Bishop Morton Celebrates 25 Years of Music

Various Artists
Bishop Morton Celebrates 25 Years of Music
Light Records/Tehillah Music Group (2010)
http://www.lightrecords.com/

Reviewed by Bob Marovich for The Black Gospel Blog.

If imitation is the highest form of flattery, Bishop Paul S. Morton must be feeling ten feet tall.

Some of gospel’s most popular artists gathered in Atlanta to celebrate the pastor’s silver anniversary in music. They sang traditional and neo-traditional songs associated with Morton’s ministry, such as “Cry Your Last Tear” and “Don’t Do It Without Me.”

The event was captured on CD and DVD, and it’s a good thing. Quality singers, quality songs and an atmosphere of love and respect for the angel of Greater St. Stephen make this project exquisite, a masterpiece, one of the best gospel albums of the year.

It is as if each singer was giving the performance of his or her life when stepping up to the microphone. One powerful presentation follows another on the compilation as Kurt Carr, Byron Cage, Mary Mary, the Williams Brothers and others render selections to honor the man of the hour. Morton himself duets with son PJ on “Let Go,” the Stellar Award-winning song the latter wrote for DeWayne Woods.

Besides Pastor Shirley Caesar’s poignant moments of preaching, the highlight of the album comes from vocalist Russell White. White’s explosive performance of V. Michael McKay’s “That’s Reason Enough,” complete with powerful choral backing, is spectacular. Similarly, Crystal Aiken tears the roof off the church on the standard “His Yoke Is Easy.”

Mary Mary’s “Let It Rain” is drenched in irony. The duo call for the flood gates of Heaven to open and the rain of blessings to flow, though “flood gates” evoke images of the damage that Hurricane Katrina wrought on Morton’s New Orleans flagship church. Indeed, as the CD opens, Kurt Carr pays tribute to Morton’s ability to survive elemental and physical trials. The most hard-hearted person would find it difficult not to feel a pang of emotion during this opening sequence.

Bishop Morton Celebrates 25 Years of Music is near flawless, an example of all that is wonderful about gospel music.

Five of Five Stars

Picks: “His Yoke Is Easy,” “That’s Reason Enough.”