Pam Crumbley & Chosen: Make Your Presence Known (tbgb review)

Make Your Presence Known
Pam Crumbley & Chosen
BOG Records 2008
www.bogrecords.biz

Let’s remain in Ohio for a moment…

Cincinnati has been ablaze with gospel music since 1933, when Sallie Martin made the Queen City one of her earliest stops during a recruitment tour for the fledgling National Convention of Gospel Choirs and Choruses. On Make Your Presence Known, Pam Crumbley & Chosen demonstrate that the city’s love affair with traditional gospel remains strong.

Crumbley possesses that quintessential gospel voice — bluesy, edgy and sanctified — a style that plays perfectly off Chosen’s full-throated singing. The female group’s sound is so voluminous, in fact, that one expects to see three times more members than the ensemble actually has.

A number of songs on Make Your Presence Known are broken into two parts, ostensibly to facilitate radio play. While the opening track is fairly standard gospel fare, the title track caught my interest, especially in its interpolation of the COGIC “Yes Lord” chant. “Saved” is hymn-like, and “Deliver Me” is the album’s drive song. The best track is “I Made It,” chiefly because of its encouraging, relevant lyrics, dazzling organ performance and the live audience’s supportive reaction. Crumbley notes that “I Made It” is an adaptation of Douglas Miller’s “When I See Jesus,” and dedicated to the memory of Cincinnati gospel legend and GMWA stalwart Dr. Charles Fold.

Make Your Presence Known, which I believe is Pam Crumbley & Chosen’s second project, is an indie-produced album that contains enough well-produced, soul-stirring gospel music to garner greater attention.

Three of Four Stars