JGM Pick of the Week: August 21, 2017
“Too Hard Not To” Tina Campbell Malaco Music Group / Gee Tee Creative (2017) www.malaco.com By Bob Marovich Tina Campbell’s new single, “Too Hard Not To,” feels like an intimate girlfriend-to-girlfriend conversation about the difficulty, and also the importance, of forgiving and forgetting. The intimacy not only comes from the song's lyric, [...]
Royce Lovett – Love & Other Dreams
Royce Lovett Love & Other Dreams Motown Gospel (release date: July 14, 2017) www.motowngospel.com By Bob Marovich Royce Lovett is one of the most distinctive voices on the Motown Gospel roster. Not surprisingly, his new album, Love & Other Dreams, is as artistically unpredictable as its creator. The guitar-playing Tallahassee, Florida, [...]
Devin Williams – We Are Forever Yours (EP)
Devin Williams We Are Forever Yours (EP) Independent: (release date: August 4, 2017) www.devinw.com By Bob Marovich The power of love, both given and received, is at the center of We Are Forever Yours, the latest release by worship leader and six-time Billboard Top 30-charting Christian artist Devin Williams. Nowhere [...]
Hi-Lite Real: Moral Victories
Hi-Lite Real Moral Victories Hi-Lite Life Music (2016) http://hilitereal.com By Bob Marovich Moral Victories, the latest CD by Atlanta-based Christian Hip Hop artist Hi-Lite Real (born Dwayne Dickey), is as aspirational as it is inspirational. Employing sports analogies for some of his selections, Hi-Lite Real pumps up [...]
JGM Pick of the Week: August 14, 2017
“Well Done” Ernest J. Lee feat. Donnie Tuck From Anthems from the Vault Vol. 1 www.ernestjleemusic.org By Bob Marovich Ernest J. Lee’s “Well Done” drops a fetching quartet backbeat and a drive tempo behind the two words every Christian hopes to hear upon entering the Pearly Gates: well done. The [...]
“Where Do We Go” – Paula & Angie
“Where Do We Go” Paula & Angie From the G2 Music Group CD Where Do We Go (release date: August 4, 2017) www.paulaandangiemusic.com By Bob Marovich On the title track of their new album, Where Do We Go, mother-daughter gospel duo Paula & Angie offer sound advice on how Christians can make [...]
Natasha Owens – We Will Rise
Natasha Owens We Will Rise Maharlow Records (release date: July 7, 2017) http://natashaowensmusic.com By Bob Marovich Sometimes new beginnings flower from the most terrible tragedies. That was the case for Natasha Owens. Seven years ago, her father was cleaning a gun when it misfired, killing him at age 58. In the midst [...]
Mag Elliott – “If It Wasn’t For Your Love”
“If It Wasn’t For Your Love” Mag Elliott M.E. Productions (2017) www.magelliott.com By Bob Marovich When she was eighteen, Mag Elliott impressed listeners with her debut gospel single, “Worthy.” Suddenly, she was receiving opportunities from all directions to sing on gospel programs. In the process, Ambassador Dr. Bobby Jones heard [...]
Derrick “Doc” Pearson – I Still Do: Songs for a Biblical Marriage
Derrick "Doc" Pearson I Still Do: Songs for a Biblical Marriage I AM Music Company (release date: April 7, 2017) www.iammusiccompany.com By Bob Marovich Love songs have become quite popular in gospel music. Perchance inspired by Kim Burrell's 2011 The Love Album, or Fred Hammond's 2012 2-CD release, God, Love, [...]
JGM Pick of the Week: August 1, 2017
“It Pays to Serve Jesus” Lady LaVarnga Hubbard Utopia Music Group (2017) Available from digital media stores By Bob Marovich No matter how many vocalists travel down the P&W path, you can count on Lady LaVarnga Hubbard, the Duchess of Gospel, to keep delivering church rousers the old-school way. “It Pays [...]
“Simply Because” – Dana Fields feat. Adam Brock
“Simply Because” Dana Fields feat. Adam Brock From the album A Personal Experience (2016) www.danafields.com By Bob Marovich Songstress Dana Fields’ silky smooth praise song “Simply Because” gets a double shot of passion courtesy of the soulful vocalizing of her duet partner, American Idol contestant Adam Brock. The two voices fit [...]
JGM Pick of the Week: July 24, 2017
“I Give You Praise” Robert E. Person feat. Richard Smallwood From the forthcoming REP album Classic Covers www.roberteperson.com By Bob Marovich Covering Richard Smallwood’s composition “I Give You Praise” is commendable. Having the maestro himself accompany on piano is inspired. Originally released by Smallwood on his 1989 album Portrait (Word Entertainment), [...]
Jermaine Dolly – The Dolly Express
Jermaine Dolly The Dolly Express DarkChild Gospel / By Any Means Necessary LLC (release date: June 9, 2017) By Bob Marovich The Dolly Express, the main conceit of Jermaine Dolly’s debut full-length album of the same name, bears similarity to the storied [...]
Bigger Than Me – Le’Andria
Bigger Than Me Le’Andria RCA Inspiration (release date: July 21, 2017) By Bob Marovich Bigger Than Me, Le’Andria Johnson’s fifth album, is her best album since her 2011 debut, the chart-topping Music World Gospel release, The Awakening of Le’Andria Johnson. Best because the songs, for the first time since Awakening, feel right [...]
Sherwin Gardner – Greater
Sherwin Gardner Greater Flow Masters / Tyscot Records (global release: May 26, 2017) www.tyscot.com By Bob Marovich Those who follow my reviews know I’m not typically sold on an album's selected single, and often feel other tracks on the CD are far stronger. But “Because of You,” the first American single from Sherwin [...]
JGM Pick of the Week: July 17, 2017
“Grace” Charles Jenkins & Fellowship Chicago feat. Le’Andria Johnson Inspired People, LLC (release date: July 7, 2017) Available from digital media outlets By Bob Marovich Pastor Charles Jenkins & Fellowship Chicago’s “Grace” feels like a quicker-tempo version of Kirk Franklin’s “I Smile” with its plinky piano, chirpy melody, finger-popping rhythm, [...]
Jeanette Jones – Dreams All Come True
Jeanette Jones Dreams All Come True Playback Records (release date: May 19, 2017) www.playbackrecords.net By Bob Marovich The title of Playback’s compilation of every known secular and sacred solo recording by San Francisco singer Jeanette Jones is deliberately ironic. All the more so in that Jones’ beautifully-sung ballad, “Dreams All Come [...]
JGM Pick of the Week: July 11, 2017
Bri photographed at BET's New York studio on April 19, 2017. (Photo: Andre L. Perry/BET) "So Good” Bri (Release date: June 9, 2017) Available from digital music outlets By Bob Marovich When on “So Good” Bri (Briana Babineaux) sings “God’s been so good to me,” there are plenty [...]
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