“Beautiful” – Wincey
Wincey “Beautiful” From the CD Time to Say (2012) www.winceyco.com Wincey Terry-Bryant’s “Beautiful” is an acoustic love song to God, though it could also be an acoustic love song to another person, or even encouragement to one’s self, for that matter. Its lithe, lilting melody is lovely and in sync [...]
TBGB Pick of the Week: July 7, 2014
“Amazing Worth” Charles Butler & Trinity feat. Jeremiah Hicks From the EPM Music Group CD Better www.epmmusicgroup.com Gospel enthusiasts first became aware of Washington, DC’s Charles Butler & Trinity when the ensemble backed Earnest Pugh on his 2009 hit, “Rain On Us.” In February 2013, the group released its debut [...]
“Worthy God” – M. Roger Holland
“Worthy God”M. Roger HollandFrom the forthcoming GIA CD Building Up the Kingdomwww.giamusic.comM. Roger Holland gives what could be just another P&W ballad a richness through a nuanced arrangement complete with strings, background vocalists, canny melodic changes, and expert use of dynamics. His voice is a mix of Luther Vandross and [...]
“Jesus Can Work It Out” – Pastor Greg Harris
“Jesus Can Work It Out” Pastor Greg Harris Sabbath Day Records www.sabbathdayrecords.com Not the more famous Cosmopolitan Church of Prayer/Christian Tabernacle song, this “Jesus Can Work It Out” articulates the same message nonetheless. Little Rock, Arkansas’ Pastor Greg Harris extols Jesus as the best doctor and the best lawyer. Harris [...]
TBGB Pick of the Week: July 1, 2014
“All of My Help”North Carolina Community Choir feat. Luther Barnes From the 4 Winds Records CD A Story To Tellwww.malaco.comThe North Carolina Community Choir does it again. The choir's latest single, “All of My Help,” is another example of how traditional gospel music structure never goes out of style. That's [...]
Tim Spady & Inspiration – Just Believe
Tim Spady & Inspiration Just Believe Tspady Music Productions (released May 27, 2014) By Bob Marovich for The Black Gospel Blog Songwriter and keyboardist Tim Spady’s new album, Just Believe, is a compilation of songs, most of which deal with faith, endurance, overcoming, and victory through the simple but often difficult [...]
Jay Bratten – Hymns My Way
Jay BrattenHymns My WayJay Bratten 2014www.cdbaby.com/cd/jaybrattenBy Bob Marovich for The Black Gospel BlogOn Hymns My Way, bassist Jay Bratten, his fellow musicians, and a team of guest vocalists offer an hour of instrumental and vocal rearrangements of well-known hymns and gospels that represent the foundation of church music. The album [...]
TBGB Pick of the Week: June 23, 2014
“Hello Sunshine” Kyla Jade (released May 23, 2014) www.kylasings.com For her debut solo single, Kyla Jade, lead vocalist for Dr. Bobby Jones’ Nashville Super Choir, revisits “Hello Sunshine,” the late 1960s hit for the choirs of Jessy Dixon and Rev. Maceo Woods. It’s an excellent choice for Kyla’s friendly, [...]
Elain Thomas – Songs in the Key of Jazz
Elain ThomasSongs in the Key of Jazz (2013)www.reverbnation.com/elainthomasBy Bob Marovich for The Black Gospel BlogDespite the well-worn argument about "devil's music" vs. "God's music," gospel and jazz and blues—and now rock, soul, R&B and pop—are intertwined, fruits from the same musical tree. Elain Thomas’ self-produced Songs in the Key of [...]
“I’m More Than a Conqueror” – Ajaay Swindell & Company
“I’m More Than a Conqueror”Ajaay Swindell & Companywww.ajaayswindell.comAs much affirmation as prayer, “I’m More Than a Conqueror” is a hard-hitting, rock-fueled contemporary gospel that encourages the listener to remain steadfast in belief. It is performed in the style of James Fortune & FIYA, with lead vocalist Ajaay Swindell interjecting spoken [...]
Shirlene Jackson – Wow
Shirlene JacksonWowCRNI (2011)Available at CD BabyBy Bob Marovich for The Black Gospel BlogWow is a self-produced five-track EP by Shirlene Jackson of New Edinburg, Arkansas. A capable gospel singer who proved her merit in 2005 by winning the Gospel Talent Showcase in Hot Springs, Arkansas, Jackson’s calling card is lofting [...]
TBGB Pick of the Week: June 16, 2014
Anointed By God“I Give You My All”One Voice Media (released March 18, 2014)Available on Amazon and iTunesFabulous gospel vocalist LeJuene Thompson leads this lovely ballad of unbridled discipleship. Anointed by God added Sharonda Walker-Mitchell, Carla Barnes, and Cachet Morganfield to make the background more sweetly treble-focused, and it works. This [...]
Ricky Dillard & New G – Amazing
Ricky Dillard & New G Amazing Light Records/eOne Entertainment (release date: June 10, 2014) www.rickydillard.net By Bob Marovich for The Black Gospel Blog Ricky Dillard was once the young turk on the gospel block. Beginning in the late 1980s, Dillard and the New Generation Chorale, a Chicago gospel choir [...]
Christon Gray – School of Roses
Christon Gray School of Roses Collision Records (release date: March 25, 2014) www.collision-records.com By Bob Marovich for The Black Gospel Blog Christon Gray’s School of Roses may be the most unusual, and the most cerebral, inspirational project you have ever heard. It’s less gospel in its typical structure and more [...]
‘Wanna Be Close” – J Kingdom
"Wanna Be Close" J Kingdom www.jkingdom.com In 2009, Pastor Michael J. Fisher (aka J Kingdom) led Compton, California's Voices of Destiny choir to the Verizon How Sweet the Sound competition, where the group took top honors as "the best church choir in America." J Kingdom puts as much of a [...]
Pastor David Wright & the N.Y. Fellowship Mass Choir – Next Generation
Pastor David Wright & the N.Y. Fellowship Mass ChoirNext GenerationGodfather Records (released February 2014)godfatherrecordsinc@gmail.comBy Bob Marovich for The Black Gospel BlogRecorded live at Brooklyn’s historic First Church of God in Christ, Pastor David Wright and the N.Y. Fellowship Mass Choir’s Next Generation does more to preserve the legacy of Bishop [...]
Minister Terrell Rogers & Men of Destiny – I’m Still Here
Minister Terrell Rogers & Men of DestinyI’m Still Here(released November, 2013)By Bob Marovich for The Black Gospel BlogMinister Terrell Rogers & Men of Destiny of Blytheville, Arkansas, are young men with old souls. This is evident by the traditional bent of the quartet’s new self-produced CD, I’m Still Here.Rogers is the [...]
TBGB Pick of the Week: June 2, 2014
“Turning Away” Bryan Andrew Wilson EchoPark JDI (2014) www.echoparkjdi.com Maybe it’s me, but less can be more, especially in gospel music. Gospel started with only piano for accompaniment. Nine decades later, piano and voice (and organ, of course) are still the ideal combination for a Zion song. Proof is Bryan [...]
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