"Gospel Memories" Now Weekly Show; Final Monthly Broadcast May 3

On the eve of its eighth anniversary on the air, “Gospel Memories” goes from a monthly to a weekly program!

Starting May 2, you will be able to hear "Gospel Memories" live on 88.7 WLUW Chicago every Saturday morning from 10 to 11 a.m.

Not in Chicago? No problem. Go to http://www.wluw.org/, click the Listen Live button, and enjoy “Gospel Memories” from wherever you may be!

The final Sunday morning “Gospel Memories” live broadcast will be May 3, from 3:00 to 7:30 a.m. Central Time.

Highlights of the May 3 Broadcast:

In Loving Memory: Rev. Timothy Wright.

Known as “The Godfather of Gospel,” Rev. Wright found his life suddenly and tragically changed last July when an automobile he and his wife and grandson were in was hit by an oncoming car. Wright's wife and grandson were killed by the crash and he struggled with his injuries for months until he could struggle no longer. He passed away on April 23 and is now reunited with his family in the land beyond the Jordan River, where we never grow old.

We’ll remember Rev. Wright's life and music by playing some of his earliest recordings for the Glori label and a couple recent tracks on Savoy and AIR, as well.

Preacher Feature: “Prayer” – Rev. James Cleveland (1978)

Vintage recordings by classic artists, such as:

Violinaires
Fairfield Four
Gospelaires of Dayton, OH
Clefs of Joy
Voices of Tabernacle
Roberta Martin Singers (rarely heard alt. of “Jesus”)
Redemption Singers
Madame Ernestine Martin
Smith Jubilee Singers
Inez Andrews
Duncanaires
Antioch B.C. Choir, feat. organist Dr. Charles Clency (1963)

…and much more!

Saturday's broadcast will feature a "taste of Sunday," with musical remembrances of Rev. Timothy Wright and a sampling of other artists mentioned above.

So tune in and turn on to “Gospel Memories”…the home of the pioneers and legends of gospel music. Once monthly, now weekly!

Various Artists - Oh Happy Day: All-Star Music Celebration

Various Artists
Oh Happy Day: All-Star Music Celebration
EMI Gospel/Vector Recordings 2009
www.emigospel.com

In the spirit of T Bone Burnett’s Grammy-winning coupling of bluegrass queen Alison Krauss and rock icon Robert Plant (Raising Sand), a cadre of producers pair rock and pop artists with gospel singers on Oh Happy Day: All-Star Music Celebration. The result? Combinations that are at once improbable and divinely inspired.

The seamlessness of each performance may be due to the top-quality of the artists, the know-how of the producers, the fact that gospel music is the underpinning of most American pop music, or all three. Regardless, this project is simply electrifying. Each track is distinctive, yet each seems drawn from the part of the soul that is beyond human understanding.

Standout performances on the collection include Jonny Lang channeling the guitar wizardry of Elder Utah Smith on John P. Kee’s “I Believe,” as the Fisk Jubilee Singers let their hair down and back him with an uncommon funkiness. The Clark Sisters seem born to sing Stevie Wonder’s “Higher Ground,” on which they share studio time with petal steel guitar legend Robert Randolph. Mavis Staples and Patty Griffin win the award for the collection’s rootsiest duet on the Consolers’ “Waiting for My Child to Come Home,” although Joss Stone and Buick Audra’s harmonica-dominated informal jam session on “This Little Light of Mine” comes in a close second.

Al Green and Heather Headley render a fine duet on Curtis Mayfield’s “People Get Ready.” Why more radio stations aren't playing Heather's music, be they gospel or adult contemporary stations, “makes me wanna holler, throw up both my hands.”

The title track is an old evangelistic hymn made famous when Edwin Hawkins and the Northern California State Youth Choir gave it a west coast easy feeling. Here the song is led by Queen Latifah, who can do just about anything, with Rev. Stefanie Minatee and Jubilation as the choir. Rev. Minatee is kin with the late Rev. Lawrence Roberts (Angelic Choir), so she knows a thing or two about choral singing. It shows, too, as Jubilation offers a bright but brassy backdrop to Latifah’s gospel vocals, which sound as natural as breathing.

Arguably the strongest performance on the album is Jon Bon Jovi and the Washington Youth Choir doing “Keep the Faith.” The handclapping, Holiness-inspired arrangement demonstrates just how deep the sacred has permeated secular music.

What’s especially pleasing about Oh Happy Day: All-Star Music Celebration is that the gospel component is not treated as exotic or otherworldly but is afforded the same musical respect as the rock artists. Hallelujah!

Five of Five Stars

TBGB Pick of the Week: April 27, 2009

“Mr. President”
Janelle Monae
From the album Metropolis (Bad Boy Records/Wondaland 2008)
www.jmonae.com

Although this song was not meant for the gospel market, its message is not out of place for an urban inspiration station that takes chances.

From her science fiction concept album Metropolis, which she produced with Sean “P Diddy” Combs and the Wolfmasters, GRAMMY-nominated neo-soul singer Janelle Monae delivers an impassioned plea to the President to make things right. Prince-inspired guitars swirl around Janelle as she sings, “A book is worth more than a bomb any day.” Her references to the president as “Father” give the song a sacred touch.

In the context of the album’s theme – Janelle is a fugitive android named Cindi Mayweather seeking a better life in the midst of a futuristic Sodom and Gomorrah – the song may not seem especially religious, but its message of equality and peace spans timeframes and genres. In other words, don’t think of spaceships and androids and instead hear it as a call to governments everywhere to improve education and cease hunger, poverty, illness, and build a better world. What can be more inspirational than that?

My Journey - Conrad Miller

My Journey
Conrad Miller
Millcon Music Ministries 2009
http://www.millconmusic.com/

Back in the day, Conrad Miller was a card-carrying member of the Soulful Seven, a nationally-known group whose cover of the Swingin’ Medallions’ “Double Shot of My Baby’s Love" (MGM) is a northern soul collectors item. Miller also wrote the passionate “Carla My Love” for the Softones, a sweet soul group from the Seventies with a sound similar to the Stylistics and Manhattans.

Although Miller grew up singing in his church choir and is now vice chairman of the Deacon Board at Second Baptist Church in Doylestown, PA, until recently he hadn’t stepped out as a gospel artist. After the untimely death of his daughter Lauren a day after her sixteenth birthday, the singer/songwriter decided life was too short to put off his official entry into the sacred music industry any longer. My Journey, produced and arranged by GRAMMY, Stellar and Dove Award-winner Steven Ford, is the product of that decision.

The lyrics may be grounded in personal faith, but the songs on My Journey sound as if they were pulled off old vinyl records. Miller has maintained his charming, pleasant tenor voice, and delivers his songs in a polite, reverent manner. Expert backing comes from strong, tight male groups (variously the "Back Bench Boys" and a quartet that includes Steven Ford) that give the album a quartet sensibility.

The eleven songs are amalgams of traditional gospel and sweet soul, with Biblical references peppered throughout the lyrics. Thematically, Miller sings of redemption from worldly appetites, the pleasures of salvation and the service and thanksgiving that follow. For example, on “Blessed by the Best,” a no-nonsense angel throws Miller down to get across his point. Many tracks employ the three-and-a-half minute soap opera technique that was compulsory for pop song architects during the transistor radio era, though on My Journey, Miller stretches some to five and six minutes.

While “Amazing” is the catchiest tune on a CD bulging with bubbly, bouncy songs, “Paradise” is the surefire winner. It's a deep northern soul ballad, complete with staccato guitar licks, that sets its sight heavenward. The quartet on the all-too-brief “Movin’ On Up” tosses in tight falsetto harmonies that recall the Esquires’ “Get On Up.” On the concluding song, “From Here to Eternity,” Miller interpolates lines from the quartet chestnut, “Where He Leads Me.”

Fans of classic soul and gospel quartet especially will appreciate Conrad Miller’s My Journey.

Three of Five Stars

Congratulations 40th CMA Dove Awardees!

Congratulations to the following gospel artists on their recognition at the 40th GMA Dove Awards, held Thursday, April 23 in Nashville:

Urban Recorded Song of the Year: “Get Up” – Mary Mary (right)

Urban Album of the Year: The Fight of My Life – Kirk Franklin

Traditional Gospel Album of the Year: Down in New Orleans – The Blind Boys of Alabama

Contemporary Gospel Album of the Year: Change the World – Martha Munizzi

Choral Collection of the Year: I’ll Say Yes – Carol Cymbala & Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir

Rev. Timothy Wright Homegoing Details

From Black Gospel Promo:

The Rev. Timothy Wright, Has Made Heaven His Final Resting

By Sheilah Belle

Brooklyn, NY -- Rev. Timothy Wright, known as the “godfather of gospel” has made Heaven his final resting place. He passed over into his peaceful resting place, early Friday morning, April 24th, 2009. Bishop Albert Jamison told us here at The Belle Report, “I got the call around 12:45am, shortly after the baseball game went off.”

Bishop Jamison has been extremely helpful with Rev. Wright’s family during this transition as he has also been keeping us well informed here. To that end, Bishop Jamison has released the following information:

Public viewing for Rev. Timothy Wright
Grace Tabernacle Church of God in Christ
Crown Heights, Brooklyn, New York
Saturday, May 2nd , 12noon to 8p.m.

Sunday, May 3rd, 1:p.m. to 5p.m.
A Nightly Musical Tribute to Rev. Timothy Wright

Sunday, May 3rd @ 7p.m.
Pleasant Grove Tabernacle
Fulton & Howard Avenue, Brooklyn, NY
Bishop Albert Jamison, pastor

Home going Service for Rev. Timothy Wright
Monday, May 4th @ 10am
Pilgrim Cathedral
Broadway & Gates Avenue
Brooklyn, NY, 11221
Bishop Roy E. Brown, pastor

More details, still to come, but may we keep the entire Wright family and friends of the family in prayer.

Rev. Timothy Wright Dead at 61

Extremely sad news from the Associated Press Wire Service:

Grammy-nominated gospel singer Reverend Timothy Wright died April 23 at the age of 61, months after a tragic July 4 car crash that left him critically injured and also killed his wife and grandson.

Wright was the pastor at Grace Tabernacle Christian Center Church of God in Christ, located in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn. He released more than a dozen gospel recordings, writing many of the songs. His latest album, "Jesus, Jesus, Jesus," came out in 2007.

In 1994, his record "Come Thou Almighty King," with the New York Fellowship Mass Choir, made the Billboard Top 20 charts for gospel albums and was nominated for a Grammy for best traditional soul gospel album.

He got another nomination in that category in 1999 for "Been There Done That," recorded with the B/J Mass Choir and featuring Myrna Summers.

"Jesus, Jesus, Jesus" features the New York Fellowship Mass Choir. The title track, written by Wright and his wife and recorded live at a Church of God in Christ convocation, expresses the plight of a woman displaced during Hurricane Katrina: She encourages herself and others by calling the name of Jesus. Among the other songs on the album was "You Must Come In At the Door."

According to the book "Uncloudy Days: The Gospel Encyclopedia," by Bil Carpenter, the Brooklyn-born Wright began playing piano for his local church at age 12 and also began composing at a young age.

By his early 20s, he was music director at Brooklyn's Washington Temple Church of God in Christ.

He began writing songs for such fellow musicians as Mattie Moss Clark and the Rev. Isaac Douglas, according to Carpenter's book, and in 1976 formed the Timothy Wright Concert Choir. Among the choir's albums were "Who's on the Lord's Side?" and "Do You Know the Light?"

Wright was critically injured July 4 in a three-vehicle crash on Interstate 80 near Loganton, Pa. Another car was going the wrong way when it struck Wright's car. His wife, Betty Wright, 58, was killed in the crash, and their 14-year-old grandson, D.J. Wright, died later at a hospital.

The driver of the wrong-way car, John Pick, also was killed, while a passenger in a third car was injured.

The Wrights were returning from a Church of God in Christ conference in Detroit, said Leroy Johnson, a trustee at Grace Tabernacle.

"Beautiful" - The Nevels Sisters

"Beautiful”
The Nevels Sisters
From the CD Beautiful (MoLife Entertainment 2008)
www.molifeent.com

Contemporary gospel singers The Nevels Sisters of Youngstown, Ohio are not compared to their Detroit inspirations, the Clark Sisters, for nothing. Veniece Andrews, Debra Jordan, Gail Nevels and April Wade have a style and tightness of harmony that only sisters can pull off with aplomb. They also have plenty of experience, singing together since children and releasing their first album back in 1984.

“Beautiful,” from the Nevels Sisters’ new CD of the same name (released last November), is God’s tender affirmation to his female creation. It’s a call to recognize one’s inner beauty and in doing so, to forsake behaviors like prostitution and addition that threaten to poison the mind and the body. The authentic string section adds lushness to an already rich RnB-flavored melody and strong beat.

Check out the single’s companion video. The Christian mime, acting out the lyrics as conscience personified, steals the show!

Poetic Empowerment - Grace LaJoy

Poetic Empowerment
Grace LaJoy
IGL Publishing 2008
www.gracelajoy.com

Earlier TBGB reviewed Songs by Grace LaJoy, entrepreneur Dr. Grace LaJoy Henderson’s musical collaboration with gospel artist Zenobia Smith. Poetic Empowerment is LaJoy’s contribution to the spoken word category.

Just as Songs gave listeners a sampling of LaJoy’s songwriting, the fifteen passages on Poetic Empowerment give the listener a sampling of the good doctor’s poetry. Each passage is supported by a light, ambient jazz soundtrack led by piano, guitar or electronic keyboard. Each is crafted to fit the mood of the individual poetic work.

Topics LaJoy explores on Poetic Empowerment vary from the challenges of good parenting to finding lasting love partnerships to temptation and its fallout. All of LaJoy’s musings, calmly and gently recited by the author herself, are clothed in solutions based firmly on unwavering faith and old-fashioned common sense. Her poetic cadence and rhymes are as uncomplicated as a greeting card – you won’t have to listen twice to determine the meaning – and meant to guide daily living.

LaJoy injects tongue-in-cheek humor on “Don’t Leave Your Spouse for Me,” a passage that warns frustrated lovers/spouses that not only is the grass not greener on the other side, it is also pretty much the same grass. The poet's deepest foray into philosophy is “Anxiety vs. Humility,” a lesson destined for posting on the office cubicle.

For those who want to explore LaJoy’s work further, some (possibly all) of the poems on the CD come from her books, including He’s Worth It, The Bad Butt Kids and More Than Mere Words: Poetry That Ministers!.

Two of Five Stars

Morton, Porter, Caesar - 40th Dove Awards Nominees

From Kia Jarmon of Light Records:

Bishop Paul S. Morton, Paul Porter, and Pastor Shirley Caesar Receive Nods for 40th Dove Music Awards

Nashville, TN--Light Records is pleased to congratulate Bishop Paul S. Morton, Paul Porter, and Pastor Shirley Caesar as they received Dove Award nominations for Traditional Gospel Recorded Song and Traditional Gospel Album, which will be announced at the 40th Dove Awards on Thursday April 23, 2009 at the Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville, TN and will broadcast live nationwide via Gospel Music Channel from 8 – 10 p.m. (ET/PT).

Paul Porter (of the Christianaires), Pastor Shirley Caesar, and Bishop Paul S. Morton received nods for Traditional Gospel Album, while Bishop Morton also carries a nomination for Traditional Gospel Recorded Song.

Fifty Years - It's Been Worth It All - Dorothy Norwood

Dorothy Norwood
Fifty Years – It’s Been Worth It All
Malaco 2009
www.malaco.com

When I first met the “Gospel Storyteller,” Dorothy Norwood, in the early 1990s, I was unnerved to come face to face with a diminutive, smiling, pleasant woman. She seemed more like a sweet auntie than what I expected a church-wrecking singer who could bulldoze her way through a hymn until the notes begged for mercy to look like.

Nearly two decades later, Norwood looks and sounds just as good and strong as she did back then. As a tribute to a half-century as a gospel soloist, the former Caravan delivers a series of traditional gems on Fifty Years – It’s Been Worth It All. The original versions of some tracks, such as “Denied Mother,” defined her style and placed her on the express lane to stardom.

Mother, in fact, is a very important theme on Norwood’s new retrospective. No less than four of the thirteen songs on the album deal with a praying, teaching, loving mother. This includes the aforementioned “Denied Mother” (on the CD, Norwood performs the story song for a live audience) and “Tribute to Mama,” which bestows ultimate honor to a mother who can teach her children right from wrong.

Another Norwood favorite featured here is the congregational classic “Victory is Mine,” which benefits from ample vocal backing by the exciting Ricky Dillard and New G.

To this day, Norwood still leaves scorch marks on my speaker cones as she rip-roars through songs such as “I Have a Friend” and the old favorite “My Rock.” From the opening rouser “I Thank You Lord” to her earth-shattering renditions of “Precious Lord” and “I Will Trust in the Lord” during the live version of “Denied Mother,” Norwood acknowledges that yes, it’s been fifty years…yes, it’s been worth it all… and yes, she can still out-shout the shouters and send sinners single-file to the mourning bench just like singers half her age. A superb outing from a master!

Five of Five Stars

TBGB Pick of the Week: April 20, 2009

“Spirit Fall Down”
Luther Barnes & the Red Budd Gospel Choir
From the AIR Gospel CD Somehow, Someway (2008)
www.malaco.com

If you ever wondered what a Sunset Jubilaires quartet song might sound like as a choir arrangement, chances are “Spirit Fall Down” will satisfy your curiosity. The song starts out like a quartet arrangement for choir, but halfway through, it becomes 100 percent mass choir.

Performed by the always-amazing Red Budd Gospel Choir of Rocky Mount, NC – a town the Barnes Family put on the map – “Spirit Fall Down” is intense, dramatic, full-bodied and expansive. A plaintive supplication for the Holy Ghost to come “right now” is common enough in gospel, but when the Red Budd Gospel Choir takes in a healthy breath and sings, “Fall down, fall down/Fall fresh on me,” the hairs on the back of your head stand on end.

NOTE: Luther Barnes is not present on the radio edit, only on the album track, but a captivating female vocalist does the honors on both and is delightful.

Phases - Sharon (Shalamusic 2009)

Sharon
Phases
Shalamusic 2009
www.myspace.com/shalamusic

Sharon Cotten (with an "e") has a voice that’s easy to fall in love with.

The New York-native’s sophomore project Phases teams her RnB- and pop-flavored vocals with a spirited menagerie of world sounds (Spanish guitar, Latin beat, Caribbean flavoring) on songs that range from energetic to heart-melting sweet.

The opening track is the saucy and engaging “Victory,” complete with Caribbean rhythm and Jamaican-accented rap, the latter courtesy of Horace Allen, Jr. “Let It Go” and “Gone” benefit from a Spanish guitar that on "Gone" sounds strangely like a sitar. Thus, "Gone” has a Middle Eastern vibe, whether intended or not.

On “Are U Ready,” Sharon delivers an apocalyptic warning with appropriate vocal aggressiveness while guitar riffs, like lions at the gate, snarl in the background. By “Be Like You,” however, Sharon is back in an easy-going Latin mood.

While Sharon gives a strong, sassy performance on “Victory,” it’s “Worship You” that ranks as the album’s showcase track. It is a beautiful praise and worship ballad on which Sharon sings charmingly with woodwind-like tenderness and passion.

Sharon is not afraid to take chances, and acknowledges that her music, beginning with her March 2003 debut CD Your Grace, is intended “to reach those who would not normally be receptive to the Christian ‘message.’”

Despite the mix of sounds and styles, the production team (Tarence Farrell, Hopeton Smith and Steve Ewaleifoh) gives the project an overall intimacy that keeps the vocals and lyrics in the foreground. No matter what the musical accompaniment, Sharon’s flute-like voice carries the day.

Four of Five Stars

"I Wanna Go" - Dorothy Norwood (Malaco 2009)

"I Wanna Go”
Dorothy Norwood
From the CD Fifty Years, It’s Been Worth It All (Malaco 2009)
www.malaco.com

Seeing Shirley Caesar’s 2008 bid and raising it by ten years, fellow Caravan Dorothy Norwood celebrates a half-century in gospel music for Malaco Records on Fifty Years, It’s Been Worth It All.

The second single from the album, “I Wanna Go,” is Norwood’s arrangement of Dr. C.J. Johnson’s congregational song, “I Want to Go Where Jesus Is.” It has a twangy, strutting, walk-the-aisle backbeat. Norwood demonstrates that fifty years or no, she can still sing and shout strong and traditional. Both she and Caesar sound and look great on their respective retrospectives, a testimony that singing gospel is good, body and soul.

It's Amazing - Stavanger Gospel Company

It’s Amazing
Stavanger Gospel Company
SGCompany Records 2008
www.sgcompany.no

It’s amazing, indeed…how you can hear gospel music just about everywhere on Earth, whether on CD, on the radio or the Internet, or, better yet, in live performance. In less than 90 years’ time, this folk-urban amalgam of African American sacred music has worked its way around the globe, captivating audiences and leaving fervent fans in its wake.

Norway certainly has its share of the good news music. The Oslo Gospel Choir and the Stavanger Gospel Company are two examples. The latter choir released its debut CD, It’s Amazing, last November.

It’s Amazing benefits from the all-in expertise of the Chicago-based gospel group Light of Love (Anita, Kimberly, LaDonna, Maurita and Robert Holmes). Light of Love produced the project with Aril Schold, founder and director of the Stavanger Gospel Company. You can read more about the partnership between the Chicago and Norway gospel artists in the TBGB article here.

Other talented Chicagoans involved with It’s Amazing include musicians Bryant Jones and Joey Woolfalk. Jones, whose parents are Fellowship alumni Rev. Billy Jones and Jeanette Robinson-Jones, wrote the bluesy “Thank You” and arranged “Revive Us,” a variation on “Revive Us Again” (folkies will know the tune from the Depression-era “Hallelujah, I’m a Bum”). Woolfalk is the go-to guy for guitar backup these days. He, too, has a strong gospel pedigree through his father, a veteran quartet singer.

The Stavanger Gospel Company has clearly done its homework on how to render contemporary gospel music, demonstrated by their energetic and enthusiastic performances, portly sound, rich harmonies and robust musicianship.

For example, “Rejoice” is a bright, charming, up-tempo piece that delivers a lovely melody with good old gospel muscle. “Thank You Lord” showcases the group at its most intense, with dueling leads by Gus Lacy, Odd Arne Berge and Christina Ims. As a radio edit, it would make a fine single. “Medley” features an enjoyable rhythmic succession of popular Old Landmark hymns and storefront-shaking congregational songs.

Good gospel choir singing, sure, but is there anything quintessentially Scandinavian about It’s Amazing? I’m no expert, but it seems that while the female vocalists sing with studied black gospel technique, they do so with a light and ringing purity of tone that can be commanding one moment and utterly delicious, like soft kisses on the ears, at another. The choir loves to sing gospel music, and it shows. Listen to Ingrid Kjosavik on the title track and “Rejoice,” and the duet between Aina Okland Schold and Kimberly Holmes on the high-energy “Good to Me” for aural examples.

The world needs to come together more often. The blissful partnership between Light of Love and Stavanger Gospel Company on It’s Amazing is how delightful coming together can sound.

Four of Five Stars

Songs by Grace LaJoy, Volume 1 (featuring Zenobia Smith)

Grace LaJoy (featuring Zenobia Smith)
Songs by Grace LaJoy, Volume 1
IGL Publishing 2009
www.gracelajoy.com

Poet, songwriter, businesswoman, youth leader, mother of two and author of twelve books who earned a Ph.D., hosts book publishing workshops and maintains a ministry, Dr. Grace LaJoy Henderson has a lot on her plate. She now has three CDs to her credit, as well.

One, Songs by Grace LaJoy, Volume 1, is exactly what the title indicates. In the time-honored gospel music tradition, a gospel singer -- Zenobia Smith -- demonstrates the songs for the songwriter. Smith has shared the stage with the ultimate gospel song demonstrator, Mahalia Jackson, and with other artists such as COGIC powerhouses Edwin Hawkins and Vanessa Bell Armstrong.

The seven songs included on Songs by Grace LaJoy, Volume 1 are simple-to-learn praise and worship melodies and lyrics that Smith delivers, or teaches, in a deliberately straightforward but lovely voice. Some of the selections are delicate and contemplative, drawing undoubtedly on the inspirational mood of LaJoy’s poetry. They seem ready-made for arranging for youth or teen choirs and groups.

Ultimately, Songs by Grace LaJoy, Volume 1 will most benefit young choristers and their directors and church musicians seeking new material.

You can hear Dr. LaJoy Henderson and Zenobia Smith in person on May 2, 2009 at Light of Love Christian Fellowship Church in Kansas City, MO, and on May 17, 2009 at the venerable Metropolitan Spiritual Church of Christ, also in KC. See her website for more details on these CD release musicals.

Incidentally, it was Metropolitan Spiritual’s original neon “Jesus is the Light of the World” that inspired Thomas A. Dorsey to compose a song of the same name. So that's a good place for a songwriter to hang out, wouldn't you say?

Two of Five Stars

Shirley Caesar Named Rock and Roll Hall of Fame “Rock My Soul” Honoree

From a Light Records Press Release:

Nashville, TN - It has long been noted that rock and roll has its roots in gospel music, so it was only fitting that the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame kicked off its 2009 Induction Week by honoring Pastor Shirley Caesar with the first annual “Rock My Soul” concert.

The award was presented to Shirley Caesar Sunday, March 29th in recognition of her contributions as “an artist who uplifts and enlightens many, using her gift of music and ministry.”

The sold-out "Rock My Soul" show at Cleveland Ohio’s Playhouse Square's Allen Theatre included performances by artists J. Moss and Richard Smallwood & Vision as well as tributes from city officials and artists who had gathered to celebrate Pastor Caesar and her over 40 year ministry. As the headliner, Shirley Caesar completed the evening of celebration with the kind of powerful gospel performance that has made her an icon.

Mayor Frank G. Jackson delivered a proclamation highlighting her contributions to gospel music and its affect on the rock and roll movement. The program progressed with tributes by local aggregations; “The Word” Church and the Antioch Baptist Church choir featuring Helen Turner-Thompson, along with other local performers Tyniece J. and Company, and Stormy Cleveland.

With more than 2,100 attendees on their feet for most of the evening, those less familiar with gospel music were drawn in by the praise and worship experience. When they thought it couldn’t get any better, gospel music mainstay Richard Smallwood took the stage and sang “Lord, you are the Source of my Strength.” J. Moss then followed with an acappella rendition of Caesar’s “No Charge." The soul-stirring song, originally recorded in 1983 by Caesar, continues to garner an uproaring of praise.

As Caesar was preparing to take the stage, greeted with a standing ovation, she exclaimed: “This is the day the Lord has made and I am going to rejoice.” Along with her coveted Caesar Singers she used the stage as a canvas to paint a praise-filled picture; dancing and singing many of her hit songs from the past 40 years.

The “Rock My Soul” tribute is a celebration of the roots of rock and roll music. “While this is the first year for this event, it is our hope that it will be an annual, community-wide celebration honoring rock and roll music’s gospel roots and incredible legacy of Cleveland churches,” shares Terry Stewart, President and CEO of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum.

About Shu-Bel/Light Records
Shu-Bel Records partners with the Light Records family that is based in Nashville, TN. Light Records serves as a full service independent music company and is committed to releasing and offering quality Gospel music. Light Records is home to a diverse group of gospel artists, including Shirley Caesar, Bishop Paul S. Morton, Youthful Praise and JJ Hairston, Coko, and Paul Porter. You can also visit www.lightrecords.com for more information.

About the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and Museum
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is the nonprofit organization that exists to educate visitors, fans and scholars from around the world about the history and continuing significance of rock and roll music. It carries out this mission both through its operation of a world-class museum that collects, preserves, exhibits and interprets this art form and through its library and archives as well as its educational programs.

Photo Credit: Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum

Mercy Mercy Mercy - Ben Tankard (Verity 2009)

Ben Tankard
Mercy Mercy Mercy
Verity Records 2009 (in stores April 28, 2009)
www.verityrecords.com

“Words put you on a thought path,” says inspirational instrumentalist Ben Tankard. His latest project, Mercy Mercy Mercy, demonstrates the verity of this (pun intended) by featuring several RnB songs with titles that, while secular in origin, take on a spiritual feeling in this context.

Opening with a keyboard-laden live version of Cannonball Adderley’s “Mercy Mercy Mercy” (also recorded by The Buckinghams), Tankard launches into an informal musical conversation with his audience, one reminiscent of Ramsey Lewis’ gleefully live club LPs from the early 1960s. With the exception of a quick reprise of the title track, however, the remainder of the CD is studio-based.

Other RnB songs Tankard covers on the project are Sade’s misty “No Ordinary Love” and the Emotions’ 1977 hit, “Best of My Love.” Interestingly, the Emotions’ Sheila and Wanda Hutchinson started out in gospel, as the “cute-as-a-button” Hutchinson Sunbeams, singing on live broadcasts from Al Abrams Pontiac on Chicago’s South Side.

A Tankard project wouldn’t be the same without at least one song led by a lovely female vocalist. On Mercy Mercy Mercy, that vocalist is Shelley Massey, who does such a marvelous job on the delicate “My Lips Shall Utter Praises” that it is the album’s first single.

The most musically captivating piece on the CD, and the most different, is the final track, “Love Notes from the Piano.” It is a brief but haunting, lonely piano solo that flirts with classical music, and convincingly, too.

Those of you who follow TBGB know that inspirational smooth jazz is an enigma to me, but you have to hand it to Ben Tankard, gospel music’s best-known minstrel. He has staying power and his music always goes down easy like sweet peppermint.

Three of Five Stars

"I Wouldn't Know You" - James Fortune & FIYA

“I Wouldn’t Know You”
James Fortune & FIYA, feat. Nakitta Fox
From the CD The Transformation (Black Smoke Music Worldwide 2008)
www.myspace.com/jamesfortune

A fountain of top hits continues to pour forth from James Fortune and FIYA’s album The Transformation.

The latest, “I Wouldn’t Know You,” is not only the chronological follow-up to Fortune’s smash hit, “I Trust You,” but a kind of theological follow-up as well. If the intense “I Trust You” was about putting trust in God and stepping out on faith, “I Wouldn’t Know You” is what happens after the stepping. Relief, joy, celebration and praise ring out from this track. The hip Nakitta Fox reminds us that if life didn’t have its share of storms, we wouldn’t know how good God is when He brings the sunny skies.

Fortune’s two singles have resonated especially well in these economic times because they acknowledge a universal truth: troubles don’t last always.

TBGB Pick of the Week: April 13, 2009

“Power of the Holy Ghost”
Shirley Bell
From the OverBoard Records CD
God Can Do Anything!www.overboardrecords.com

At Chicagoan Shirley Bell’s CD release party for God Can Do Anything!, she belted out this song with such sanctified fervor that the audience was momentarily transported from the basement of Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church to a local Holiness church sanctuary.

Truth be told, “Power of the Holy Ghost” is an old-fashioned Chicago-style church-wrecker that the Fellowship M.B. Church Choir, of which Bell is an alumna, could certainly pull off. Or, to borrow a quote from author/historian Tony Heilbut, it’s the kind of song you heard “when gospel was gospel.”

"Let's Celebrate (He Is Risen)" - Rev. Timothy Wright

“Let’s Celebrate (He Is Risen)”
Reverend Timothy Wright
From the AIR Records CD Live: Vol. III (2005)
(also included on The Godfather of Gospel, in stores May 5)
www.malaco.com

Reverend Timothy Wright continues to heal from the horrific automobile accident that took the lives of his wife and grandson last July, and left him physically and emotionally wounded.

Just a few years ago, in better times, Rev. Wright recorded “Let’s Celebrate (He Is Risen)” as a modern day anthem for Easter/Resurrection Sunday. Malaco Records will re-release this cut as part of an eighteen-track collection of Rev. Wright’s recordings. Titled The Godfather of Gospel, the collection will be in stores May 5, 2009.

May this song today, Easter Sunday, not only praise the risen Lord, but also serve as a prayer of anticipation for the celebration when Rev. Wright rises from the grip of pain and affliction and reclaims his earthly life and happiness.

Norway...in the House!

The Stavanger Gospel Company of Norway performs in Chicago

A longtime gospel music enthusiast, Norwegian guitarist and arranger Aril Schold had also built a fair amount of expertise in its performance working with artists such as Richard Smallwood and Andrae Crouch during their various European tours. Schold also accompanied Norwegian gospel choirs traveling to the U.S.

Eleven years ago, Schold, who hails from Stavanger, Norway's fourth largest city and nestled on its west coast, wanted to fill the choral chasm between the country's energetic youth choirs and its more staid adult symphonic groups. He and a friend decided to organize a gospel choir.

“I love the music and the life around gospel music,” said Schold. “And of course I love the Lord, so I really wanted to start a gospel choir.”

A newspaper advertisement announcing Stavanger Gospel Company's formation enticed 30 members to attend its first rehearsal, held at a Salvation Army church. The group doubled in size by the second rehearsal and by the third gathering, 110 singers packed the house. Henceforward, Schold set a limit of not more than 60 persons in the choir.

“In the beginning, we were singing songs by Kirk Franklin, Kurt Carr, Donald Lawrence, Israel Houghton, Ricky Dillard, Lamar Campbell and O’Landa Draper,” Schold recalled. While he continues to scour the latest gospel CDs for new songs and stylistic ideas, Schold now supplements the company’s catalog with original compositions written in the black gospel tradition.

Since its founding, the Stavanger Gospel Company has appeared on Norway national radio and completed successful tours of New York and London.

While this is the choir's second trip to the U.S., it is its first to Chicago. The visit – indeed their first commercial CD – benefited from a rerouted airplane flight two years ago, which brought Schold together with Chicago artists Anita Holmes and Light of Love.

Schold recalled: “I was starting on this [CD] project, and my biggest wish was to get African Americans involved in it, because I respect them and this is their music. And I knew one white guy could not do this all by himself!”

It turned out that at the same time, Anita Holmes and Light of Love were on a tour of Norway and Sweden. “Our flight was supposed to go through Oslo,” Holmes said, “But the flight was sold out, and so they rerouted us through Stavanger.”

Light of Love was asked to perform at a church while delayed in Stavanger, and they agreed. A friend of Schold’s attended the concert and alerted the choir director to their presence. “When I found out that Light of Love had no plans for the next day," Schold said, “I was like, ‘Oh…they’re not doing anything? Then I will bother them!’” He invited Holmes and Light of Love to meet the choir and listen to their songs. “We had a really nice session with the group and their musicians, and we had about two hours to sing together and work together.”

After the session, the two groups agreed to keep in touch.

“My keyboard player told me, ‘You’ve heard this before. Everybody tells you, "I’ll call you!"’” But sure enough, Holmes called Schold and they discussed the Stavanger Gospel Company’s plans for the CD. “She asked why we sing gospel music and all about the project, and by the end of the conversation, she said Light of Love would help us produce the CD.”

It’s Amazing by the Stavanger Gospel Company was released last November. It earned the group a national television appearance.

While in Chicago this week, the Stavanger Gospel Company performed a Good Friday concert for the Salvation Army in Oak Brook, visited New Life Covenant Oakwood (Light of Love’s home church), met Bishop Larry Trotter and Ricky Dillard, and traveled to the remains of historic Pilgrim Baptist Church.

The group will perform April 12, 2009 for the Easter Sunday service at Prayer and Faith Outreach Ministries, 944 West 103rd Street in Chicago, Illinois, where Rev. William Hudson is Pastor.

Next year, the Stavanger Gospel Company plans to visit Hungary, and hopes to tour Africa in 2011. Meanwhile, they would like to come back to the U.S. to perform at African American churches.

Schold said, “We want to bring the message but also to get the inspiration.”

For more information about Stavanger Gospel Company and about It's Amazing, go to http://www.sgcompany.no/

We All Are One (Live in Detroit) - Donnie McClurkin

Donnie McClurkin
We All Are One (Live in Detroit)
Verity Records 2009
www.verityrecords.com

Unity and our essential one-ness as a human race are chief lyrical themes of We All Are One (Live in Detroit), but musically, Donnie McClurkin is all about variety, stirring a little bit of everything into the aural stew. Contemporary, hymn, traditional, praise & worship, and even a smattering of rock and RnB find their way onto McClurkin’s new project, released March 31, 2009.

A handful of the album’s twelve songs were recorded live on September 26, 2008 at Straight Gate Church in Detroit, where Bishop Andrew Merritt is Pastor. Before establishing Perfecting Faith Church in Freeport, New York, McClurkin was associate minister at Pastor Marvin Winans’ Perfecting Church in Detroit, so performing in the Motor City was a homecoming of sorts. Regardless of whether the tracks were done live or in the studio, however, the singers and musicians give it 100 percent. McClurkin sounds especially energized by the experience.

Featuring the powerful vocals of Detroiter Karen Clark Sheard, “Wait on the Lord” is the album’s first single. “When You Love” is bound to follow because of its own star power; CeCe Winans, Yolanda Adams and Mary Mary lend their voices to this wedding-ready song. From a purely gospel music standpoint, however, “The Great I Am” is the album’s high point. A church-rousing, pulse-pounding traditional choir workout, the song showcases McClurkin and his singers in full voice, shouting down the rafters.

What strikes me is how McClurkin continues to mature as a hymnist. Compositions such as “You Are My God and King” and the classically beautiful, four-square “All We Ask” sound bound for the hymnbook. “All We Ask” benefits from top-class vocal work by the electrifying Nancey Jackson-Johnson, Sherry McGhee, Andrea Mellini and the marvelous tenor Duawne Starling. “You Are My God and King” is a congregational hymn with an African-inspired rhythm. Should he continue composing in this vein, McClurkin could well become one of the century’s finest hymn writers.

Overall, We All Are One (Live in Detroit) is more self-consciously expansive than the platinum-selling 2000 release Live in London and More, with its smash hit, “We Fall Down.” Still, when you get down to it, the new album is quintessentially Donnie McClurkin.

Three and a Half of Four Stars

Winans Family Patriarch David "Pop" Winans Dies

The Tennessean reported that David "Pop" Winans, Sr. died Wednesday, April 8 in Nashville, Tennessee.

Read more here in The Tennessean.

ALSO:
The Baltimore Sun's Karlayne Parker reflects on the life and legacy of Pop Winans: Gospelrama.

From Black Gospel Promo:
MUSICAL CELEBRATION AND MEMORIAL SERVICES FOR DAVID 'POP' WINANS

APRIL 20, 1934 - APRIL 8, 2009

TUESDAY, APRIL 14TH
7:00 p.m. - Memorial Service/Viewing
Perfecting Church
7616 E. Nevada
Detroit, MI 48234
(313) 365-3787

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 15TH
10:00a.m. - Homegoing Celebration Service
Perfecting Church
7616 E. Nevada
Detroit, MI 48234
(313) 365-3787

MCFALL BROTHERS FUNERAL HOME
9419 Dexter Ave
Detroit, MI 48206
(313) 895-8900
* Flowers will be received at this location

* The Winans Family wishes to thank everyone for their prayers and continued support. Flowers, donations and well wishes can be sent to Perfecting Church as well.

**********************************

After suffering a heart attack and stroke in October 2008, David Winans, Sr. the patriarch of the musical dynasty, The Winans Family, passed away quietly @ 4 p.m. CST on Wednesday, April 8, 2009. Delores Winans, his wife for 55 years was at his bedside at Alive Hospice in Nashville, TN.

David 'Pop' Winans was born on April 20, 1934 in Detroit, Michigan. He was raised in the Mack Avenue (COGIC) where his grandfather Isaiah Winans was the pastor. At the age of 18, Winans began singing with the Nobelaires quartet group. A saxophonist and clarinet player, he later joined the Lemon Gospel Chorus in 1950. There he met his future wife Delores Ransom, who sang in the ensemble.

After their 1953 marriage, Winans juggled multiple jobs (car salesman, taxi driver, custodian and barber) to take care of the ten children the couple would eventually have. Aside from his various entrepreneurial activities, Winans began to preach sermons in the late 1960s and was very active in his community. He started a youth organization in 1968. “We had 300 kids, ten little league baseball teams, a track team, arts and crafts. We were trying to do everything we could to help the youth," he said in 1999.

Winans is survived by wife, Delores, multi-Grammy award winning children: The Winans (Marvin, Carvin, Michael & Ronald who passed in June 2005 at age of 48); BeBe & CeCe, Daniel, Angie, Debbie, and eldest son David Winans II and 23 grandchildren.

CONTACT FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
Erma Byrd (323) 965-5551/ erma@ebyrdcom.com - email is best contact on Tuesday & Wednesday

Bill Carpenter (202) 506-5051/ billcarpenter@capitalentertainment.com

Tonya Hairston Ware - The Voice

Tonya Hairston Ware
The Voice
Tonya Ware 2007
www.tonyaware.com

Although she has been singing since the tender age of six, it wasn’t until a couple of years ago that Tonya Hairston Ware plunged headlong into recording her debut CD, The Voice.

Tonya possesses a big voice, but she isn’t a shouting singer, nor does she belt like a Broadway doyenne. Like Shania Twain, Faith Hill and especially Gloria Estefan, Tonya defies categorization, transcending music genres with her pleasant, engaging style. Her skill is certainly the combination of innate talent, a commitment to voice lessons, persistent vocal study and choir membership at her alma mater, Mississippi State University.

As a result, The Voice is a parade of lithe, melodic praise and worship songs made brighter by Tonya’s airy, smooth pop vocals, which owe as much to RnB as to CCM and smooth jazz. The opening track, “None Like You” is high energy and an ideal lead-off performance. The album's loveliest melodies can be heard on “You Came,” “Higher,” and “Rain." In fact, the mid-tempo, relaxed “Rain” has just been released as the album’s second single, a follow-up to the hit, "Put My Hand in Yours." "Rain" is as good an example as any of Tonya’s style.

Another audience pleaser is “Awesome in this Place” because it showcases Tonya in full P&W mode, pacing the stage in breathless exclamation of praise and encouragement. It is during moments like this when Tonya demonstrates an uncanny ability to cram more syllables into one bar of music than seems possible.

A big voice needs a strong background group, and Tonya has it in five background vocalists who, together, have the volume and intensity of a full choir.

It makes sense that Tonya closes The Voice with a “Hymn Medley.” Her voice is ideally suited for hymns because she can really draw out a melody. This “bonus track” is satisfying and could have been even longer, with several more hymns added to the medley.

Although self-produced, The Voice garnered enough attention to earn the singer a 2009 Stellar nomination for “Contemporary Female Artist of the Year.” In 2008, she received a “Jackie” for National Female Soloist of the Year from the Mississippi Gospel Music Association.

To some, Tonya Hairston Ware is co-founder, with husband Pastor Adrian Ware, of Church Triumphant in Ridgeland, Mississippi. To others, she is a successful HR executive with a Fortune 500 company. To her fans, she is The Voice. The proof of this label is in the listening.

Three and a Half of Four Stars

TBGB Pick of the Week: April 6, 2009

“A Heart That Forgives”
Kevin LeVar & One Sound
From the Habakkuk Records CD Let’s Come Together
www.habakkukmusic.com

Kevin LeVar delivers this touching, inspirational ballad with even more emotion than he displayed on his prior single, “You Are Not Alone," perhaps because the topic hits closer to home.

The vocalists of One Sound sit out “A Heart That Forgives,” as LeVar solos with delicate piano accompaniment. It’s a prayer for the gift of forgiveness, as well as an acknowledgement that it isn’t easy to forgive, especially “when the ones that are closest, that I’ve known the longest, hurt me the most.” But “the heart that forgives is the one that will live,” LeVar sings, and during the conclusion, LeVar is committed to scrubbing “every single hurt” from his mind, body and soul.

"Making A Way " Keith "Wonderboy" Johnson & the Spiritual Voices

“Making a Way”
Keith “Wonderboy” Johnson & the Spiritual Voices
From the CD Keith “Wonderboy” Johnson Presents: The Rising Stars of Quartet, Vol. 1
www.malaco.com

A quartet singer since the age of five, when he joined his father’s group, the Spiritual Voices, Keith “Wonderboy” Johnson is an ambassador of traditional gospel quartet for the contemporary stage.

In February 2008, Johnson gave back to the genre that has been so good to him by presenting The Rising Stars of Quartet, Vol. 1 (Malaco). The collection gives props, and broader exposure, to four emerging groups: Tim Rogers and the Fellas, Jewel and Converted, Brothers in Christ, and Marble Twins and Company.

“Making a Way” is one of three songs Johnson performed himself on the project. If, like me, you are more familiar with Johnson’s rousing hand-clappers, “Making a Way” is somewhat of a departure, a side of Johnson of which I certainly wasn’t aware.

It’s a slow, soulful ballad with a contemporary edge, although by the end, Johnson is all about hard singing and preaching, while the Spiritual Voices' high Violinaires-like harmonies provide the backdrop. It’s a reminder that no matter what, you can’t the tradition out of the traditionalist.

Shirley Bell - God Can Do Anything! (OverBoard Records 2009)

Shirley Bell
God Can Do Anything!
OverBoard Records 2009
http://www.spbmusic.net/

You know the saying, “It takes years to become an overnight success?” Shirley Bell can testify.

Her debut CD, God Can Do Anything, comes after many years of dedicated music ministry at Rev. Dr. Clay Evans’ renowned Fellowship M.B. Church in Chicago. Musicians and vocalists of all styles sat in the Fellowship sanctuary back in the day enjoying its singing choir, courtesy of the music direction of LouDella Evans Reid. That’s the environment in which Shirley honed her skills as a gospel singer, and she showcases them on God Can Do Anything.

Recorded at Samaritan Bible Baptist Church, where two Fellowship alumni, Rev. Billy Jones and his wife Jeanette Robinson-Jones (Helen Robinson Youth Chorus) are Pastor and First Lady, God Can Do Anything is quintessentially Chicago. Gospel with a capital G, the sound on the CD is largely high-intensity and churchy, with Shirley roaring through sing-a-long gospel songs like Dorothy Norwood’s understudy. Bryant Jones, the son of Samaritan Bible Baptist's proprietors, brings his inestimable talents to bear on keyboards and as music director. Bryant’s group Chosen provides the full-throated background vocals.

The highlight of the album is the current single, “Power of the Holy Ghost,” a supercharged hand-clapper in the style of Dr. Charles Hayes and the Cosmopolitan Warriors. When Shirley performed this song at the CD release party at Fellowship recently, the spirit in the room was so high the audience was transported momentarily from a Missionary Baptist church basement to the sanctuary of a COGIC church.

Other strong tracks on the CD are the title song and the largely a cappella “Old Church Medley,” a string of congregational songs punctuated by lively audience participation and shouts of encouragement.

Rev. Dr. Clay Evans makes a cameo appearance on “Save the Children,” offering a fervent prayer as a lonely saxophone plays jazz riffs in the background and Shirley sings head-shakingly about troubles facing youth today. It’s one of the CD’s rare quiescent moments.

“Jesus Loves Me” finds Shirley improvising on the familiar hymn, interplaying with the audience, and then moving into a more contemporary interpretation, with Chosen giving the finale a Hawkins Family vibe.

God Can Do Anything, a marvelous example that old-school gospel singing is alive and well in Chicago, is on Darrell Jay Jones’ OverBoard Records label out of Crockett, Texas.

Three and a Half of Four Stars

April 5 Gospel Memories: Tribute to Eugene Smith

Tune to 88.7 WLUW Chicago this Sunday morning, April 5, from 3:00 to 7:30 a.m. Central Time for the monthly live broadcast of “Gospel Memories” – the soundtrack to That Old Time Religion.

Not in Chicago? No problem. Go to http://www.wluw.org/, click the Listen Live button, and enjoy “Gospel Memories” from wherever you are!

Highlights of the April 5 Broadcast:

Celebrating Eugene Smith (right) of the Roberta Martin Singers, who turns 88 on April 22!

In Loving Memory:
Margaret Aikens-Jenkins (Mel-Tones, Ladies of Song)

Shirley Joiner (Southeast Inspirational Choir)

The electrifying, sanctifying, evangelizing, shouting, singing, preaching, rip-roaring, wing-wearing Elder Utah Smith – from the companion CD to Lynn Abbott’s book, I Got Two Wings (CaseQuarter)

Preacher Feature: Rev. Cleophus Robinson: “Mr. Big Stuff, Who Do You Think You Are?”

Vintage recordings by classic artists, such as:


Rev. C.L. Franklin & Congregation
Canton Spirituals
The Gerald Sisters
Bessie Griffin
Soul Stirrers
Gospel Chimes
Golden Echoes
Heaven Bound Four
Vernon B.C. Choir of Chicago (with violin acc.!)
Chicago’s Kings of Harmony
Williams Brothers of Philadelphia
Israelite Gospel Singers
Traveling Four

…and much more!

So tune in and turn on to “Gospel Memories”…the home of the pioneers and legends of gospel music.

Would You Be Ready? - Jimmy & Debora Rouse

Jimmy & Debora Rouse
Would You Be Ready?
www.jimmyanddeborarouse.com

Husband and wife singing teams have been de rigueur in gospel music for as far back as the memory can travel. When it comes to black gospel, the Consolers of Miami, Florida (Sullivan and Iola Pugh) are the archetypes of the form, but the concept goes back even further. For example, William and Versey Smith, and A.C. and Mamie Forehand were couples who sang sanctified for the recording microphone in the 1920s.

Married for nearly a quarter-century, Jimmy & Debora Rouse continue this tradition. Like the Pugh’s, the Rouse’s call Florida home (Jacksonville), and although they have been singing for quite some time – Jimmy debuted as a pre-teen in the Atlantic Beach-based Gospel Imperials – Would You Be Ready? is the couple’s debut CD.

Released last October, Would You Be Ready? layers contemporary gospel over southern soul stylings, with ample Carlos Santana-esque guitar licks, courtesy of Kris Joslyn. Beau Brown’s production is thick and gritty throughout.

The first four tracks are the album’s strongest, and complement one another in rapid-fire succession. The title track (#2) is the finest. It is power-packed retro southern soul, full of body-grooving energy, and led by the Rouse’s enthusiastic duetting. “Praising the Lord” interpolates Curtis Mayfield’s “People Get Ready” at the start, further strengthening the album’s link between contemporary and old school.

After the first four tracks, however, the fire cools and Would You Be Ready? becomes hit and miss. The enthusiasm and genuineness of the Rouse’s message and ministry is ever-present, and their pre-performance rapport hearkens to their live shows, but some performances are better organized and delivered than others.

If all tracks were as powerful as “Would You Be Ready?,” the album would be outstanding. Nevertheless, I hope the Rouse’s get radio play on this song. It wraps a stimulating mix of contemporary cool and saucy southern soul around the Big Question.

Two and a Half of Four Stars

Vera Jean Eskridge Jenkins: 1933-2009

Press Release from Grace Media Services: (thanks to Chicago's Gregory Gay for sharing this information with TBGB).

Beloved Gospel music pioneer Vera Jean Eskridge Jenkins goes home to be with the Lord - March 21, 2009

Announcement - The legendary Vera Jean Jenkins passed March 21, 2009.

(GMSNewsChannel) Gospel music's legendary Vera Jean Eskridge Jenkins' symphony of life began on January 13, 1933 when she was born to beloved parents Luetta & Eugene Eskridge in North Little Rock, Arkansas. Vera began her gospel training as a musician at King Solomon Baptist Church in North Little Rock as a very young girl. In her late teens and early twenties, she became the musician, and an original vocalist, for the famous Loving Sisters.

In the early 1960's, Vera moved her family to Minneapolis, and became the pianist for Bethesda Baptist Church while continuing to tour with the Loving Sisters. In 1963, she recorded her first single called "The Free Gift of God," which she recorded with the Brewerettes. She left touring with the Loving Sisters later that year following the tragic death of daughter Kathy Brewer. She later became a member and musician at North Central Baptist Church were she formed the Angelic Chorus, which was a choir comprised of many different people from the Twin Cities.

After her stint with the Loving Sisters, Vera toured for a while with the Staple Singers as both pianist and vocalist. She then started many vocal groups such as the Cheeriteers, which was a men's vocal group, and the Cheerettes, a women's group. From there she also started the Charlemettes and the Muscettes, female groups for which Vera played and wrote music for their albums.

In 1974, Vera became one of the first gospel music announcers for KUXL's Notes of Love radio show. In 1976, Vera won the Minnesota State Fair talent contest hands down. By 1977, Vera left KUXL and signed on as a gospel announcer for KMOJ, which had just debuted on the airways.

During this time Vera, along with Roland Wilson, started working extensively with the Brewerettes and the Angelic Chorus, winning numerous awards. They were booked at many venues in the Twin Cities and nationwide. In 1978, Vera's composition of "I'm So Glad to Be In Service One More Time" was recorded by James Cleveland's Gospel Music Workshop of America in Constitution Hall, Washington, DC. Vera also wrote a very successful play called From Earth to Heaven , which ran for two years.

In the 1980s, Vera did a lot of solo work with The Ordway, opening for acts such as Doc Severson from the Tonight Show, and Betty Buckley from the television show, "Eight is Enough." She opened for other groups such as Sweet Honey In The Rock, and the Charlie Daniels Band.

During the 1990s, Vera continued to perform, although her health started to weaken. She began to explore her other artistic gifts such as pottery, painting, and knitting. Vera was an excellent down-home cook, which she would pass on with or without the recipient's consent. If she caught you in the kitchen, the next thing you knew you were making hot water corn bread. She also made a mean Kentucky butter pound cake. Also in the 1990s, Vera became a member of El Bethel Baptist Church where she started the El Bethel Inspirational Choir and the Harvest Convention. After that she hosted many different musical events and taught music classes for children.

In 2000 Vera retired from music and turned it over to her children but she would sing with them on occasion. She performed with Danny Brewer, Carlus Brown, and Anthony Brewer with Augsburg College's Evolution of Gospel. Most of all, "Mother," as she was affectionately called by her children, was a faithful prayer warrior. Vera was also involved in foreign ministry. She passionately loved her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, her family, and her loving friends. Her song will be deeply, deeply missed.