CD Review: Jerry Warren – Never Let You Go

Jerry Warren
Never Let You Go
Nivla Records 2005

Jerry Warren sounds like the lead singer in a traditional gospel quartet. His husky voice travels the vocal spectrum from Al Green’s pinched tenor to the rough growl of the finest, earthiest singing ministers.

On Never Let You Go, however, Warren doesn’t front a quartet but sings with fine backup from the West Tennessee Southern Mass and Detroit Family and Friends Choirs. These two ensembles steal the show. Their rendition of “Canaan Land” is brilliantly executed and is the album’s highlight, though it suffers from tinny production; it’s a magnificent piece of rich chocolate with freezer burn.

Songs on Never Let You Go range from traditional-sounding gospels to Jesus love ballads to a sacred spin on Bernstein with “A Place,” an adaptation of West Side Story’s elegiac “Somewhere.” I would have enjoyed this project more had the instrumentation not overpowered the vocals more often than not.

Regardless, Jerry Warren is a strong gospel singer, and you should definitely listen to Never Let You Go, if for no other reason than to groove to the wonderful choral singing.