By Robert M. Marovich The gospel music community is mourning the loss of Derrick Lee, who transitioned from labor to reward February 19, 2022, at Vanderbilt Hospital in Nashville, Tennessee. He had been battling health issues for some time and had been in the hospital since the week after Christmas 2021. Friends and associates sete up a GoFundMe page to help defray his hospital expenses. From Newark, New Jersey, Lee was a talented songwriter and musician who went on to become the music director for BET’s Bobby Jones Gospel, the longest-running gospel music television program. After his show’s 35-year tenure ...

“Nothin’ but the Spirit” Lisa Bellamy From the Nspyre Music Group International EP What Will it Take (release date: January 22, 2021) https://nspyremusicgroupinternational.com/ By Robert M. Marovich Lisa Bellamy’s self-penned single “Nothin’ but the Spirit” is a cross between gospel and quiet storm R&B. On this slow and thoughtful ballad, the singer-songwriter shares how the spirit of God led her to far greater heights than her own choices. The talented soprano singer’s delicate touch gives glimpses of the power behind it all. Among her accomplishments, Bellamy, a classically-trained vocalist, has done opera, was a finalist on the BET Gospel Diva ...

“We Need You”Titus ShowersA&P Records (release date: January 15, 2021) By Robert M. Marovich Alternately balladic and rhythmic, Titus Showers’ new single “We Need You” is a passionate, moving entreaty to the Lord to help the world search for peace, regain its faith, and answer the most fundamental question during a time of turmoil: “why?” Midway through, Titus shifts his prayer from global to local, seeking a word from up above to help resolve the questions troubling his own heart. He recognizes that God is the answer, for him, for everyone. Co-written by Titus along with Ernest Vaughan and Owen ...

By Bob Marovich Relaxing on the tour bus after a concert, Lamont Sanders could still hear the shouts of “Encore!” from tens of thousands of audience members echoing in his mind. The Bible says your gift will make room for you, Sanders reflected, and it had. He had signed with Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds and Andre Harrell. His R&B group was performing to adoring fans, just like tonight. It had recorded an album that would soon be released. Life was good. Then he felt a presence in the seat next to him. A voice spoke: “That feels good, huh? They’re screaming ...

By Bob Marovich Once upon a time, there was an artistic expression of worship, inaugurated and performed by youth, that wasn’t accepted by all members of the church. I’m not talking about gospel music, or Christian hip hop. I’m talking about praise dancing. Like its musical forebears, praise dancing was once seen as anathema to the Sunday worship service. Today it is more broadly embraced, but Vanessa Odom of St. Luke Gospel Expressions, representing St. Luke Community Christian Church in Chester, Pennsylvania, knows there’s a long way to go. A dancer her entire life, Odom was first exposed to praise ...

By Bob Marovich With its infectious aisle-walking vigor, “Nobody Like the Lord” couldn’t be more Chicago if the CD cover had a photo of the Picasso on it. It’s the debut single by Cynthia Eubanks, a Chicago artist who has wanted to sing gospel music ever since she was a young girl, participating in regular family singalongs. “My Uncle Eugene and Aunt Wilma would start off singing doo wop songs from the 1950s and 1960s,” Eubanks told the Journal of Gospel Music, “then they would sing gospel songs and it would turn into a mini gospel concert. Being one of ...

“I’ll Be the One” Bri Babineaux Marquis Boone Enterprises (2015) www.brination.org Bri (Briana) Babineaux eagerly accepts the call to discipleship on her debut single, “I’ll Be the One.” The lovely twenty-year-old coed from the University of Louisiana evokes another emerging artist, Casey J, by placing her youthful and confident voice atop sinuous musicianship and supportive background vocalists. The gentle P&W ballad caught the industry by surprise when it debuted at #1 on Billboard’s Gospel Digital Download chart. It made history by landing the top spot without major radio airplay, personal appearances, or prior sales. It also entered the Hot Singles Sales Chart ...

Airing from 1963 to 1984, Jubilee Showcase was the longest running gospel music television show before BET’s Bobby Jones Gospel.  Every week, host Sid Ordower introduced television audiences of all races and creeds to the era’s gospel stars.  Offering “music that both entertains and inspires,” as Ordower announced at the opening, the 30 minute program presented gospel music with grace and dignity. Ordower’s son, Steven, is working on a documentary of the historic television program.  He encourages you to check out a new Jubilee Showcase website and sign up with your email address for FREE and exclusive access to rare ...

The Showers The Showers A&P Records/Habakkuk Music/INgrooves (release date: April 21, 2015) www.theshowers.org By Bob Marovich The Showers is the national debut album for the Showers Family of Hammond, Louisiana, siblings who have been singing together since knee pants and recording since 2009. The octet pulled out all the stops, too, inking a distribution deal with Habakkuk Records and signing an all-star lineup of producers, notably Bruce Robinson, Deon Kipping, Myron Butler, and Dave Geeter. Robinson and Kipping also contributed many of the album’s songs, as did gospel singer Regina Skeeters. Butler assists with vocal production on the punchy “Praise ...

BET’s Bobby Jones Gospel, the longest-running gospel music variety program on television and the longest-running original series on cable television, will mark its final episode this year. Ambassador Dr. Bobby Jones is to be highly commended because no other modern show has done so much to showcase independent and major gospel artists as Bobby Jones Gospel. Let’s hope BET puts another gospel variety program in its place.  Also, there needs to be a gospel star-studded salute to Bobby Jones presented by the artists whose careers were launched as a result of Jones’s program. Read all about it here in an article written originally by ...