TBGB Pick of the Week: August 27, 2007

“Listen”
Trin-i-tee 5:7
From the CD T57, released September 18, 2007
Spirit Rising Music 2007
http://www.trin-i-tee57.com/

“Listen Here!”

If Trin-i-tee 5:7’s opening exhortation doesn’t hook you, the bumping and weaving uber-cool beat – best described as bachelor pad gets hip-hop makeover – will most certainly do the trick.

The popular and glamourous female gospel group (Chanelle Haynes, Angel Taylor and Adrian Anderson) puts their message over in a holy combination of electronic extravagance and lyrical simplicity that is poised to become one of the year’s top twenty gospel hits.

CD Single Review.... Zie'l

"Open Your Mouth (Give Him a Shout)"
Zie'l
from Genesis LIVE!
Light/Gospel Warehouse 2007

www.light-street.com

THIS is the single from Zie'l I've been waiting for!

The female group does just what the title says, winding their modern harmonies around a good, solid church song with a relentless backbeat underscored by hand-clapping.

The single was recorded in April, 2007 before a live audience at the Church of the Redeemed of Our Lord in Baltimore.

Blending traditional sounds with jazzy harmonies is what Zie'l does best. It puts them right up there with RiZen as heirs apparent to the Clark Sisters. In truth, Zie'l's live version of Twinkie Clark's "Is My Living in Vain," also on Genesis LIVE!, telegraphs their debt of gratitude to the Clark Sisters for the latter's influence on their style.

CD Single Review: Darius Twyman

“Holy”
Darius Twyman

from his forthcoming project With Just One Word
Character Music 2007
www.myspace.com/DariusTwymanMusic

Growing up Catholic, I used to hate “Holy Holy Holy” because it was sung like a funeral dirge, not at all like the pop music I enjoyed on 1970s radio. Thanks to the gospel community embracing this hymn, we can now experience all of the composition's possibilities, from its capacity to be rendered by beautiful, multi-layered harmonies to its inner bounce just waiting to leap out, the latter demonstrated by Detroit mainstay Darius Twyman.

Twyman, whose gospel career began with Donald Vails and the Voices of Deliverance, and who brought us “Darius Twyman and Destiny,” gives the ol' song's traditional lyrics an energetic, frothy melody and beat, and an exciting vocal arrangement. I like it a whole lot better Darius’ way, and so will you.

TBGB Pick of the Week: August 21, 2007

“I Can Go to God in Prayer”
Ami Rushes
From the forthcoming album Lifting (ARM 1004)
http://www.amirushes.com/

For her first CD Covering, Southern California Community Choir alumna Ami Rushes secured the production skills of Kurt Carr, dug into her file of traditional gospel favorites, and literally “covered” them. She continues to bring classic back on her new Kurt-Carr produced project, Lifting, and hits pay dirt with Albertina Walker’s 1981 hit “I Can Go to God In Prayer.”

Rushes dedicates her version of the song to the Queen of Gospel, and does it “Chicago style” (i.e., all stops pulled out). The result is true to the original: it’s a jubilant “having church” song with the smart timing of a Broadway showstopper. This is Rushes’ finest work to date.

Traces: a Refreshing Surprise at GMWA

Traces, a female gospel group from the Big Apple, took to the stage during the "Tribute to the King" program at the Gospel Music Workshop of America in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, on Wednesday afternoon, August 15.

In an era where the instrumental accompaniment of gospel music has been moved from the background to the foreground, it was refreshing to hear some good old a cappella singing for a change.

The group's harmonies on "Trouble in My Way" can best be described by their promotional materials: "the amazing Clark sisters meets the jazz harmonies of Take 6." Instead of complicating their performance, Traces' harmonies augmented it, like a Louis Armstrong cornet solo embellished, rather than worried, a jazz song.

While the beauty and intricacy of their harmonies were a pleasant surprise for me, they shouldn't have been: turns out the group is regional champions of the Acapella Harmony sweepstakes in New York City and Boston.

Traces' eponymously titled CD -- with a cover design similar to Take 6's early project -- can be found at CD Baby: http://cdbaby.com/cd/traces.

Cleveland Singers, Caravans Thrill at GMWA in Orlando, FL

Members of two generations of Cleveland Singers reunited in song at the Gospel Music Workshop of America's "Tribute to the King" program on Wednesday afternoon, August 15, 2007. The alumni who participated in the reunion were Eugene Bryant, Cleo Kennedy, Henry Jackson, Calvin Bernard Rhone, Gene Viale, Rodney-Wayne Finney, and Wayne Anthony, with Kurt Carr on keyboards and Bruce Carter on bass.

The Cleveland Singers sounded and looked as good as ever, performing King James classics "Lord, Do It" and his reworking of the Gladys Knight hit, "Jesus is the Best Thing that Ever Happened to Me."

After the group's performance, gospel superstar Kirk Franklin asked Cleo to perform a solo, saying how he knew her music from recordings but never had the chance to hear her perform live. Cleo consented gladly, hitting several of her trademark high notes as she sang for Franklin and the audience of conventioneers and locals.

The "Tribute to the King" program, celebrating the life of James Cleveland, was held in the Coronado Springs Resort Grand Ballroom at Walt Disney World, Lake Buena Vista, Florida. The four-hour program also included the Caravans, who performed their "Oh Mary Don't You Weep." Longtime Caravan member Inez Andrews (below) took the lead on the song, which is as much her signature as is "Lord, Don't Move the Mountain."

This year's GMWA convention marked the organization's 40th anniversary. James Cleveland, along with a host of gospel music industry executives and musicians, formed the GMWA in 1967 in Detroit to promote, professionalize, and perpetuate gospel music. The 2008 convention will be held in Nashville, Tennessee.

TBGB Reviews...The Willie Harris Gospel Singers

Got a Healing
The Willie Harris Gospel Singers
Ophir 2007

Listening to Got a Healing by the Willie Harris Gospel Singers is an aural trip back to the 1970s and 1980s. It is reminiscent of the bass guitar-heavy male quartet recordings released by local groups on southern labels such as Hoyt Sullivan’s Su-Ann and HSE, Don Logan’s Memorial, and Stan Lewis’ Jewel and Lewis.

Soulful and bluesy, laced with mother wit, the songs on Got a Healing cover an array of topics, such as religion as an antidote to substance abuse and addiction, and the eternal woes of backsliding. The quartet's songs about dealing with the tribulations of life are a welcome respite from the plethora of praise songs filling the gospel chart these days.

“Jesus Said It” is a reworking of the Shirelles’ “Mama Said,” as in “Jesus said there’d be days like this.” “No Day,” featuring an effective preaching delivery by Rev. Willie Harris, is the radio-friendly track, while the uptempo “I Still Remember,” with superb guitar and drum work by John Harper and Vincent L. Chappelle Sr. respectively, is the audience pleaser.

The brief and frequent interludes of “I Still Remember” that pepper the project are distracting and completely unnecessary, but otherwise this is a spiritually entertaining project.

Two and a Half of Four Stars

2007 Inductees to the International Gospel Music Hall of Fame

Evelyn Turentine-Agee, The Christianaires, Marie Knight, Bishop Kenneth Moales, Bishop G.E. Patterson, Norma Jean Pender, Ernestine Rundless & The Meditation Singers and The Staples Singers are this year's inductees to the International Gospel Music Hall of Fame and Museum.

The 2007 inductees, nominated from around the world and selected by the IGMHFM board, were announced by founder David Gough. This year marks the eleventh anniversary of the International Gospel Music Hall of Fame and Museum Induction Celebration and Fund Raiser.

This year's induction and awards celebration will be held at the Max M. Fisher Music Center on Saturday, October 27. The program will be preceded by a Red Carpet Extravaganza with live entertainment and photo opportunities with gospel greats.

"For over a decade, we have successfully achieved our goal - the furtherance of gospel music worldwide", said Gough. "The awards event is our annual fund raising centerpiece, but our work to celebrate the contributions of influential individuals and groups, and to increase awareness of gospel music, takes place year-round."

Nominees to the International Gospel Music Hall of Fame and Museum must have been involved in gospel music activities for at least 25 years. Individuals, groups, choirs, quartets, broadcast personalities and promoters are among past years' inductees. Among the previous inductees are Aretha Franklin, The Mighty Clouds of Joy, Dr. Bobby Jones, Della Reese, CeCe Winans, The Fairfield Four, Shirley Caesar, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Luther Barnes & The Sunset Jubilaires and Dr. Myles Munroe.

For more information or tickets for the Eleventh Annual Induction and Awards Celebration tickets, contact the International Gospel Music Hall of Fame and Museum at 313/592-0017 or via the Museum website at www.igmhf.org.

TBGB Reviews...Joann Rosario

Joyous Salvation
Joann Rosario
Verity Records 2007
www.myspace.com/joannrosario

In early 2003, the lovely, petite Joann Rosario was hit with the granddaddy of all ailments for a vocalist: nodules on her vocal cords. Such things are so serious they are spoken of in only the most respectful and hushed of tones in music departments coast to coast. But Joann has made a remarkable recovery, because on her latest project, Joyous Salvation, her voice is flawless: lithe, soulful, and her delivery dramatic and controlled, with no indication whatsoever of career-threatening nodes.

Props go out also to the powerful band backing the Chicago-based artist. Their high-energy performance shines particularly brightly on the early tracks, notably the power anthem “Restore to Me,” and the infectious “Glory to You.” Having a 93 octane producing team that includes “Jazzy” Jordan and Fred Hammond doesn’t hurt either.

Other highlights on Joyous Salvation are the hypnotically beautiful “Holy God,” which demonstrates Joann’s ability to appeal to gospel and CCM fans alike; and “You Are Holy,” which showcases her more dramatic side. But “Beyond” is the real standout on this project. Its lovely, delicate melody and inspirational lyrics make it a prime candidate for crossover onto the adult contemporary charts and covers by artists in the secular and sacred arenas. “Beyond” is quite simply one of the best songs of 2007 thus far.

Those of you who read my blog regularly know I don't give out many four star rankings, not because I don't think there are great projects out there (there are), but because I save them for superior projects like this one, which deserves every star.

Four of Four Stars