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, [...]
“Nobody But You” – Chaddrick Wood feat. Lowell Pye
“Nobody But You” Chaddrick Wood feat. Lowell Pye Rebirth Soul Entertainment (2017) https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/chaddrickwood By Bob Marovich The husky-voiced Lowell Pye, formerly of Men of Standard, is an ideal duet partner for the equally throaty Chaddrick Wood. On Wood's single, “Nobody But You,” the two men argue against DIY as a [...]
JGM Pick of the Week: September 5, 2017
“Never Give Up on You” Dennis Yancey http://www.igaraa.com/dennis-yancey.html By Bob Marovich Indie gospel artist Dennis Yancey’s “Never Give Up on You” is a simple, effective, and tunefully smooth ballad about maintaining complete trust in God, especially during the tough times, because God has never given up on us. Yancey’s relaxed [...]
Above Board – Job Well Done (EP)
Above Board Job Well Done (EP) https://www.facebook.com/aboveboardmusic/ By Bob Marovich I had guessed that Ed Vangelisti and Amanda Picart, the engaged couple who performs as Above Board, were from California before I looked it up and saw that, in fact, they are in Fort Bragg, California. Their effervescent singing, bright [...]
Nichole Nordeman – Every Mile Mattered
Nichole Nordeman Every Mile Mattered Sparrow Records / Capitol CMG Label Group www.sparrowrecords.com By Bob Marovich Christian singer-songwriter Nichole Nordeman has a lot to say in her new album, Every Mile Mattered, and we need to hear it. In a hauntingly beautiful voice that evokes contemporary folk artists Beth Nielsen [...]
JGM Pick of the Week: August 29, 2017
“Higher Place” Angelo and Veronica From the forthcoming A & V Music CD The Truth http://angeloandveronica.com/ By Bob Marovich In 1992, fresh on the scene and armed with training from Berklee College of Music, contemporary Christian singing duo Angelo and Veronica released their first album, Higher Place, on A & [...]
Michelle David – The Gospel Sessions Volume 2
Michelle David The Gospel Sessions Vol. 2 Excelsior Recordings www.excelsior-recordings.com By Bob Marovich Ironically, Michelle David’s The Gospel Sessions Volume 2 has such deep roots in Americana music that it probably would never be released by a U.S.-based gospel label. The current clamor for big and bold gospel singing and [...]
“Holy, Holy” – Fresh Anointing
“Holy, Holy” Fresh Anointing Enon Music Group (release date: March 17, 2017) Available from digital media outlets By Bob Marovich Released in March of this year by the young adult choir Fresh Anointing of Enon Tabernacle Baptist Church, “Holy, Holy” is a contemporary take on the nineteenth-century hymn. Garland “Miche” [...]
“Jesus Is Lord” – Calvin Bridges
“Jesus is Lord” Calvin Bridges From the PNEUMA/Spirit Recordings, Inc. EP Jesus is Lord (release date: July 18, 2017) https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/calvinbridges15 By Bob Marovich Back in February of this year, Greater Harvest M. B. Church on Chicago’s South Side was the live recording headquarters for the award-winning gospel singer-songwriter Calvin Bridges [...]
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