The Lord Made a Way...for the Dixie Hummingbirds

David April, host of "The Gospel Train" radio program, reports:

"Governor Ed Rendell dedicated several blocks of Poplar Street near the
old Met Theater in Philadelphia as Dixie Hummingbirds Way. The ceremony was followed by a cd release party for The Dixie Hummingbirds: Still
Keepin' It Real/The Last Man Standing."


(Photo: James Davis, Founder of the Dixie Hummingbirds in 1927, with guitarist Mr. Howard Carroll and Rev. Joe Williams at the ceremony)

"The Gospel Train" can be heard 9-10 pm EST Tuesdays on www.wrdv.org

TBGB Pick of the Week: September 25, 2006

“Can’t Forget”
DeNetria Champ
JDI Records 2006
www.jdirecords.com

It’s hard to forget DeNetria Champ: she sings as effortlessly as she breathes. Her lyrical rhythm turns a song into a musical conversation, and her sound is a clone of Aretha Franklin’s. Both singers seem to have been born without a natural voice break, which allows them to run up and down the scale with playful confidence. Add DeNetria’s youthful energy to the mix and…well, you get my point.

DeNetria’s latest radio single, “Can’t Forget,” pairs her vocal prowess with a heavy beat that is instantly likeable and far more infectious than the songs on today’s Billboard Top Ten. “Can’t Forget” promises to be another hot hit in the urban market for gospel’s latest and most talented sensation.

CD Review: Carl Lavon Bell – He’ll Take the Pain Away

He’ll Take the Pain Away
Carl Lavon Bell
Cedar Hill 2006
www.eddiecrook.com

Hailed as the “Nat King Cole” of gospel music, Carl Lavon Bell definitely sounds more comfortable singing sacred than Nat did when he performed with the First Church of Deliverance choir back in the day.

The original gospel ballads on Bell’s five-track CD – specifically the title track and “I Won’t Complain” – outperform the traditional material, though Bell does a nice job reprising Mahalia Jackson’s spirited arrangement of “Come On Children Let’s Sing.”

He’ll Take the Pain Away, featuring Carl Bell’s pleasant baritone, will appeal to fans of Nat Cole and those who seek an easier sacred sound.

CD Review: Evening Light Brothers – Jesus I'll Never Forget

Jesus I'll Never Forget
Evening Light Brothers
Church of God
2006

Frequent live, in-studio performers on WLUW’s “Gospel Memories” radio program, the Evening Light Brothers a cappella quartet now have a CD available that captures their superb renditions of classic recordings from gospel’s Golden Age.

All members of the Church of God at 46th and Drexel in Chicago – an area that once provided quarter to the pioneer gospel song publishing firms and still does to the iconic First Church of Deliverance – the Evening Light Brothers seem to have studied the songbooks of classic quartets such as the Soul Stirrers, Pilgrim Travelers, Fairfield Four, and the Skylarks. Gospel music collector and church member Jason Rosenberg has played no small role in developing the quartet's rich repertory. The ELB offer up smooth, close-knit gospel harmonies with confident leads as proof of their scholarship.

Standout performances on Jesus I’ll Never Forget include the title track, based on Sam Cooke’s 1954 gospel hit with the Soul Stirrers; “Let's Go Back to God,” another 1950’s-era Stirrers hit for Specialty Records; and the sacred chestnut “I’ll Fly Away,” featuring a lovely high tenor lead vocal.

Listening to the Evening Light Brothers recalls a time when one could turn on a transistor radio Sunday morning and hear one a cappella quartet after another crooning and shouting spiritual and gospel songs in fifteen minute increments.

For more information, you can contact the Church of God at 773-548-7133, or write to:
Church of God
c/o Tape Ministry
4601 S. Drexel Blvd.
Chicago 60653

TBGB Pick of the Week: September 11, 2006

“Tell Somebody”
The Texas Boyz
From the Blackberry album Never Left Me Alone
Blackberry 2006

The Texas Boyz started singing three decades ago, first as the Gospel Five, then as The Mighty Supreme Voices of Dallas, Texas. It was as the latter that the quartet hit the big time, earning recording contracts with Savoy, GosPearl, and J&B Records, and filling auditorium after auditorium.

The quartet – recently lauded at the Gospel Music Workshop of America – has stayed true to its roots while sounding fresh enough to please a new generation of gospel fans. “Tell Somebody” blends both the old and the new with ease. The song’s buoyant rhythm – really a strut – underpins the quartet’s ebullient call and response on “how good God is.”

Most distinctive is the lead singer’s testimony on the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, turned into a metaphor of salvation that sounds as if it came out of the King James Bible: “Look at Katrina/Swept a whole town away/Several lives were lost/But the best part about it/Somebody was saved.”

Numero Group's Gospel Funk Compilation Reviewed by Peter Margasak

Click below for Peter Margasak's superb review of a compilation produced by "Gospel Memories" contributor Rob Sevier and Numero Group: Good God! A Gospel Funk Hymnal.

The CD brings together a sampling of long-forgotten but still compelling and vibrant gospel cuts from indie label 45 rpm singles that have never been reissued on CD, and if it weren't for Numero Group, might never have reached a larger audience. Thank God for Good God!

Gospel Funk

Essential Gospel – Classic Recordings: No. 139

“Packin’ Up”
Ward Singers
Savoy 4080
1956
[also on Savoy LPs MG14020 and DBL7015]

Quintessential Ward Singers, with the classic lineup of Gertrude Ward, Clara Ward, Willa Ward Moultrie, Marion Williams, Frances Steadman, and Kitty Parham. Williams takes center stage on this track, lofting her signature high whoos up and over the ladies’ energetic, tight harmonies. The highlight is the chorus, during which the Wards sing a quick-tempo, heart-pounding counterpoint to Williams’s soaring notes while a steel guitar delivers a hit-and-run riff. The heavenly combination is enough to scare the devil out of his red smoking jacket.