“Going” – Christina Bell
“Going” Christina Bell Malaco Music Group (2018) www.malaco.com By Bob Marovich When I first heard the Shreveport, Louisiana, female gospel group Zie’l singing a Ward Singers classic a cappella at the 2005 Gospel Music Workshop of America, I knew then it would be a group to watch. Though Zie’l tended [...]
Will Downing – The Promise
Will Downing The Promise Shanachie Entertainment (release date: November 30, 2018) www.shanachie.com By Bob Marovich Listening to R&B crooner Will Downing’s first gospel album, The Promise, is like hearing Peabo Bryson, George Benson, or Al Jarreau making a sacred album. It’s not surprising. Called “The Prince of Sophisticated Soul,” Downing [...]
Earl Bynum – This Song is for You
Earl Bynum This Song is For You Lrae Entertainment / Tyscot Records / HBK Media (release date: October 5, 2018) www.EarlBynumMusic.com By Bob Marovich Gospel music enthusiasts can be forgiven if they are so accustomed to hearing Minister Earl Bynum appearing with the Mount Unity Choir of Chesapeake, Virginia, that [...]
“Turn Right and Go Straight” – Roscoe Robinson
"Turn Right and Go Straight" Roscoe Robinson ABKCO Music & Records (release date: June 29, 2018) By Bob Marovich On the subject of veteran travelers of the gospel highway, Roscoe Robinson has been singing gospel quartet, with a notable side trip as a national soul artist, since the early 1950s. [...]
Vincent Tharpe and Kenosis – Super Excited
Vincent Tharpe and Kenosis Super Excited EmptyMe Entertainment (release date: July 20, 2018) www.vtkonline.com By Bob Marovich Recorded live at Hope Church of Memphis, Super Excited is the latest full-length project by that city’s Vincent Tharpe and Kenosis. For a decade, the rhythm and praise group and its singer-songwriter leader [...]
Bishop Leonard Scott – Jesus Love Legacy
Bishop Leonard ScottJesus Love LegacyTyscot Records (release date: August 31, 2018)www.tyscot.com By Bob Marovich At times, gospel artists start their own independent record company to promote their talent. At other times, it’s the label owner who becomes the talent. The latter applies to Professor James Roberson of JDI Records and to [...]
Richard Davis – Christ the Lord (EP)
Richard DavisChrist the Lord (EP)R2D Music / Flaydo Music (release date: November 30, 2018)www.r2dmusic.com By Bob Marovich The title of Richard Davis’s Christmas EP comes from the reason for the season, from the album's title track (and single), and from the lyrics of “O Come All Ye Faithful,” one of the songs in the [...]
JGM Pick of the Week: December 10, 2018
“Cycles” Jonathan McReynolds feat. DOE From the eOne Music album Make Room (2018) By Bob Marovich Jonathan McReynolds and DOE (Dominique Jones of Forever Jones) go together like bacon and eggs. Musically, they are the Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova of Christian music. Their duet on the delicately acoustic and [...]
God’s Chosen (self-titled)
God’s ChosenGod’s ChosenDREAM Records (release date: June 22, 2018)www.GC3Music.com By Bob Marovich Zebrina Anderson, Nikeisha Whittier, and Sarah Benibo are God’s Chosen (GC3), a trio designed to appeal to a multicultural Christian audience through its evocation of female gospel groups like Witness and Virtue as well as of megachurch praise [...]
JGM Pick of the Week: December 3, 2018
“Working for My Good” Brandon Mitchell & S.W.A.P. feat. Lisa Knowles-Smith From the BAMSWAP Music album Amazing By Bob Marovich Once again, an AyRon Lewis production makes our list: “Working For My Good,” by Brandon Mitchell & S.W.A.P. (Singers With A Purpose). This selection, rendered in the 12/8 “rocking chair” [...]
Lady Beatrice Ward & Angelic Voices: Lord Help Me
Lady Beatrice Ward & Angelic Voices Lord Help Me Independent (release date: March 25, 2018) By Bob Marovich From the lead guitar riffs that open “When Trouble Rise,” and the song’s incessantly chugging rhythm, you know that Lady Beatrice Ward and the Angelic Voices’ Lord Help Me is going to [...]
JGM Pick of the Week: November 27, 2018
“The Great I Am” Shree Isabell Kamasia Music (release date: September 28, 2018) www.shreeisabell.com By Bob Marovich “The Great I Am” is an explosive new single from Evangelist Shree Isabell, a member of Dr. Bobby Jones’ Nashville Super Choir. Through the retelling of biblical stories about freeing the Israelites and [...]
Brent Jones – Open Your Mouth and Say Something
Brent Jones Open Your Mouth and Say Something JDI Records (release date: September 14, 2018) By Bob Marovich “Don’t you dare walk away from gospel music!” Brent Jones exhorts in the midst of his delightful new project, Open Your Mouth and Say Something. He certainly provides an excellent role model [...]
“Silent Night” – Eddie Ruth Bradford
“Silent Night” Eddie Ruth Bradford Eddie Ruth Bradford Music (2018) By Bob Marovich Eddie Ruth Bradford could sing Handel’s Hallelujah Chorus and it would sound carved out of the Mississippi hills. So it’s no surprise that the Clarksdale, Mississippi, native turns the Christmas classic “Silent Night” into a slice of [...]
Gospel Music Workshop of America Detroit Chapter – Bringing It Back Home
Gospel Music Workshop of America Detroit Chapter Bringing it Back Home GMWA Detroit Chapter (release date: September 1, 2018) By Bob Marovich After listening to Bringing it Back Home, I’d say the Detroit Chapter of the Gospel Music Workshop of America (GMWA) has the best choir of all workshop chapters [...]
JGM Pick of the Week: November 19, 2018
“On Time” Bishop Larry D. Trotter & Sweet Holy Spirit Choir From the forthcoming Utopia Music Group CD Restored! By Bob Marovich Bishop Larry Trotter’s Sweet Holy Spirit Church on Chicago’s South Side is doing its part to "bring the choir back" (as if it ever left) with “On Time.” [...]
“I’ve Got Joy” – Reggie Campbell feat. Celia King Murray
“I’ve Got Joy” Reggie Campbell feat. Celia King Murray Fresh Fire Records and Publishing (release date: January 15, 2014) www.reggiecampbell.com By Bob Marovich From Gospel Image Award-winning singer Reggie Campbell’s CD of the same title, “I’ve Got Joy” is an appropriately up-tempo celebration of a fullness of heart. Taking his cue [...]
Puchi Colon – We Await (EP)
Puchi Colon We Await (EP) Jovi Music (release date: September 7, 2018) www.puchicolon.com By Bob Marovich On We Await, Puchi Colon, who JGM has cited as the “Miami Sound Machine of Praise & Worship,” steps away from his traditionally zesty, sun-dipped arrangements to present an EP of straightforward P&W. Throughout [...]
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