connecticut

“I Do, Don’t You” – Kergyma Community Choir

2022-03-11T02:38:41-06:00March 11th, 2022|

“I Do, Don’t You” Kergyma Community Choir From the Kergyma Music Group album Choir Life (Deluxe Version) (release date: June 24, 2021) www.kergyma.org By Robert M. Marovich I appreciate when a contemporary gospel group pulls out the hymnbook and updates an old standard for today’s audiences. That’s what the Kergyma [...]

RIP: Jonathan “Papa Joe” DuBose, Sr. (Sensational Starlights)

2022-01-02T17:45:18-06:00December 15th, 2021|

By Robert M. Marovich Anne' DuBose informed JGM of the passing of her father, Jonathan "Papa Joe" DuBose Sr. He transitioned today at age 82. Papa Joe DuBose was a member of the Sensational Starlights gospel quartet of Bridgeport, Connecticut, and a leader in the local gospel music community. Anne' [...]

“America Bless God” – Bonita Burney Simmons

2021-07-05T01:12:27-05:00July 5th, 2021|

“America Bless God” Bonita Burney Simmons Independent (release date: January 7, 2021) www.bonitaburneysimmons.com By Robert M. Marovich In the introduction to “America Bless God,” the award-winning North Carolina gospel singer Bonita Burney Simmons offers an invitation to worship by quoting the patriotic anthem written by Irving Berlin in 1938, but [...]

JGM Pick of the Week: March 13, 2017

2017-03-14T01:12:09-05:00March 14th, 2017|

“Light Up the Darkness” Andre Byrd Independent release (March 2016) www.andrebyrdonline.com With “Light Up the Darkness,” Stamford, Connecticut, singer-songwriter Andre Byrd injects into song his call for direct social action. To a hook-laden pop melody that shimmers with Shellback-style blasts of electronica, Byrd appeals to us to stop acting like [...]

JGM Pick of the Week: February 15, 2016

2016-02-16T03:38:03-06:00February 16th, 2016|

“Breakthrough” Bonita Burney Simmons (released October 19, 2015) www.bonitaburneysimmons.com Bonita Burney Simmons infuses her single, “Breakthrough,” with a toolkit of traditional church soloist techniques. Melismatic runs, soulful top notes, and lyric attacks a la Jennifer Hudson--all in the service of encouraging listeners to stay faithful, because their own breakthroughs are on [...]

“That Dude Deon” Kipping Finds a Place Called Victory

2016-02-08T03:09:02-06:00February 8th, 2016|

By Bob Marovich The stage curtains opened on JJ Hairston & Youthful Praise as the group was about to introduce its new song and soon-to-become-hit, “Incredible God, Incredible Praise.” Holding the microphone was the song’s creator, Deon Kipping. That wasn’t the way it was supposed to go down. “I didn’t [...]

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