Recent Posts
The Exciting Holy Sons – Greatest Hits, Volume 1
By surveying highlights of the Exciting Holy Sons’ two-decade recording career, Greatest Hits, Volume 1 puts listeners into the virtual front seats of a program by the award-winning Chicago-based gospel quartet.
El McMeen – Gospel Guitar Treasures
Gospel Guitar Treasures is a meditative mix of familiar hymns, gospels, spirituals, and camp meeting songs played on solo acoustic guitar by superb picker Ellsworth “El” McMeen.
JGM Pick of the Week – August 11, 2026
A 12x-Stellar nominee, Kim Person is proof that an indie gospel artist can blossom into a national star today, even if she is not signed to a major label.
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Recent Posts
The Exciting Holy Sons – Greatest Hits, Volume 1
By surveying highlights of the Exciting Holy Sons’ two-decade recording career, Greatest Hits, Volume 1 puts listeners into the virtual front seats of a program by the award-winning Chicago-based gospel quartet.
El McMeen – Gospel Guitar Treasures
Gospel Guitar Treasures is a meditative mix of familiar hymns, gospels, spirituals, and camp meeting songs played on solo acoustic guitar by superb picker Ellsworth “El” McMeen.
JGM Pick of the Week – August 11, 2026
A 12x-Stellar nominee, Kim Person is proof that an indie gospel artist can blossom into a national star today, even if she is not signed to a major label.
Sponsored Post:
Dawne Cole is from Chicago and her Windy City chops come out loud and clear on “I Called On Jesus,” a traditional-style selection about the power of prayer.
“Be a Witness” is a cheerful and infectious handclapper about the delights and rewards of being a “sanctified witness for the Lord.”
The nominees of the 41st Stellar Gospel Music Awards were announced today. Here is the list of nominees by category.
“God’s Gonna Do It” Pastor LaNorris McFadden & SG1 Voices of Victory Fromr the Conqueror's Music album Sunday Morning Church (Live) (album release date: February 7, 2025)
“So Lovely” by the female duo TruthWon is musically and lyrically captivating.
“New Thang” Eternal Light Singers feat. Josh Myles Ecko Records (release date: March 8, 2024)
LATEST 5 STAR REVIEWS
Various Artists Gospel, Vol. 6: Female Gospel Groups 1940-1962 Fremeaux & Associes (2022) http://www.fremeaux.com By Robert M. Marovich If it weren’t for women, there might not be gospel music as we know it today. A gutsy statement, but accurate. For every Thomas Dorsey, Theodore Frye, and James Cleveland, there were dozens of women who, denied [...]
Various Artists Malaco 50th Celebration Malaco Music Group (release date: February 25, 2022) www.malaco.com By Robert M. Marovich The nearly two-hour Malaco 50th Celebration two CD set (and companion DVD) is one of the best releases thus far this year. Recorded live on July 12, 2018, at the record company’s golden anniversary gala at Thalia [...]
Dedicated Men of Zion The Devil Don’t Like It https://fatpossum.com/collections/bible-tire-recording-co (release date: March 3, 2022) By Robert M. Marovich On The Devil Don’t Like It, their follow-up to 2020’s Can’t Turn Me Around, the Dedicated Men of Zion quartet breathes new life into a handful of gospel classics by fitting them with arrangements that sound [...]
Maranda Curtis Die to Live Butterfly Works / Red Alliance Media / Fair Trade Services Release date: February 18, 2022 www.iammaranda.com By Robert M. Marovich Although his declaration doesn’t appear until several minutes into the album, Bishop John Francis essentially states the theme of Maranda Curtis’s new album Die to Live. After quoting John 12:24, [...]
Javon Jackson The Gospel According to Nikki Giovanni Solid Jackson (release date: February 18, 2022) https://www.javonjackson.com https://nikki-giovanni.com By Robert M. Marovich The Gospel According to Nikki Giovanni is a Black History Month treat from a jazz combo led by Javon Jackson, saxophonist and former member of Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers, and the iconic poet and [...]
LATEST PICK OF THE WEEK – SINGLES
Zacardi Cortez shouts and squalls like a seasoned quartet lead through the confessional “Working on Me” as he pleads to God for a “brand new start” through spiritual restoration.
“Broken Habits” KamSam The Unstoppable Music (release date: December 16, 2025) By Robert M. Marovich Vulnerability, faith, and gratitude gush out of London-based gospel singer Patrice Tate-Samuel, aka KamSam, as she works her troubles out on “Broken Habits.” By giving herself over to Jesus, she affirms, she can break through the barriers she has created [...]
Taylor Janay’s introspective gospel ballad “I Pray” offers refreshing relief from the routine gospel lyric.
Luther Barnes is one of the most compelling gospel singers on the highway today, effortlessly bringing the authentic expressions of the church into the modern era.
“I’m Standing With You” Katie Cloyd ECM Group Nashville (release date: October 31, 2025)
Conversations with the Gospel Legends: Delores Scott
On our latest episode of "Conversations with the Gospel Legends," we talk with singer Delores Scott, member of the 'Ship, the Tommies, and an altogether integral part of Chicago's gospel community. Special thanks to Rev. Harold Bailey, Mr. Clarence McMillon, and the PCC Network for making this broadcast possible.
Conversations with the Gospel Legends – Rev. Dr. Stanley Keeble
On this episode of "Conversations with the Gospel Legends," the Reverend Dr. Stanley Keeble talks about his days as an accompanist, as part of the Fellowship M.B. Church music ministry, his Voices of Triumph group, his mentor Willie Webb, and the Chicago gospel scene of the 1950s and 1960s. Conversations [...]
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 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 [...]
By Bob Marovich From time to time, such as on major holidays or when the young people’s choir was singing, young Gloria Fowles and her family accompanied their grandmother to Abyssinian Baptist Church in Newark, New Jersey. At Abyssinian, they would listen to sermons from its pastor, the Reverend Raphus P. Means, and gospel music [...]
By Bob Marovich The sacred-secular divide in music is a uniquely modern conception, and it misses the point. In West Africa, where most enslaved Africans came from, all music was sacred and all music was secular. There was no distinction…until the music came to America during the African Diaspora and distinctions based on intent were [...]
JGM was saddened to learn of the passing of Pastor Joseph A. Peay Sr. He transitioned from earth to glory on October 11, 2025, at age 85.
