Apostle J.L. Cash & Praise – I Got a Feelin’

Apostle J.L. Cash & Praise

MCG Records (2009)

By Bob Marovich for The Black Gospel Blog.

For me, the penultimate moment of the live appearance by Apostle J.L. Cash & Praise at the Temple of Deliverance COGIC in Memphiswas when Apostle Cash, the family patriarch, pulled out his left-handed, shiny, green Gretsch electric guitar, lovingly called “MaMa.” 

After drawing some bluesy licks out of the Gretsch, Apostle Cash turned it around to show the audience the color photo of his mother that covers the back of the guitar body.  Later, guitar in hand, Cash participated in a tongue-in-cheek chat with Mama, gone on home.  He’d say how her children were doing on earth, and Mama, anthropomorphized as the guitar, answered back in sassy riffs.

If you have attended the Gospel Brunch at the Orlando, FloridaHouse of Blues recently, you’ve seen Apostle J.L. Cash & Praise in person.  If not, the CD and DVD of I Got a Feelin’ are the next best thing.  

Apostle Cash leads a team of eight female vocalists, three musicians, and two lithe praise dancers.  At times, the group sounds like a quartet and at other times it sounds like a contemporary gospel ensemble.  Together, they provide sugar and spice: sweet harmonies with hard-singing leads.  

The hard-singing leads are Prophetess Darleena Wright, Apostle Cash, and his daughter, Prophetess April Cash.  Wright squalls an alternate ending to MercyMe’s hit, “I Can Only Imagine,” and April boils over on “He Keeps Blessing Me.”  The main lead vocalist, Apostle Cash possesses that hoarse, raspy delivery characteristic of a fiery preacher.  He also likes to scat in that deep, chesty Rance Allen manner.

It is when the group goes old school that the music really sizzles.  Dorsey’s “The Lord Will Make a Way” gets a funky treatment topped with Memphis-style sauciness.  The session’s best two songs also classify as traditional: “What Will You Be Doin’ (When Jesus Come)” is driven by a rockabilly-style rhythm that moves along like a locomotive.  “Washed by the Water” is a ballad that argues that hard times serve to cleanse the soul and strengthen one’s resolve.

 

The DVD contains two ad hoc medleys of classic hymns; neither are on the CD.  Likewise, the CD includes the ensemble’s cover of Sam Cooke’s “A Change is Gonna Come” and the complete version of the deep bluesy “Help Me Jesus.” 

I Got a Feelin’ is best experienced by viewing the DVD because the program flows with more consistency, while the CD scatters the sweet songs among the spicy.  And you get to see the MaMa guitar, a must.

CD: Three of Five Stars

DVD: Four of Five Stars

Picks: “What Will You Be Doin’ (When Jesus Come),” “Washed in the Water.”