Lowell Pye - Finally

Lowell Pye
Finally
Miralex Records/Overflow Entertainment 2010
www.LowellPye.com

Another Men of Standard alumnus steps out as a solo artist, and he brings a mighty team of producers, writers and singers with him.

On July 27, Lowell (pron. Lo-WELL) Pye released his debut CD, Finally. It is the first collaboration between Pye’s Overflow Entertainment and the Miralex label, the latter run by Asaph Alexander Ward, who also serves as producer. Ward is not alone: some of the most formidable talents in the biz contributed production to the CD, including Deitrick Haddon, PJ Morton, Chip Dixson and Marcus Devine.

The guest vocalist list is equally impressive, including Sheri Jones-Moffett, PJ Morton, and Detroiters Elder Rance Allen, Pastor Marvin Winans, and Damita Haddon.

The songs run the gamut of traditional to contemporary to quartet and hip hop, though Pye is at his best on the contemporary ballads because they allow him full range to flex his expressive, muscular voice. In addition to the current single, Fred Hammond’s melodic “Running Back to You,” Pye does a fine job on PJ Morton’s “Better,” and really shows what he can do on “Speak,” accompanied only by Eric “E Natural” Pruitt on piano. Acoustic piano continues to prove that it is a gospel singer’s best friend.

“He’ll Make a Way” is the churchiest of the traditional tracks. It’s an echo of Eugene Smith’s classic 1941 gospel blues “I Know the Lord Will Make a Way, Oh Yes He Will” with Winans and Allen lending old-school cred to a funky groove. “Jesus Never Fails” features Michael Bereal chirping on the B3 while Tim Mole’s electric guitar riffs weave around the organ chords and the background vocalists turn into a thunderous choir. “Good to Me” is a hand-clapping quartet rouser on which Pye multi-tracks his voice to become his own vocal group.

Female vocalist Minon Bolton deserves to be singled out for her lovely contributions to a number of songs, including the title track. Her voice is actually the first one you hear on the CD. Speaking of the title track, “Finally” deals with the emotional emptiness left by life on the fast track and the urgency to move to a spiritual level where the soul never hungers or thirsts. Pye repeats the “what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and lose his soul” theme later in the set.

Finally is an admirable solo debut with the right combination of sounds and messages to keep the listener engaged from beginning to end.

Four of Five Stars

gPod Picks: “Running Back to You,” “Better,” “He’ll Make a Way.”

Reviewed by Bob Marovich for The Black Gospel Blog.