Myron Butler – Worship

Myron Butler
Worship
EMI Gospel (2012)
www.myronbutler.com

By Bob Marovich for The Black Gospel Blog.

Ah, to be young, gifted and a tenor.

Myron Butler is all of these, and on his latest CD, Worship, he demonstrates in particular his songwriting craft and winning voice. The Grammy, Dove and Stellar Award-winning Dallas native and former vocal coach of the famed God’s Property offers a selection of songs recorded live that will no doubt be picked up and learned by worship teams across the country.

Worship, released last week, includes songs by a number of P&W songwriters, including Israel Houghton, David Binion and Josh Dufrene, but the best performances on the CD are of Butler’s own compositions “You Alone are God,” “I Honor You,” and “Dwell Here,” the latter co-written with keyboardist and album co-producer Parris Bowens. Like Butler’s smash hit “Set Me Free,” the praise anthem “I Honor You” throbs with African-inspired drumming and handclapping, while “You Alone Are God” benefits from a gentle piano-and-voice intro.

A few selections on Worship, in fact, open with Butler singing quietly to piano accompaniment, and they comprise the finest moments on the album. Butler and piano are marvelous together, whether the singer himself or Mike Robinson is the accompanist for these tender moments.

The straight-forward worship hymn “Bless the Lord” is the current single, and the CD contains the extended version. “The Blood of Jesus” is similarly, if not more, energetic, with Robert Searight’s drum work creating a spiral of sound that echoes the dynamics of the fusion drummers of the 1970s. Featured artists Tasha Cobbs and Blanche McAllister-Dykes offer lovely vocal assists on “Not My Own” and “Holy One,” respectively, and the worship choir compliments Butler nicely throughout.

Worship finds Myron Butler continuing to mine the urban worship vein that has brought him from his teenage years as the writer of “Lift Him Up” for the Dallas-Fort Worth Mass Choir to Minister of Music at Bishop T.D. Jakes’ Potter’s House Church in Dallas.

Four of Five Stars

Picks: “Bless the Lord,” “The Blood of Jesus.”