Marcus Mason – Resounding Praise

Marcus Mason
Resounding Praise
Independent (release date: October 27, 2023)

By Robert M. Marovich

Although technically Resounding Praise is Marcus Mason’s solo album, it’s a collective accomplishment. Mason surrounds himself with a passel of capable vocalists, musicians, and producers who contribute their respective talents to this skillfully-crafted and thoroughly-enjoyable release.

Mason, a descendant of Church of God in Christ founder Bishop C. H. Mason, shows himself to be a fine songwriter. He either wrote or co-wrote the songs with the album’s co-producer and Jennifer Hudson MD David Jackson, with additional assistance from others on a couple of tracks. A fondness for hymnody shines through a seamless interpolation of Fanny Crosby’s “Draw Me Nearer” on “Presence of Your Throne,” and a love of spirituals results in a snippet of “Standing in the Need of Prayer” embedded in the intimate “Heaven Hear Me Calling.”

“My Testimony,” featuring a vibrant Nikki Potts rousing the saints, is one of the album’s two traditional selections. The other, “Answer My Prayer,” moves to a relaxed rocking chair beat. Duetting with Yvette McClendon, Mason injects the Brooklyn bounce into his latest single, “Supernatural Season,” an ode of gratitude to God and to Pastor John P. Kee.

Patricia Jackson is the brightest star in the album’s galaxy of accomplished vocalists. Her lovely, elastic, and church-honed soprano leads the title track as well as “Sweet Spirit,” one of the album’s most tenderhearted selections.

Jackson and Bishop Norman Hutchins’ vocal director Tony Jones co-produce, and guitar hero Jonathan DuBose contributes his trademark licks. While none of the songs are necessarily service-stoppers, they are nevertheless quality compositions. Resounding Praise shows that excellent projects don’t only come from major record labels.

Four of Five Stars

Picks: “Sweet Spirit,” “My Testimony”