JGM Pick of the Week – August 24, 2026
With more than a dash of Walter Hawkins embedded in the silky arrangement and distinctive harmonies, “Holy One” evokes Calvin Bridges’ late ‘70s work with the Spirit of Love choir.
Donald Lawrence to Revive the Edwin Hawkins Music & Arts Seminar as “Music + Arts Global”
GRAMMY® Award winning choirmaster Donald Lawrence is reviving his mentor, the legendary late Edwin Hawkins’ annual Music & Arts Seminar that was birthed in 1979 and reimagining it for the 21st century as a bi-annual conference, Music + Arts Global.
Brent Jones – Nothing Else Matters (Instead of Complaining, Praise Him)
Recorded at Greater Bethel Cathedral in Los Angeles, Nothing Else Matters (Instead of Complaining, Praise Him) finds singer-songwriter Brent Jones completely at ease in the live environment, interacting with the audience, kidding around with the Best Life Choir, exhorting excitedly one minute, somberly devout the next.
Pastor Mike Jr. – I Got It: Singles Ministry
Pastor Mike Jr. I Got It: Singles Ministry Blacksmoke Music Worldwide (release date: August 13, 2021) www.pastormikejr.com By Robert M. Marovich Marriage as the ultimate culmination of a love relationship has been a mainstay of artistic expression for longer than anyone can remember. It’s the happy ending in Broadway and [...]
Kisha Grandy – Epitome
Kisha Grandy Epitome K.J. Productions (release date: June 22, 2021) By Robert M. Marovich Epitome is a solo album by actor and singer Kisha Grandy, an alumna of Kirk Franklin and the Family going back to the group’s debut album in 1993. Indeed, it’s a Kirk Franklin reunion of sorts, [...]
Reba Rambo – Lady Live (Digital Reissue)
Reba Rambo Lady Live Entertainment One (original release: 1982; reissue: July 30, 2021) www.rebarambo.com By Robert M. Marovich In June 1981, just months after winning her first Grammy for co-writing and performing on an all-star gospel album called The Lord’s Prayer, Christian singing star Reba Rambo appeared at the Anaheim [...]
Dawn Thomas Wallace – Live in Luxembourg
Dawn Thomas Wallace Live in Luxembourg Zoe Records (release date: 2020) By Bob Marovich UK Christian singer Dawn Thomas Wallace deserves major props for pulling on classics from the contemporary gospel canon for Live in Luxembourg. Recorded before a polite but appreciative audience at Luxembourg’s Oasis Church of God (Pastor [...]
Joel Smith Homegoing Services Posted
By Bob Marovich As many readers already know, gospel drummer, bass player, bandleader and producer Joel Smith passed away on September 8 at age 58. Smith cut his teeth on gospel music by accompanying his uncles Edwin and Walter Hawkins. In 1977, at age thirteen, he played drums on Edwin's [...]
RIP: Edwin Hawkins, Architect of Contemporary Gospel
Photo Credit: Hawkins Gospel Conference website By Bob Marovich The Journal of Gospel Music has learned that Edwin Hawkins, whose arrangement of the nineteenth-century hymn "Oh Happy Day" became a crossover success and signaled the emergence of contemporary gospel music, passed away today (Jan. 15) in Pleasanton, California. Here [...]
Ted Winn featuring Balance – Stand in Awe
Ted Winn featuring Balance Stand in Awe Shanachie Records (release date: September 1, 2017) www.shanachie.com By Bob Marovich First attracting the attention of the national gospel music audience in 1995 as one-half of the duo Ted & Sheri (with Sheri Jones-Moffett), Ted Winn has been a solo artist for nearly [...]
