James Fortune & Friends Offer One Energetic Performance After Another
"James Fortune & FIYA and Friends" Gospel Music Workshop of America Centennial Ballroom - Hyatt Regency Atlanta, GA Tuesday, July 29, 2014 By Bob Marovich Photo: Alexis Spight (center) with James Fortune (right) The Gospel Music Workshop of America. Your mind conjures up images of delegations of robed choirs singing [...]
“I Gotta Do Better” – Jon Plair
“I Gotta Do Better” Jon Plair www.jonplair.com With “I Gotta Do Better,” singer-songwriter, producer, musician, and COGIC PK Jonathan Plair admonishes those “slacking in their praise” to do better. Do better, he exhorts, and you will change your life. The song is conventional in melody and arrangement, but Plair and his [...]
The Heart of Nancey Jackson Johnson
Nancey Jackson Johnson The Heart of Nancey Jackson Johnson Camdon Music 2014 www.CamdonMusic.com By Bob Marovich I have enjoyed listening to Nancey Jackson Johnson solo on several projects over the past few years, beginning with “Lead Me to the Rock,” from Rev. Stef & Jubilation’s 2006 The Launch Out Project. Nancey's [...]
TBGB Pick of the Week: July 21, 2014
“I Believe”Dr. Marcus Cosby & the Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church Mass ChoirFrom the 2012 CD Oh to Be Kept By Jesus (Anniversary Edition)Available on Amazon.com“I Believe” is a robust, stadium-sized praise anthem and assertion of personal belief from the Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church Mass Choir of Houston, Texas. The orchestral [...]
Chanel – Trin-i-tee 5:7 According to Chanel
ChanelTrin-i-tee 5:7 According to ChanelObsidian Records (release date: June 17, 2014)By Bob Marovich for The Black Gospel BlogChanel’s solo debut, Trin-i-tee 5:7 According to Chanel, deserves the superlative “CD Most Likely to Be Released as Vinyl.” The art design by Shamael Lataillade focuses on paisley-bracketed images of Chanel Haynes Schwartz [...]
Andrea McClurkin-Mellini – Higher
Andrea McClurkin-MelliniHigherCamdon Music (June 17, 2014)www.camdonmusic.comBy Bob Marovich for The Black Gospel BlogSister of gospel star Pastor Donnie McClurkin, singer-songwriter Andrea McClurkin-Mellini is no newcomer to gospel music. She was a member of the McClurkin Singers and a charter member of the New York Restoration Mass Choir. She penned the [...]
Mr. Del & Rod G. Newman – Geeks & Gangstas
Mr. Del & Rod G. NewmanGeeks & GangstasHoly South/Geek World Entertainment/DMG (released April 1, 2014)By Bob Marovich for The Black Gospel BlogAlthough Mr. Del’s Hope Dealer just hit the streets, not long ago the Grammy and Dove-nominated Christian rapper from Memphis joined forces with Rod G. Newman of Birmingham, Alabama, [...]
Disciples of Christ – Renewed Praise
Disciples of ChristRenewed PraiseD.O.C. Productions/B.A.D. EntertainmentDisciplesofchristgospel@gmail.comBy Bob Marovich for The Black Gospel BlogFrom Houston, Texas, the Disciples of Christ is a family female traditional gospel quartet group with plenty of contemporary flair. Evocative of Lisa Brown & the Knowles Singers and Vetrea Stack Ruffin & the Ruffin Family, the Disciples are [...]
Eric Thomas – Keep On Climbin’
Eric ThomasKeep On Climbin’Self-released (2009)www.cdbaby.com/cd/ethomasmusicBy Bob Marovich for The Black Gospel BlogKeep On Climbin’ by Chicago singer Eric Thomas could easily be subtitled "With the Sons of Chicago Gospel Legends."That’s because Richard Gibbs (Inez Andrews’s son), Bryant Jones (Rev. Billy Jones and Jeanette Robinson Jones’s son), and Joey Woolfalk (Johnny [...]
Minister L. Jones – Hallelujah to His Name
Minister L. JonesHallelujah to His NameSharper Brothers (released January 16, 2014)www.sharprecordsusa.comBy Bob Marovich for The Black Gospel BlogIf I were a betting man (I’m not), I’d wager that the early work of Commissioned and the Winans had more than a smidgen of influence on the singing style of Minister Lorenza [...]
“Beautiful” – Wincey
Wincey “Beautiful” From the CD Time to Say (2012) www.winceyco.com Wincey Terry-Bryant’s “Beautiful” is an acoustic love song to God, though it could also be an acoustic love song to another person, or even encouragement to one’s self, for that matter. Its lithe, lilting melody is lovely and in sync [...]
TBGB Pick of the Week: July 7, 2014
“Amazing Worth” Charles Butler & Trinity feat. Jeremiah Hicks From the EPM Music Group CD Better www.epmmusicgroup.com Gospel enthusiasts first became aware of Washington, DC’s Charles Butler & Trinity when the ensemble backed Earnest Pugh on his 2009 hit, “Rain On Us.” In February 2013, the group released its debut [...]
“Worthy God” – M. Roger Holland
“Worthy God”M. Roger HollandFrom the forthcoming GIA CD Building Up the Kingdomwww.giamusic.comM. Roger Holland gives what could be just another P&W ballad a richness through a nuanced arrangement complete with strings, background vocalists, canny melodic changes, and expert use of dynamics. His voice is a mix of Luther Vandross and [...]
“Jesus Can Work It Out” – Pastor Greg Harris
“Jesus Can Work It Out” Pastor Greg Harris Sabbath Day Records www.sabbathdayrecords.com Not the more famous Cosmopolitan Church of Prayer/Christian Tabernacle song, this “Jesus Can Work It Out” articulates the same message nonetheless. Little Rock, Arkansas’ Pastor Greg Harris extols Jesus as the best doctor and the best lawyer. Harris [...]
TBGB Pick of the Week: July 1, 2014
“All of My Help”North Carolina Community Choir feat. Luther Barnes From the 4 Winds Records CD A Story To Tellwww.malaco.comThe North Carolina Community Choir does it again. The choir's latest single, “All of My Help,” is another example of how traditional gospel music structure never goes out of style. That's [...]
Tim Spady & Inspiration – Just Believe
Tim Spady & Inspiration Just Believe Tspady Music Productions (released May 27, 2014) By Bob Marovich for The Black Gospel Blog Songwriter and keyboardist Tim Spady’s new album, Just Believe, is a compilation of songs, most of which deal with faith, endurance, overcoming, and victory through the simple but often difficult [...]
Jay Bratten – Hymns My Way
Jay BrattenHymns My WayJay Bratten 2014www.cdbaby.com/cd/jaybrattenBy Bob Marovich for The Black Gospel BlogOn Hymns My Way, bassist Jay Bratten, his fellow musicians, and a team of guest vocalists offer an hour of instrumental and vocal rearrangements of well-known hymns and gospels that represent the foundation of church music. The album [...]
TBGB Pick of the Week: June 23, 2014
“Hello Sunshine” Kyla Jade (released May 23, 2014) www.kylasings.com For her debut solo single, Kyla Jade, lead vocalist for Dr. Bobby Jones’ Nashville Super Choir, revisits “Hello Sunshine,” the late 1960s hit for the choirs of Jessy Dixon and Rev. Maceo Woods. It’s an excellent choice for Kyla’s friendly, [...]
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