JGM Pick of the Week: October 16, 2017
“Just Like You” Freewill Available October 20, 2017 http://hyperurl.co/f07w9w By Bob Marovich Will Robinson, aka Freewill, teams up with producer Jor’Dan Armstrong on “Just Like You,” an inspirational song about the importance of moving beyond the cultural divide, “past the drama and the issues,” to the realization that we are, [...]
Various Artists – Jesus Rocked the Jukebox
Various Artists Jesus Rocked the Jukebox Craft Records / Concord Music Group (2017) http://www.concordmusicgroup.com/albums/jesus-rocked-jukebox-small-group-black-gospel-1951-1965/ By Bob Marovich In addition to its estimable contributions to the religious, social, and political life of African Americans, the church has also been an effective music training school. Untold numbers of men and women have [...]
Darnell Davis & the Remnant – Live Again
Darnell Davis & the Remnant Live Again D Davis Entertainment / MVP Productions (release date: August 11, 2017) www.darnelldavismusic.com By Bob Marovich Those who know Darnell Davis’s story—those who don’t can read it here—will understand why the overarching theme of his new album with the Remnants, Live Again, is spiritual survival. [...]
JGM Pick of the Week: October 10, 2017
“I’ve Got to Win” Tonya Lewis-Taylor From the EARS Entertainment Group I’ve Got to Win 2.0 (EP, released August 24, 2017) www.tonyalewistaylor.com By Bob Marovich “I’ve Got to Win” is Tonya Lewis-Taylor at her most expressive. This slow burner of a title track is a modified and more radio-ready version [...]
Debbie Cochran – Born Again Wildflower
Debbie Cochran Born Again Wildflower Independent Release (release date: June 16, 2017) www.debbiecochran.com By Bob Marovich Debbie Cochran, the Arkansas singer whose “Faith Can” was a JGM Pick of the Week in September 2016, scores big by landing Dolly Parton as a duet partner on the title track of her new [...]
Mighty Gospel Inspirations – In Black and White
The Mighty Gospel Inspirations In Black and White Independent Release (2009) http://theboguesound.com/mgi.html By Bob Marovich A cappella quartet singing may not be nearly as widespread in today’s gospel music market as it once was, but it hasn’t gone away completely. For nearly half a century, the Mighty Gospel Inspirations of Durham, [...]
JGM Pick of the Week: October 2, 2017
“Even Then” Rev. Luther Barnes & the Restoration Worship Center Choir From the Shanachie / SRT CD The Favor of God www.shanachie.com By Bob Marovich Man plans and God laughs, the saying goes. “Even Then,” the latest single from Reverend Barnes’ 2016 CD, The Favor of God, is about man [...]
Marvin Williams – Gospel Sing Night
Marvin Williams Gospel Sing Night Independent Release 2016 https://form.jotform.us/marvinwilliams/shop-with-marvin-williams- By Bob Marovich Gospel Sing Night, a combination CD and DVD offering from Arkansas-based pianist and singer Marvin Williams, contains the same zestful singing of traditional gospel songs and church hymns that the late Bishop G. E. Patterson presented in 2005 and [...]
Marvin Sapp – Close
Marvin Sapp Close RCA Inspiration (release date: September 29, 2017) www.rcainspiration.com By Bob Marovich Ever since 2007’s Thirsty and its crossover hit, “Never Would Have Made It,” a Marvin Sapp album release has become something of a special event. As a result, every one of his albums, starting with Thirsty, has [...]
“Calvary’s Cross” – Min. David A. Whitfield II & Whitfield Productions
“Calvary’s Cross” Minister David A. Whitfield II & Whitfield Productions (release date: September 29, 2017) http://dawhitfieldproductions.webs.com/ By Bob Marovich On their latest single, “Calvary’s Cross,” Minister David Whitfield II & Whitfield Productions raise aloft the standard of expansive contemporary choir singing established in part by David’s uncle, the late Maestro Thomas Whitfield. This [...]
JGM Pick of the Week: September 25, 2017
“Enter In” Chrystal Rucker HBK Media (2017) By Bob Marovich Chrystal Rucker is one of the finest voices in gospel music today. Her vocal talent is on ample display on “Enter In,” the follow up to her Top 30 single, “Excuse Me.” The finer of the two singles, “Enter In” [...]
“My Faith is Working” – The New Christianaires
“My Faith is Working” The New Christianaires Carter Classic Records (2017) www.thenewchristianaires.com By Bob Marovich According to the New Christianaires, and many others, the impact of problems on your life can be improved greatly by the way you handle it. That's the premise of the quartet's latest single, “My Faith is Working." Viewing personal and [...]
“Believe” – Marnae Greenhill
“Believe” Marnae Greenhill GStar Entertainment (release date: January 27, 2017) www.marnaegreenhill.org By Bob Marovich Biblical references about Jesus’s miracles abound in this up-tempo selection, especially his raising up of Lazarus, whose emergence from the darkness of death into the light of life is a metaphor for singer Marnae Greenhill's personal [...]
JGM Pick of the Week: September 18, 2017
“I Thank You Lord” Terri McConnell Royal T Records (release date: August 29, 2017) www.terrimcconnell.com By Bob Marovich From its southern-fried funky beat to Terri McConnell’s wizened alto, “I Thank You Lord” is as traditional and delicious as sweet tea. McConnell gushes with gratitude to God for creating a path [...]
World Church Unites – Maker of the Heavens
World Church Unites Maker of the Heavens Third World Vision (2017) www.worldchurchunites.org By Bob Marovich Gospel music has a higher purpose, and in the case of Maker of the Heavens, the purpose is more than spiritual. It’s about the very sustenance of life itself: water. World Church Unites, the Lincolnton, [...]
The Gaithers and Southern Gospel: Homecoming in the Twenty-First Century – Ryan P. Harper
The Gaithers and Southern Gospel: Homecoming in the Twenty-First Century. By Ryan P. Harper. Jackson, MS: University Press of Mississippi, 2017. 326 pp. (printed casebinding). Index. ISBN 978-1-4968-1090-8. $65 By Bob Marovich Rarely have television programs or video franchises received the microscopically detailed analysis that ethnographer Ryan P. Harper gives [...]
“Jesus” – Tracy Neal
“Jesus” Tracy Neal Holy Ground Music Group (released July 25, 2017) Available on iTunes and from CD Baby By Bob Marovich A worship song written in the 1990s by Minister J. David Bratton (“Every Praise”), “Jesus” is a hypnotic litany of adjectives and characteristics that Tracy Neal sings to describe [...]
Jennifer McGill – Unbreakable
Jennifer McGill Unbreakable Lifetime Impact Music (release date: August 11, 2017) www.jennifermcgill.com By Bob Marovich If the original Mickey Mouse Club gave us Annette Funicello (okay, and Jimmy Dodd), the All-New Mickey Mouse Club produced a passing parade of pop singers. Justin Timberlake, Christina Aguilera, Britney Spears, and Ryan Gosling, [...]
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