Benita Washington – The Word Remains

Benita Washington
The Word Remains
Shanachie 2010
www.shanachie.com

In the album notes to her third CD, The Word Remains, Benita Washington is described as having a “diverse elegance.”

That is as good a way as any to sum up the talent of the former Gospel Dream winner. She can sing lithe and lovely or bluesy and brassy, but whether delivering a praise and worship ballad or a gutsy gospel, one thing is certain: Washington’s voice is elegant and expressive and never strays too far from its church roots.

Washington explores all of her vocal colors on The Word Remains, her first studio album in six years and first for Shanachie. Fans of her debut CD, Hold On (Light), will be pleased to know that the Benita they enjoyed then is the same Benita they will enjoy today, although the artist herself believes the new album features a “more mature and more confident artist.”

Gospel enthusiasts familiar with the work of Daniel Weatherspoon, who co-produces the album with Washington’s musical director/collaborator, Virgil Straford, will know without even hearing one note that The Word Remains will be jazzy and as up to date as last Thursday. And it is, though the songs run the gamut of moods: from bluesy on the title track and tender on “Repay You,” to bold and rhythmic on “Proverbs 31,” the latter an ode to strong, confident women.

Washington also provides a good old-fashioned “testimony service” on “What He’s Done,” complete with hand-clapping beat. She then teams with Weatherspoon and Darnell Levine on the R&B-flavored “Enough is Enough,” a litany of stories about people reclaiming their destiny after life’s wrong turns.

The production, songs and lyrics fit Washington perfectly. She wraps her gospel tonsils around each song – many of which she wrote or co-wrote with Weatherspoon or Straford – as if she were in church, not a recording studio.

Four of Five Stars

gPod Picks: “The Word Remains,” “Grateful,” “What He’s Done.”

Reviewed by Bob Marovich for The Black Gospel Blog.