“Not Alone” – Eric Maurice Clark feat. Minister Tim White
“Not Alone” Eric Maurice Clark feat. Minister Tim White From Songs from the Heart (release date: October 2, 2017) https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/ericmauriceclark By Bob Marovich For his album Songs from the Heart, emerging songwriter Eric Maurice Clark gathered together seasoned gospel singers and musicians to interpret his compositions, which range from Praise [...]
JGM Pick of the Week: November 21, 2017
“Come Too Far” New Golden Crowns of Louisville, KY Sharp Records (release date: June 1, 2017) Available from Amazon.com By Bob Marovich Organized in 1940 as the Golden Crowns, an a cappella quartet, the New Golden Crowns of Louisville, Kentucky, are comprised of a mixture of new members and a [...]
Ruth La’Ontra – I Got You
Ruth La'Ontra I Got You ALJR Music Group/Tyscot Records (release date: September 22, 2017) www.tyscot.com By Bob Marovich To the best of my recollection, the last time a Ruth Jones was in gospel music, she was a teenager singing with Sallie Martin. Finding it difficult to keep boy-crazy Ruth in [...]
Cheryl Fortune – Simply Cheryl
Cheryl Fortune Simply Cheryl LuDawn Music / Tyscot Records (release date: October 13, 2017) www.tyscot.com By Bob Marovich On a selection from her album Simply Cheryl, gospel singer-songwriter Cheryl Fortune sings: “You don’t know the half of it, and I just can’t tell it all.” Cheryl, a background vocalist for Kirk [...]
JGM Pick of the Week: November 14, 2017
“Sweet Beulah Land” Eddie Ruth Bradford (release date: September 25, 2017) https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/eddieruthbradford3 By Bob Marovich The gospel songbird of Clarksdale, Mississippi, is at it again, this time with a mournful hymn about the eternal home. Backed by minimal instrumentation and the producer’s voice multi-tracked to simulate a male quartet (and a [...]
Geneatha Wright – In His Presence
Geneatha Wright In His Presence Godfather Records (release date: June 30, 2017) www.geneatha.com By Bob Marovich Since the untimely and tragic passing of the Reverend Timothy Wright in 2009, the Wright family has endeavored to sustain his gospel legacy through their own contributions to the genre. In particular, Wright’s son, [...]
Swingin Hammers – s/t
Swingin Hammers (self-titled) (release date: November 10, 2017) www.swinginhammers.com By Bob Marovich When one of the titles on an album is “Hangman,” you know the artist has experienced some kind of something. Confessional is the overall mood of Swingin Hammers, the self-titled debut album of singer-songwriter Benjamin Rupe, who performs [...]
“Just Fine” – Mama Sheila feat. Bryan Andrew Wilson
“Just Fine” Mama Sheila feat. Bryan Andrew Wilson Bryan’s Songs Records (2017) By Bob Marovich To a traditional gospel melody, a kick drum backbeat, and featuring preacher-style prompting from her son Bryan Andrew Wilson, Sheila Davis Wilson, as “Mama Sheila,” strings together familiar church sayings as her testimony about getting [...]
JGM Pick of the Week: November 6, 2017
“Wood and Nails” Josh Garrels and Audrey Assad From Work Songs: The Porter’s Gate Worship Project, Volume 1 (Live) (release date: October 6, 2017) www.portersgateworship.com By Bob Marovich "Wood and Nails," Josh Garrels and Audrey Assad’s feather-light and stunningly gorgeous duet, has its foundation in contemporary Christian music but its simplicity seems [...]
Chris Jasper – Thank You Jesus
Chris Jasper Thank You Jesus Gold City Music (2015; re-release date: August 11, 2016) www.ChrisJasper.com By Bob Marovich Someone once asked a singer to define the difference between gospel and jazz. The artist answered with two words: the lyrics. The same can be said about the difference between gospel and [...]
Higher Vision – For Your Kingdom
Higher Vision For Your Kingdom Syntax Distribution (release date: October 6, 2017) www.highervisionworship.com By Bob Marovich For Your Kingdom is the debut offering from the worship team of the 3,000+ member multigenerational Higher Vision Church, located in California’s Santa Clarita Valley. The album is an hour-plus of high energy stadium-sized [...]
G.I. – Winning
G.I. Winning BGA Records / Shanachie (release date: September 8, 2017) www.shanachie.com By Bob Marovich Depending on your political point of view, “winning” can be a timeless mantra or a creepy coded message. For Richmond, Virginia’s G.I., however, winning is not a political football but a forgone conclusion. Just believe. [...]
JGM Pick of the Week: October 30, 2017
“God is Making a Change” Endurance From the SCCME CD Changed (release date: September 29, 2017) www.musicbyendurance.com By Bob Marovich Infrequently in Journal of Gospel Music's 13-year history has an artist charted two successive Picks of the Week. Houston’s Endurance has done it this time. Last week, we featured the [...]
“Benediction” – The Paula Boggs Band
“Benediction” The Paula Boggs Band From the CD Elixir: The Soulgrass Sessions (release date: September 15, 2017) www.paulaboggsband.net By Bob Marovich Seattle's Paula Boggs penned “Benediction” in the aftermath of the racist-fueled shooting that ended the lives of nine members of the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina. The [...]
Tim Bowman – Into the Blue
Tim Bowman Into the Blue I.M. Records / Purpose Jazz / NIA Music Distribution LLC (release date: September 8, 2017) www.TimBowman.com By Bob Marovich Tim Bowman’s seventh album, Into the Blue, is not a gospel album but a collection of smooth jazz performances, mostly instrumentals, that includes a little of [...]
JGM Pick of the Week: October 24, 2017
“Changed” Endurance feat. Joe Ligon SCCME (release date: January, 2017) www.musicbyendurance.com By Bob Marovich A few years ago, Houston’s Endurance quartet asked Joe Ligon, the legendary lead singer of the Mighty Clouds of Joy, to join them on “Changed” (not the Hawkins classic) and tell everyone about the life transforming [...]
Camille Nelson – Lead Me Home
Camille Nelson Lead Me Home Stone Angel Music (release date: August 18, 2017) www.camillenelson.com By Bob Marovich You can almost smell the spice-scented candles and warmly fragrant aromatherapy oils while listening to Camille Nelson’s second studio album, Lead Me Home. This CD of instrumentals of classic and original hymns evokes [...]
Ted Winn featuring Balance – Stand in Awe
Ted Winn featuring Balance Stand in Awe Shanachie Records (release date: September 1, 2017) www.shanachie.com By Bob Marovich First attracting the attention of the national gospel music audience in 1995 as one-half of the duo Ted & Sheri (with Sheri Jones-Moffett), Ted Winn has been a solo artist for nearly [...]
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