. In other words, if A Second Coming serves to bring Bryan Wilson back into the fray, his next project will undoubtedly showcase his definitive style.

Two and a Half of Four Stars