“If I Don’t Wake Up” – Chosen 4
On the mellow “If I Don’t Wake Up,” the quartet members reassure their loved ones that they “fixed it up with Jesus a long, long time ago” and are therefore ready to receive their crown and “golden shoes” when the great day comes.
JGM Pick of the Week – February 27, 2023
“Come By Here” Aria Gaston From the EP Aria Gaston Presents Worship Live (release date: June 21, 2022)
Da’ T.R.U.T.H. – Emanuel
Da' T.R.U.T.H. gathered an all-star crew of veteran and current gospel stars—from Fred Hammond and Yolanda Adams to Dante Bowe and Maranda Curtis—to assist on his self-titled Emanuel.
“If It Weren’t for Grace” – Mariee Murphy
Plano, Texas, singer-songwriter Mariee Murphy’s “If It Weren’t for Grace” is a salvation story bathed in warm and unobtrusive electronica.
JGM Pick of the Week – February 20, 2023
“Cover Me” Patrick Lundy & the Ministers of Music feat. LeJuene Thompson From the album Way Maker – 25th Anniversary Live Recording (album release: March 4, 2021)
JGM Pick of the Week: February 13, 2023
“I Wanna Say Thank You” James Grear & Company feat. Maurette Brown Clark Blacksmoke Music Worldwide (release date: October 7, 2022)
“It Is Well” – Kergyma Community Choir
The Kergyma Community Choir’s “It Is Well” is inspired by and has the same message, but is not the same piece as, the classic nineteenth-century hymn that begins, “When peace like a river…”
“Lamb of God” – Brenda Jefferson feat. Stephen Hurd
The muscular-voiced Hurd who leads the call-and-response with the background vocalists on this rhythmically undulating song of praise.
JGM Pick of the Week: February 7, 2023
“He Brought Me Out” Quinten Simon Independent (release date: January 20, 2023)
JGM Pick of the Week – February 1, 2023
“Speak to the Mountain” Angela Moss Poole 141st Lane Music/DarkChild Gospel (2022)
Jarred AllStar – The Gift and the Calling 3
The Gift and the Calling 3 is the finale of Christian hip hop artist Jarred AllStar’s The Gift and the Calling Series, which began in 2020.
JGM Pick of the Week – January 23, 2023
“One Step Closer” DiVine of Annapolis From the CD One Step Closer (release date: September 20, 2022)
“I’m So Happy” – Fountain of Life Joy Choir (Marc Davis & Sadar Bahar Edit)
Chicago-based gospel music collector Marc Davis collaborated with Sadar Bahar and recording engineer Tone B. Nimble to inject a disco beat into the Fountain of Life Joy Choir’s “I’m So Happy.”
Adia – Hold It All Together
On her latest solo album, Hold It All Together, Destiny Adia Andrews, known as Adia, sings in a tranquil, conspiratorial voice, as if holding a prayer meeting with a few friends in a tiny room with the lights out and candles burning.
JGM Pick of the Week – January 17, 2023
“He’ll Make It Alright” Julius Pearson & the Gospel Chorale of Chicago Enchanted Media Group
“Don’t Leave Me Jesus” – Lady Voncile Belcher
Although on her latest selection, “Don’t Leave Me Jesus,” Lady Voncile Belcher pleads with Jesus to not leave her “in this barren land,” she knows he won’t. Quoting from “No Ways Tired,” she and her background vocalists sing: “he didn’t bring me this far to leave me.”
JGM Pick of the Week – January 9, 2023
“All Things Are Working” Joe Pace feat. Callie Day Pace Music Group (release date: November 18, 2022)
“Don’t Forget You’re a Child of God” – Out of the Whirlwind feat. the Workstudy Performing Arts Choir
To give their “Don’t Forget You’re a Child of God” an authentic touch, the gospel band Out of the Whirlwind recruited the Workstudy Performing Arts Choir, a children’s choir out of Matteson, Illinois, to sing with them. And the children deliver.