Robert Horton with The Voices of Many Waters: “People All Over the World Need Jesus”
“People All Over the World Need Jesus” Robert Horton with The Voices of Many Waters Gold Leaf Records https://www.reverbnation.com/roberthorton5 This lo-fi funky gospel single was written in 1979 and recorded in 1982 but not released until last year. At first blush, “People All Over the World Need Jesus” sounds like [...]
Carl B. Phillips & Friends – Great Rain
Carl B. Phillips & Friends Great Rain Prove Me Productions (release date: January 29, 2016) https://www.reverbnation.com/carlbphillips By Bob Marovich The photo on the back of the CD booklet for Carl B. Phillips & Friends’ Great Rain shows an Ivy League-attired Phillips standing next to a clock, a briefcase and umbrella [...]
JGM Pick of the Week: March 28, 2016
“Living for Jesus” Sophiya Rocktown Records (2015) http://praiseworldradio.com/sophiya-living-for-jesus What makes “Living for Jesus” special is the robust elegance with which singer, songwriter, worship leader, and TV personality Sophia Ariba (aka Sophiya) delivers the lush, melodic worship ballad. Given the multicultural popularity of P&W today, the Nigerian singer’s style can fit in [...]
WDF – What the World Needs Now
WDF What the World Needs Now Studio Cloud 30 (release date: November 10, 2015) Available on iTunes By Bob Marovich I rarely award an EP or mini-album five stars because that puts extraordinary pressure on the full-length CD that inevitably follows to be as good, if not better, than the more diminutive project. [...]
For the Lord – Greater
For the Lord Greater (private press 2015) By Bob Marovich For the Lord may be an unorthodox name for a gospel quartet, but the group has been around for some time and their new album, Greater, demonstrates that the gentlemen are 100 percent gospel quartet with a traditional bent. The [...]
Treva – I Am Praise
Treva I Am Praise (EP) chezmusique (2014) www.TrevaJones.com By Bob Marovich Treva Jones did it the right way. The Houston, Texas, vocalist released a five-track EP that showcases the many shades of her vocal talent on songs written by gifted songwriters such as V. Michael McKay and the late O’Landa [...]
JGM Pick of the Week: March 21, 2016
“Step Out on Water” Johnny B. Williams From the CD Songs for the World to Sing http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/johnnybwilliams22 “Step Out on Water” was one of JGM’s picks when we reviewed Johnny B. Williams' album, Songs for the World to Sing, in April 2014. So rather than reinvent the wheel, here is [...]
The Abyssinian Mass – Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis
Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra With Wynton Marsalis Featuring Damien Sneed and Chorale Le Chateau The Abyssinian Mass Blue Engine Records (release date: March 18, 2016) www.blueenginerecords.org By Bob Marovich During the sermon section of The Abyssinian Mass, Rev. Dr. Calvin O. Butts III welcomes congregants with a statement that [...]
Bri (Briana Babineaux) – Keys to My Heart
Bri (Briana Babineaux) Keys to My Heart Tyscot Records / Marquis Boone Enterprises (release date: March 25, 2016) www.tyscot.com By Bob Marovich You probably know Briana Babineaux (Bri), the pompadour-wearing fashionista, from her Instagram singing segments that racked up such significant interest among the hoi polloi that she garnered attention from Marquis [...]
Jonathan Nelson – Fearless
Jonathan Nelson Fearless Light Records/Entertainment One Music (release date: March 18, 2016) www.jonathannelson.us By Bob Marovich Who would have imagined, back in 2004 when he appeared on the national gospel music scene, that the irrepressible new-school gospel artist Tye Tribbett would someday lead an old school-style praise break? That’s exactly [...]
“He’ll Understand” – Joyce Barrett
“He’ll Understand” Joyce Barrett Sharper Brothers (2016) www.sharpradiogospelsuperfest.com Joyce Barrett of Houston, Texas, does some fine old-school singing on “He’ll Understand,” which on the CD single is credited to other writers, but presumably for the arrangement—the song is properly attributed to longtime National Baptist Convention music department leader Lucie Eddie Campbell, [...]
JGM Pick of the Week: March 14, 2016
“Order My Steps” The Gospel Sensations From the MCI Music Group album Everybody www.thegospelsensations.com A beautiful a cappella rendition of the GMWA Women of Worship’s choral classic from 1994, featuring that rarest of articles in gospel quartet singing today: a bass vocal, and an excellent one at that. Finger popping [...]
“Clap Your Hands” – Pastor David Wright & NY Fellowship Mass Choir
“Clap Your Hands” Pastor David Wright & The New York Fellowship Mass Choir (Next Generation) Godfather Records (2016) www.godfathergospel.com Pastor David Wright, son of the late Rev. Timothy Wright, leads the New York Fellowship Mass Choir on its latest single, a reworking of the Alex Bradford classic, “I Don’t Care [...]
Lecrae – Church Clothes 3
Lecrae Church Clothes 3 Reach Records www.lecrae.com By Bob Marovich Leave it to Lecrae to put out a mixtape as a place holder—or an appetite whetter—until his new album is released, and it soars to the top of the Billboard chart. That demonstrates his crossover appeal in a hip hop [...]
“Serve” – The Divine Souls
“Serve” The Divine Souls MCI Music Group Radio servicing: Darrell Jay Jones (darrell@darrelljayjones.com) The message on “Serve” is uncomplicated and well-trodden—the Divine Souls are so grateful for God’s unchanging hands that they are 100 percent committed to serving Him. It’s the soulful vocalizing, especially by the lead singer, Michael Bembo, [...]
JGM Pick of the Week: March 7, 2016
“In the Hands of the Carpenter” Paula and Angie Lamon Records www.paulaandangiemusic.com With bluesier guitar licks, a funky rhythm, and a more soulful choir of BGVs than you typically hear in mainstream gospel, Paula and Angie’s “In the Hands of the Carpenter” calls on the Heavenly Carpenter to “tear down [...]
Kalind Haynes – “One Angel Short”
Kalind Haynes “One Angel Short” www.cdbaby.com/artist/KalindHaynes At six foot, eight inches tall, Kalind Haynes of south suburban Chicago stands out physically. He also stands out vocally. An alumnus of BET Sunday Best, where he made it to the top ten in 2009, Haynes was praised by Tina Campbell of Mary [...]
Bishop Andrew Merritt & the Straight Gate Mass Choir – Saturate Us
Bishop Andrew Merritt & The Straight Gate Mass Choir Saturate Us Bajada Records (release date: December 22, 2015) www.saturateus.com By Bob Marovich The praise and worship choir, which one could argue was pioneered in the 1980s by Carol Cymbala and the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir, tempers the soul-stirring sounds of the [...]
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