RIP: Rodessa Barrett Porter, the Last of the Original Barrett Sisters
Rodessa Barrett Porter, the last of the original Barrett Sisters, passed away December 16, 2024, one day after her 94th birthday.
RIP: Ella Mitchell, Gospel Singer, Actor
Anthony Heilbut and Eric Maurice Clark informed the Journal of Gospel Music that gospel singer and actor Ella Mitchell passed away.
RIP Professor L. Stanley Davis – An Appreciation
Wednesday, August 2, 2023, saw the passing of two towering figures in the history of African American gospel music: musician and educator Kenneth Woods Jr. and Professor L. Stanley Davis.
Mahalia Jackson – Moving On Up a Little Higher
Mahalia Jackson Moving On Up a Little Higher Shanachie / Spirit Feel (release date: September 30, 2016) www.shanachie.com By Bob Marovich Moving On Up a Little Higher may well be the finest collection of Mahalia Jackson selections ever released, and ranks among Anthony Heilbut’s best produced music projects to date. It’s [...]
Lift Me Up: Chicago Gospel Keyboard Masters
Various Artists Lift Me Up: Chicago Gospel Keyboard Masters The Sirens (release date: July 11, 2016) www.thesirensrecords.com By Bob Marovich Those who think traditional gospel music is dead, hapless victim of today’s P&W and urban AC influences in sacred music, The Sirens’ new release, Lift Me Up: Chicago Gospel Keyboard Masters, [...]
Herbert “Pee Wee” Pickard, Noted Gospel Accompanist, Dies
Herbert Pickard. Courtesy: YouTube By Bob Marovich Traditional gospel music enthusiast Jordan K. Phillips informed JGM that Herbert "Pee Wee" Pickard, noted organist and pianist who accompanied the Gospel Harmonettes, James Cleveland and the Voices of Tabernacle, and many other gospel artists, passed away today. Mr. Pickard, a resident [...]
RIP: Professor Alfred E. Miller – “One of the First – One of the Last”
ONE OF THE FIRST - ONE OF THE LAST Professor Alfred E. Miller (1927-2015) From Anthony Heilbut, author of The Gospel Sound and The Fan Who Knew Too Much: Excepting pioneer COGIC keyboard artists Arizona Dranes and Elder Charles Beck, Alfred E. Miller was the first pianist on records to [...]
RIP Eddie Williams, Gospel Pianist and Songwriter
By Bob Marovich JGM heard from Anthony Heilbut ("The Gospel Sound," "The Fan Who Knew Too Much") and gospel singers Ron Barrett and Darryl Reed that gospel songwriter and pianist Eddie Williams passed away. Williams, an accompanist for the Caravans, authored the famous Chicago group's big hit, "Lord Keep Me [...]
Packin’ Up: The Best of Marion Williams
Packin’ Up: The Best of Marion Williams Marion Williams Spirit Feel/Shanachie www.shanachie.com By Bob Marovich If you thought you’d heard everything Marion Williams recorded, alone or with the Ward Singers or Stars of Faith, think again. In addition to the thirteen hand-picked solo tracks by Williams’s longtime friend and producer, [...]
Evelyn Starks Hardy Dies; Member of the Original Gospel Harmonettes
Photo Credit: Al.com By Bob Marovich Anthony Heilbut informed JGM this morning that Evelyn Starks Hardy, an original member of the Gospel Harmonettes, has died. Hardy, along with Mildred Madison Howard and Odessa Edwards, students at Birmingham's Parker High School, formed the Gospel Harmonettes in 1940. They were [...]
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