Milwaukee’s Ocie Jackson is "Touching Heaven"

By Bob Marovich for The Black Gospel Blog.

Every now and then, a background singer steps from the shadows and into the spotlight.

Milwaukee gospel singer Ocie Jackson is the latest to make the leap. Her debut solo CD, My Heart, My Song (Behind the Cross Music Group) is scheduled for release February 17, 2012.

Ms. Jackson talked with TBGB last week about her journey thus far.

Although she lived in Detroit and Louisiana for a little while, Ocie Jackson was born and raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin as the twelfth of fourteen children to Pastor Leroy and Bernisteen Jackson. Originally from Mississippi and now retired from active ministry, Pastor Leroy Jackson settled in Milwaukee and led Holy Crusaders COGIC and Right Way COGIC. He was a quartet singer while in Mississippi and wanted all his children to sing or play an instrument. “There was never a time in my house that you couldn’t hear singing,” Ocie recalled.

Her initial music influences were diverse: her two older sisters, Mae and Gloria; Sarah Vaughan; and Ella Fitzgerald, “but Fred Hammond is my all time favorite singer.”

Jackson sang background for major artists such as Kim Burrell, Donnie McClurkin, CeCe Winans, Vicki Yohe, and Kirk Franklin whenever they came to Milwaukee. She also sang backup for VaShawn Mitchell and toured as part of his group between the release of his Promises and Triumphant CDs. “VaShawn taught me to connect with the people, to be led by God in each element, and to be confident in who you are, no matter who’s in the room.”

Sound advice, too, because once Mitchell asked Jackson to lead a song while Dorinda Clark Cole and J Moss were sharing the stage.

“I was like, ‘Oh, my goodness! Oh, my goodness!’ I was thinking, ‘Are you sure? I mean, there’s Dorinda!’ My knees were shaking and all, but once I had the mike and was standing in the moment, I didn’t even recognize who was there. It became about me making sure I’m touching Heaven. Once I give God the glory, He can then bless the people.”

Eventually, some of Jackson’s friends and fans suggested the singer consider going solo. Initially reluctant to make the move, Jackson surrendered in early 2011 after coming into contact with producer Chris Crain. “Chris said, ‘Let’s just record one song and see how you feel. If you feel okay and you still think it’s a good idea to record, then let’s keep going.’” Jackson recorded one of Crain’s compositions, “Sing Your Name.” They kept going.

Jackson reflected back on that time. “I didn’t think I was relevant or that people would be interested in hearing me on a recording, but I’m excited what God is doing. I believe He has always intended for me to do what I’m doing.”

While My Heart, My Song will be released February 17 at online stores such as CD Baby, iTunes and Amazon, a release concert and DVD taping is planned for April 27. Meanwhile, the single, “Sing Your Name,” is the song from that first recording session.  It's the one that convinced Jackson to keep going.

In addition to promoting the CD, Jackson wants to spend time organizing music programs for Milwaukee’s disabled community and to sing for local nursing homes.

“I don’t have to be famous, but I do have to be relevant,” she said. “I would also love for my music to be timeless, not something we listen to for just a little bit. I hope my music will encourage people to move from a mediocre relationship with God to having a heart that’s set ablaze.”

"Hello God" - Eunice Wright

“Hello God”
Eunice Wright
From the forthcoming Joyful Noize CD Worth It All (release scheduled for March 2012)
www.eunicewright.com

The best part of psalmist Eunice Wright’s new praise single, “Hello God,” is its instantly memorable (and eminently singable) chorus, especially when Wright’s background vocalists join her at the end for a resounding reprise accompanied initially by nothing but pounding drums. 

The Delaware native and award-winning gospel artist is in awe of God but also offers Him some downright neighborly hospitality.  The Almighty made Wright’s day. “Hello God” will make yours.

TBGB Pick of the Week: January 30, 2012

“In His Hands”

Shaun Millz

From the CD My Bride (scheduled for early 2012 release)

Four years ago, the mother of Newark gospel singer-songwriter Shaun Millz suffered a massive stroke, leaving her paralyzed on one side and bound to a wheel chair. 

The young man sought consolation and inspiration from the victorious struggles of another church mother who had lost her eyesight and both her limbs.  The product of his reflection is the slow, neo-traditional boiler, “In His Hands.”  To old-school accompaniment that includes warbling organ, Millz lays out his conclusion, via gospel runs and trills, that the Lord will do what He says, so leave it “In His Hands.”  Soul satisfying.

Myron Butler - Worship

Myron Butler
Worship
EMI Gospel (2012)
www.myronbutler.com

By Bob Marovich for The Black Gospel Blog.

Ah, to be young, gifted and a tenor.

Myron Butler is all of these, and on his latest CD, Worship, he demonstrates in particular his songwriting craft and winning voice. The Grammy, Dove and Stellar Award-winning Dallas native and former vocal coach of the famed God’s Property offers a selection of songs recorded live that will no doubt be picked up and learned by worship teams across the country.

Worship, released last week, includes songs by a number of P&W songwriters, including Israel Houghton, David Binion and Josh Dufrene, but the best performances on the CD are of Butler’s own compositions “You Alone are God,” “I Honor You,” and “Dwell Here,” the latter co-written with keyboardist and album co-producer Parris Bowens. Like Butler's smash hit “Set Me Free,” the praise anthem “I Honor You” throbs with African-inspired drumming and handclapping, while “You Alone Are God” benefits from a gentle piano-and-voice intro.

A few selections on Worship, in fact, open with Butler singing quietly to piano accompaniment, and they comprise the finest moments on the album. Butler and piano are marvelous together, whether the singer himself or Mike Robinson is the accompanist for these tender moments.

The straight-forward worship hymn “Bless the Lord” is the current single, and the CD contains the extended version. “The Blood of Jesus” is similarly, if not more, energetic, with Robert Searight’s drum work creating a spiral of sound that echoes the dynamics of the fusion drummers of the 1970s. Featured artists Tasha Cobbs and Blanche McAllister-Dykes offer lovely vocal assists on “Not My Own” and “Holy One,” respectively, and the worship choir compliments Butler nicely throughout.

Worship finds Myron Butler continuing to mine the urban worship vein that has brought him from his teenage years as the writer of “Lift Him Up” for the Dallas-Fort Worth Mass Choir to Minister of Music at Bishop T.D. Jakes’ Potter’s House Church in Dallas.

Four of Five Stars

Picks: “Bless the Lord,” “The Blood of Jesus.”

"Lose Yourself" - Selected of God

“Lose Yourself”
Selected of God
Sing 2 Praise/S2P Records (2012)
www.selectedofgod.com

Selected of God is distinctively Detroit.

Organized in 2002 by Pastor Larry Callahan and music director Steven D. Anderson, Selected of God was named Best Small Choir - Detroit Region in the "How Sweet the Sound" Competition. In November 2008, the ensemble took first place in the Detroit Gospel Showcase and Awards Choir Competition. Named Ambassadors of Detroit by Chrysler Motors, Selected of God won an Emmy for their role in the “Born of Fire: Imported from Detroit” commercial.

To add to their Detroit swagger, Selected of God gospelizes fellow Detroiter Eminem’s hit “Lose Yourself,” infusing it with what can only be described as gothic gospel. The single is released on the Sing 2 Praise/S2P label which has affiliation with the legendary Detroit record company, Sound of Gospel, early label home of the Clark Sisters.

Speaking of the Clark Sisters, the choir’s forthcoming CD Evolution includes a cover of “You Brought the Sunshine,” complete with a vocal by Twinkie Clark-Terrell. This brings the song full circle: from gospel song to nightclub turntables and back again.

Evolution is produced by Grammy and Stellar Award-winning producer Asaph A. Ward and scheduled for a spring release. Meanwhile, click below to check out the video for “Lose Yourself.”

http://www.selectedofgod.com/video/video.html

The Bishops Quartet - Heaven Is Too Far (For You To Walk)

The Bishops Quartet
Heaven Is Too Far (For You to Walk)
Sharper Brothers Records (2011)
http://www.sharperbrothersusa.com/

By Bob Marovich for The Black Gospel Blog.

From Orlando, Florida comes a group of singing church leaders called the Bishop’s Quartet. Whether soaring into falsetto, shouting, or singing flatfooted, the Bishops Quartet is rooted in traditional gospel, southern soul style. The group’s new album, Heaven Is Too Far (For You to Walk), is a respectable introduction to their music ministry.

The quartet consists of Bishop Thurman Hargrove, Bishop James Coleman, Bishop Alvin Palmer (manager), and Elder Robert Brice. Songs such as the title track, with its admonition that you can’t walk to Heaven (ed note: it's hard enough to run a marathon, for heaven's sake), benefit from the quartet community’s longstanding and effective tradition of employing themes and lyrics that sound lifted right from the Sunday sermon.

The tightest, richest harmonies on the CD can be found on “Lord, You’ve Been There” because they are anchored by a bass vocal line, something surprisingly hard to find in gospel quartet nowadays.

In addition to the title track, another solid selection is the down-tempo “Let the Lower Lights Be Burning.” Also known as “Brightly Beams,” the performance features an impassioned lead vocal. The quartet also contributes a soulful version of the spiritual “Steal Away.”

“If the Lord Needs Somebody” is the album’s drive song, complete with a vamp that could have gone on longer. In fact, the album would have been even stronger had that track been extended, replacing the follow-up, an instrumental reprise of “He’s Still On the Throne.” Despite the fact that the musicians are excellent and the emphasis on organ over synth is particularly appealing, another few minutes of quartet vocals would have been more satisfying.

The bishops can sing, sure enough, and Heaven Is Too Far (For You to Walk) is the finest Sharper Brothers Records project I’ve heard.

Four of Five Stars

Picks: “Heaven Is Too Far (For You to Walk),” “Let the Lower Lights Be Burning.”

William McDowell - Arise: The Live Worship Experience

William McDowell
Arise: The Live Worship Experience
Light Records/eOne Entertainment (2011)
www.williammcdowellmusic.com

By Bob Marovich for The Black Gospel Blog.

From musician and studio "steward" to worship leader, accidental Internet sensation and Billboard charting artist, to performer on the stage of the Stellars, the last several years have been an amazing ride for William McDowell. But as Martha Munizzi told TBGB, it’s time the rest of the world knew about McDowell.

Light Records has done its part to make that happen. Recorded in December 2010 at Christian Life Center in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, McDowell’s two-CD Arise: The Live Worship Experience is exactly as billed. It is a two-hour worship experience, a continuous praise jam session that builds in intensity on Disc One and incrementally drops the blood pressure throughout Disc 2.

McDowell works squarely within the P&W subgenre, best known for songs with uncomplicated major key melodies, gentle arrangements, and the capacity to be extended for so long that even legendary jam groups such as the Grateful Dead and Phish would pause in admiration. Still, some of McDowell’s pieces possess melodies somewhat outside of traditional P&W fare. His talent for songwriting is particularly evident on “All I Want is You,” which is a better and potentially longer-lasting composition than the gentle and hypnotic Internet sensation, “I Give Myself Away,” reprised here in a medley with “Yes.”

Perhaps the most distinctive part of Arise is its opening, which eschews the typical bouncy praise song for a dramatic narration of the world’s major problems, including illiteracy, poverty, hunger and the impact of natural disasters. The notion of praying for the world, not one’s self, is reinforced later in the project. By concluding the experience with “I Won’t Go Back,” McDowell recapitulates the CD set’s overarching theme of belief in God's ability to solve even the largest problems.

The guest vocalists pay tribute to the multiculturalism of P&W music. Sisters Martha Munizzi and Mary Alessi, Josh Dufrene, and David and Nicole Binion all make appearances. McDowell sings one of Munizzi’s songs, “Wait,” which features a lovely vocal lead by Stacey Joseph, a solo artist in her own right.

The musicians on Arise are top-notch and the backing vocalists are so tight and professional as a chorus they could make money singing television commercials and jingles.

Down the road, historians may argue whether Texas (Houghton, Binion, Dufrene) or Florida (Munizzi, Alessi, McDowell) is the Praise & Worship capitol. Regardless, William McDowell gathered the team together in sunny Fort Lauderdale for two hours of no-nonsense worship, and the result is available to everyone.

Four of Five Stars

Picks: “All I Want is You,” "I Give Myself Away," “Wait.”

"Christmas in July" - Timothy

“Christmas in July”
Timothy
LionHearted Productions (2011)
Available on iTunes, Tunecore

“Whatever happened to the War on Poverty?”

It’s the question that not only concludes Timothy Amukele’s “Christmas in July” but hovers over it like the voice of conscience, encouraging us to examine our own inner voices.

With post-graduate lyrics that evoke Sting’s notebook and an easy-going but insistent melody and arrangement, “Christmas in July” encourages us to open our hearts and lend a helping hand to the homeless. And not just at Christmas time but throughout the year. July or January, it doesn’t matter to Timothy: “give what God commands.”

New Canton Jones Video: "Hallelujah"

Power-packed video featuring gospel hip hop stars Canton Jones, Deitrick Haddon, DBP, and Mr. Del.