Kathy Taylor Live: The Worship Experience

Kathy Taylor
Kathy Taylor Live: The Worship Experience
Katco Music Group 2008
www.kathytaylorlive.com

There’s no question that Kathy Taylor of Houston, Texas is one of the most powerful and expressive gospel singers on the scene today. She possesses a big, traditional-sounding voice hewn straight out of the rafters of the old wooden church, and her commanding presence is reminiscent of the Golden Era’s female stars, even though she herself prefers contemporary gospel and worship songs.

Taylor’s magnum opus is Kathy Taylor Live: The Worship Experience, a self-produced two-CD set (her fourth album). I bring this project to the fore not because it’s new – it’s been around for a couple of years – but because Ms. Taylor is one of the featured artists at this weekend’s Chicago Gospel Fest. Those attending the event will want to catch her in person.

Three months ago, Taylor was in Chicago as a guest soloist for DeLois Barrett Campbell’s birthday program, and she filled every square inch of First Church of Deliverance with her brassy trumpet of a voice. The song she sang at First Church was her single, “Oh How Precious,” which is included on Kathy Taylor Live: The Worship Experience as the more familiar radio edit and an eleven-minute version. The latter concludes, inevitably, with a praise break.

Other standout tracks on the two-disc set, recorded live at the Power Center in Houston, include “Alabaster Box,” where Taylor demonstrates what a superb singer she is, regardless of genre or category. She really showcases her vocal versatility on V. Michael McKay’s “Corinthian Song,” accompanied deftly on piano by the album’s producer, Leon C. Lewis.

Dorothy Norwood makes a guest appearance on “God Specializes.” She follows up Taylor’s cover of the Shirley Caesar-penned song by rendering the classic Roberta Martin Singers’ “God Specializes.” She and Taylor conclude with a duet.

Taylor’s vocal group Favor provides powerful backup support, and the chorus on “Lord You Are Holy” offers scintillating classical harmonies. The evergreen Nashville String Machine is among the talented musicians, directed by Glen “GP” Piper. The live program rolls along at a comfortable tempo, peaceful and energizing. Taylor’s website says “the best is yet to come,” but with Kathy Taylor Live: The Worship Experience, a generous portion of the best is already here.

Five of Five Stars

gPod Picks: “Oh How Precious,” “Alabaster Box,” “The Corinthian Song.”

Reviewed by Bob Marovich for The Black Gospel Blog.