News

By Bob Marovich Dr. H. Steven Sims forwarded JGM a link to a fascinating article in the Journal of Voice, a publication of The Voice Foundation, to which he was one of several contributors. Choir directors, music ministers, and others in the business of training or managing singing groups will find the article instructive, even if there are still, alas, no definitive answers. As the executive summary states: “This paper is intended to provide guidance based on what we know: the best available data, analyzed and scrutinized by a panel of experts in the medical, behavioral and basic science world ...

“I’M GETTING READY” WRITTEN BY TODD GALBERTH AWARDED SONG OF THE YEAR KIRK FRANKLIN NAMED SONGWRITER OF THE YEAR SONGS OF KOBALT MUSIC PUBLISHING AWARDED PUBLISHER OF THE YEAR (New York, NY) June 29, 2020 – BMI (Broadcast Music, Inc.) paid tribute to the best and brightest in Gospel music with its Trailblazers of Gospel Music celebration. The honorees were announced today on BMI.com and across the organization’s digital platforms, celebrating the inspirational and transformative music of BMI’s accomplished Gospel songwriters. To honor these achievements, BMI created a page on its website where fans can watch special video messages and performances, ...

NASHVILLE, TENN. (JUNE 09, 2020) Provident Music Group, a division of Sony Music Entertainment, announced today that it has re-branded as Provident Entertainment to showcase the company’s wide spectrum of industry-leading faith based entertainment. Provident Entertainment, which operates under the umbrella of Sony Music Nashville, includes Provident Label Group, RCA Inspiration, Essential Worship, Essential Music Publishing, Provident Films, and Essential Artist Services. As a faith-based entertainment industry leader, Provident Entertainment and each of its entities strives to produce products that engage faith-minded audiences with positive messages. Terry Hemmings, CEO and President, Provident Entertainment, says, “The name change to Provident Entertainment ...

Nashville, TN — He is known as The Godfather of Gospel Jazz. He is also known as an airplane pilot and mentor, a former NBA player, a television star, a pastor of a thriving church, and dedicated a father and loving patriarch to a large family (Oh yes..and husband to Jewel). He is Ben Tankard. Noted as the producer who discovered Yolanda Adams, Tankard has almost 30 years of award-winning, platinum-selling, chart-topping albums, and radio hits. He has 16 Stellar Awards, is a Stellar Award Honors Hall of Fame inductee, was nominated for a 2019 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding ...

Philadelphia, PA — Enon Music Group (EMG) is one of the fastest-growing record labels in Gospel music. They have delivered Stellar Award-nominated artists and Billboard Chart Topping songs and albums from their wheelhouse. Founded by Dr. Alyn E. Waller, EMG’s mission is to be a respected resource for quality music and artist development anchored in integrity and theologically centered music. Singer San Franklin is noted as one of Gospel and Christian music’s most commanding vocalists and professional session singers. The vocal beast has been heard on a plethora of award-winning albums and has provided her vocal prowess to Donnie McClurkin, ...

By Bob Marovich Like Beatles and Bob Dylan purists, fans of gospel’s celebrated Clark Sisters know every harmony, every vocal ornamentation, and every nuance of every singer on every song by heart—almost better than the artists themselves. No pressure on Donald Lawrence, musical director of The Clark Sisters: First Ladies of Gospel. The biopic premieres Saturday, April 11, on Lifetime (8 p.m./7 p.m. Central). The film is directed by Detroit native Christine Swanson (a fellow Domer from the University of Notre Dame) and stars Aunjanue Ellis as the mercurial Dr. Mattie Moss Clark; Kierra Sheard plays her own mother, Karen ...

By Bob Marovich On Sunday mornings from 1963 to 1984, Jubilee Showcase treated television viewers in Chicagoland with 30 minutes of gospel music programming featuring local and national artists. Before BET’s Bobby Jones Gospel, Jubilee Showcase was the longest-running gospel television show. Steven Ordower, whose father Sid Ordower was the show’s host and producer, provides three ways to enjoy this historic Emmy Award-winning program from your home: 1. YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCe1QRZ2XvcfU8OTJ77OOeg You can also go to YouTube and search: Jubilee Showcase 2. The Jubilee Showcase DVD is available on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/Classic-Moments-Jubilee-Showcase-Andrae/dp/B00KPPHGKW/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=jubilee+showcase+DVD&qid=1584392303&sr=8-1 The DVD has four full episodes plus several bonus short-documentary ...

By Bob Marovich As is our custom for this time of year, the Journal of Gospel Music presents its “best of” lists in the category of CDs, songs, and historical releases. The recordings were not chosen as “best of” based on sales, chart status, promotion, voting, fan popularity, number of likes or retweets, committee decisions, throwing darts, reading tea leaves, arm twisting, or anything other than 1) JGM was serviced with the music for review and 2) JGM believes they best represented gospel music in 2019 in terms of overall music quality. Artists whose music does not appear here: please ...

By Bob Marovich In its first week, Kanye West’s spiritual album Jesus is King made record chart history by topping five charts at once, including the Billboard 200 chart and the Christian and Gospel album charts. The shift in message was a surprising move, even for the enigmatic and politically perplexing West, and it stimulated a range of responses—from cynicism to delight. But for all its novelty, Jesus is King is not the first time a pop artist has ventured into the realm of religious music. It’s not the first time an artist has left fans wondering whether the change ...

From a Press Release: Chicago welcomed hometown favorite, Kanye West, with open arms for his Sunday Service Experience this past weekend. Following a rousing performance on Chicago’s Northerly Island with an estimated 10,000 attendees, thousands of church goers packed into the historic Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church (led by senior pastor and gospel music sensation, Charles Jenkins) for Sunday Service: Part Two. When asked how this came about, Jenkins shared, “About 6 months ago I was talking to Kanye and he was saying how so many people are in so much pain and in need of hope. He said to me ...