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“Great Is Thy Faithfulness” – Donnell Russell
“Great Is Thy Faithfulness,” written by Aaliyah Franklin, starts out soft and sweet—almost too softly in the first few seconds—but builds to a robust apex and ends with a traditional-sounding vamp.
JGM Pick of the Week – May 6, 2025
With Mother’s Day nearing, John P. Kee’s latest solo release, “Mother, I Miss You,” as Pick of the Week is appropriate.
Two Losses for the Detroit Gospel Music Community: Ronald J. Kelly and Bishop Earl J. Wright Jr.
The Thomas Whitfield Company and the Detroit gospel family lost tenor singer Ronald J. Kelly and keyboardist extraordinaire Bishop Earl Jerome Wright, Jr. in the space of mere days.
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Recent Posts
“Great Is Thy Faithfulness” – Donnell Russell
“Great Is Thy Faithfulness,” written by Aaliyah Franklin, starts out soft and sweet—almost too softly in the first few seconds—but builds to a robust apex and ends with a traditional-sounding vamp.
JGM Pick of the Week – May 6, 2025
With Mother’s Day nearing, John P. Kee’s latest solo release, “Mother, I Miss You,” as Pick of the Week is appropriate.
Two Losses for the Detroit Gospel Music Community: Ronald J. Kelly and Bishop Earl J. Wright Jr.
The Thomas Whitfield Company and the Detroit gospel family lost tenor singer Ronald J. Kelly and keyboardist extraordinaire Bishop Earl Jerome Wright, Jr. in the space of mere days.
Sponsored Post:
On their latest offering, Amazing Grace, the New Converted Voices of Tupelo, Mississippi, sing with a confidence that confirms their veteran status in the music business.
Dr. Earl Bynum Expands His Brand With ONSTAGE WITH EARL BYNUM MAGAZINE Powered By DailyPraiseTV®
JDI Records informed the Journal of Gospel Music that singer, pianist, and songwriter Jackie Gouche'-Farris, mother of rapper D Smoke and sister of bassist Andrew Gouche' (Gladys Knight, Walter Hawkins), [...]
Bishop Richard John "Mr. Clean" White Sr. passed away on August 11, 2024. He was 60 years old.
Jerrold Paine Norwood, a founding member of the platinum-selling Chicago-based gospel music ensemble Shekinah Glory Ministry, passed away of cancer complications on August 4, 2024. He was 60.
This episode includes music reviewed on the Journal of Gospel Music between early May and early July 2024.
LATEST 5 STAR REVIEWS
Deitrick Haddon’s LXW (League of Xtraordinary Worshippers)Tyscot Records (released April 22, 2014)www.tyscot.comBy Bob Marovich for The Black Gospel BlogDeitrick Haddon and Tyscot Records want to bring the choir back. To make manifest their pledge, they’ve released Deitrick Haddon’s LXW (League of Xtraordinary Worshippers). The album not only celebrates the youthful verve of the gospel choir [...]
The Williams SingersDestinedDeznell Music Group (rel. April 2014)By Bob Marovich for The Black Gospel BlogNot to be confused with the Williams Brothers of Mississippi, the Williams Singersis a quartet from Indianapolis, Indiana, the city that brought you, among other artists, Brown’s Inspirational Singers, Robert Turner and the Silver Hearts, and Al “the Bishop” Hobbs.Darnell, Dezrale, [...]
North Carolina Community Choir A Story To Tell Malaco Records (2013) www.malaco.com By Bob Marovich for The Black Gospel Blog If there’s a choir to give the Mississippi and Chicago Mass Choirs a run for their money, it’s the North Carolina Community Choir. Formed initially to back the Sensational Nightingales on “Every Promise in the [...]
Denita Gibbs Without You Audiostate Entertainment 55 (released August 13, 2013) www.audiostate55.com By Bob Marovich for The Black Gospel Blog Without You is Denita Gibbs’ sophomore release but her first for Audiostate 55 Entertainment and its muscular distribution. It is also her first album in nine years but it is well worth the wait. A [...]
Charles Jenkins & Fellowship Chicago The Best of Both Worlds EMI Gospel/Inspired People (2012) www.emigospel.com By Bob Marovich for The Black Gospel Blog. It could not have been easy for Charles Jenkins to succeed the iconic Rev. Dr. Clay Evans as Pastor of Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church in Chicago. Evans, a Civil Rights leader and [...]
LATEST PICK OF THE WEEK – SINGLES
“Jesus Knows” Lisa Knowles-Smith and the Brown Singers EvoWorld Music (release date: May 13, 2022) By Robert M. Marovich For their new single, Lisa Knowles-Smith and the Brown Singers draw on key lyrics from the folk spiritual, “Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen.” But that’s where the comparison ends. Whereas the spiritual is slow and [...]
“Proud of Me” Treva Chezmusique (release date: June 18, 2022) www.trevajones.com By Robert M. Marovich Treva Jones is no stranger to gospel music or to the Journal of Gospel Music. Written by the premier songwriter V. Michael McKay, “Proud of Me” is Jones’s latest single. Her warm, resonant alto curls around a lyric that expresses [...]
“Grace Over Me” Mike Geo Independent (release date: July 8, 2022) www.MikeGeoMusic.com By Robert M. Marovich What Staten Island CCM artist Michael Giordano, aka Mike Geo, offers in “Grace Over Me” is a fizzy, energetic outpouring of gratitude for salvation. When the walls are closing in, Geo closes his eyes and remembers that God’s grace [...]
“Take Me to the River” VAA’DAM KJ Productions (release date: March 8, 2022) By Robert M. Marovich The last time JGM heard from Dallas, Texas-based female duo VAA’DAM, they were featured on Kisha Grandy’s 2021 album Epitome. Trina and Quita are back with “Take Me to the River,” a laidback and soulful paean to the [...]
“That Name Is Jesus” Beloved St. John Evangelistic Church Independent (2022) www.BelovedStJohn.org By Robert M. Marovich As long as Pastor Clement M. Lumpton III and the Beloved St. John Evangelistic Church of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, keep on singing, the church choir will remain relevant. On its latest single, “That Name is Jesus,” the choir celebrates the [...]
By Robert Marovich
In A City Called Heaven, gospel announcer and music historian Robert Marovich shines a light on the humble origins of a majestic genre and its indispensable bond to the city where it found its voice: Chicago.
By Robert Marovich
In A City Called Heaven, gospel announcer and music historian Robert Marovich shines a light on the humble origins of a majestic genre and its indispensable bond to the city where it found its voice: Chicago.
By Bob Marovich Ask today’s Christian hip hop artists about their inspirations, and they will talk about artists such as Lecrae, Trip Lee, and Sho Baraka. But Pastor Robert McCloud is old school. Coming of age during rap's emergence as a popular entertainment form, his inspirations include Run DMC and LL Cool J. Nevertheless, he [...]
By Bob Marovich “I always did love music,” Jonathan McReynolds told the Journal of Gospel Music, “but I don’t think I ever envisioned a music career to come out of it.” Nevertheless, McReynolds, a rising star on the gospel music circuit, is poised to release his sophomore album, Life Music: Stage Two (eOne, Tehillah Music Group), on [...]
Last week, Motown Gospel artist Tasha Cobbs released her second album, One Place Live. Recorded at Redemption Church in Greenville, South Carolina, the album received five of five stars from the Journal of Gospel Music. JGM’s Bob Marovich caught up with the award-winning vocalist last Friday, the day of the album release. JGM: How do [...]
JGM is saddened to learn from Deacon Dennis Cole of the passing of Dr. Charles Reese of the Gospel Music Workshop of America. His book on the GMWA was the first to chronicle the organization's history and achievements. A memorial service will be held next month in Dayton, Ohio.
By Robert M. Marovich The Journal of Gospel Music was saddened to learn of the passing of Zadella “Mama” Curtis. She transitioned from earthly labor to heavenly reward yesterday, August 28, at age 73. Although Mama Curtis was best known for helping gospel quartets promote their music to radio, she started her gospel music career [...]