"Here We Go" - DJ Jonny Blaze

“Here We Go”
DJ Jonny Blaze
Blazeone Records
www.myspace.com/djjonnyblaze2009

Baltimore DJ, record label owner and recording artist with a knack for turning prepubescent preoccupations (ice cream, PB&J, Spongebob) into club hits, Jonny Blaze is also a warrior for God.

On “Here We Go,” a dance track crackling with captivating samples and a wicked backbeat, Blaze offers his testimony and lays out some of life’s absolutes for others to follow, all in a tad more than three and one-half minutes.

“At the end of the day,” Blaze reminds everyone, “it’s God’s show.”

Five Blind Boys of Mississippi - I Won't Complain

The Five Blind Boys of Mississippi
I Won’t Complain
Meltone Entertainment Group 2009
www.myspace.com/fiveblindboysofmississippi

So much deserved attention is given the Grammy Award-winning Blind Boys of Alabama that many don’t realize the Blind Boys of Mississippi are still out on the gospel highway also.

Led today by long-time member Sandy Foster, the Five Blind Boys of Mississippi have been performing for 66 years. They were founded in Piney Woods, Mississippi as the Jackson Harmoneers and featured the explosive – and I mean explosive – lead vocals of the incomparable Archie Brownlee.

The quartet’s new CD, on the late Melvin Couch’s Meltone imprint, is I Won’t Complain. Foster leads most of the tracks with a raw-throated shout reminiscent of the Mighty Clouds’ Joe Ligon and a spontaneity that echoes Brownlee’s own. The quartet backs Foster with the kind of spit-polished harmonies characteristic of today’s quartets.

The album includes new songs, quartet standards and a few from the Blind Boys archives. The title track is an extended Foster interpretation of the modern favorite written by the late Rev. Paul Jones and recorded by everyone from Andrae Crouch to Albertina Walker and now the Mississippi Blind Boys.

There are several stunners on I Won’t Complain. An a cappella version of “Steal Away” is breathtakingly muscular and robust, down to its cascading conclusion. “Rock in a Weary Land,” a Mississippi Blind Boys classic, gets an appropriate up-tempo reading, as does “Lord Save Me.” The album’s highlight is “I’ve Been Born Again,” which features a driving tempo with curlicue guitar riffs that propel the quartet into revival mode.

Groups like the Five Blind Boys of Mississippi prove that classic quartets never die. Period.

Four of Five Stars

gPod Picks: “Steal Away,” “Rock in a Weary Land,” “I’ve Been Born Again.”

The Gospelaires' Paul Arnold - Nomination to Dayton's Walk of Fame

If you caught the radio tribute to the late Paul Arnold of the Gospelaires on "Gospel Memories" (www.gospelmemories.com) this morning, you heard that family, friends and associates of the singer are petitioning for his nomination to Dayton, Ohio's Walk of Fame.

Everyone interested in seeing Mr. Arnold receive his just deserts in his hometown is encouraged to send a letter of support to:

Dayton Walk of Fame
c/o Wright Dunbar,Inc.
1105 W. Third street
Dayton, OH 45402

Re: Paul Arnold Sr., Lead Singer, The Gospelaires of Dayton, Ohio,
Dayton Walk of Fame Nominee

Your letter should articulate what you feel Mr. Arnold has contributed to gospel music or to the Dayton, Ohio community, and request his nomination to the Dayton Walk of Fame. Letters must received by Wright Dunbar, Inc. on or before March 31, 2010.

Thanks in advance!

The Gospel Crusaders - He's All I Need

The Gospel Crusaders
He’s All I Need
FCMG 2009
www.thegospelcrusaders.com

The Gospel Crusaders – now there’s an old-school quartet moniker! – may hail from Chicago, but their bluesy traditional sound is carved right from the southern soil.

The group was formed in 1988. Rev. Leon Walker, Tommy Patrick, Kevin Lloyd and Michael Wilson are the personnel featured on the front cover of the quartet’s new album, He’s All I Need, but the liner notes indicate that Robert Pittman, Jr. joins in as well. Jamal Lewis, Ray Braswell, Jr. and Robert White are the capable musicians, with Patrick also laying down bass guitar and Lloyd on lead guitar.

The quartet’s meaty lead vocals, most of them by Rev. Walker, are backed by polished harmonies on songs running the gamut of tried-and-true quartet themes: from praise and salvation to evangelization and anticipation of an eternal home over yonder.

The hard driving “Been So Good” is the album’s highlight, with another up-tempo piece, “Leaning on Jesus,” running a close second. “The Medley” is an assortment of quartet staples, the first half delivered in delicious a cappella. I only wish it had gone on longer than two and a half minutes and was sung entirely a cappella, showcasing the quartet’s harmonic techniques.

The Gospel Crusaders have garnered “Best New Artist” honors from the American Gospel Quartet Convention and the Salute to Chicago Gospel Singers’ “Outstanding Quartet” award. He's All I Need was released on popular quartet promoter and radio announcer Marilyn Frizzle’s FCMG imprint, so you know the group is traditional.

Four of Five Stars

gPod Picks: “Been So Good,” “The Medley,” “Leaning On Jesus.”

"The Testimony" - Butch Washington

“The Testimony”
Butch Washington
Kingsway Records
Eulasw@yahoo.com

On “The Testimony,” baritone crooner Eulas “Butch” Washington of Lancaster, SC relates in a soulful ballad a friend's personal victory, through Jesus, over the ravages of alcohol, drugs and incarceration. The song concludes with a not entirely surprising but nevertheless heartfelt twist.

“The Testimony” is the kind of raw, genuine, lay-bare-your-soul gospel song that indies are especially adept at delivering.

Ken Hardeo - I Honor You

Ken Hardeo
I Honor You
BGH Music 2008
www.kenhardeo.com

Glancing at the front cover of Ken Hardeo’s debut CD I Honor You, you might think that Ken is the main vocalist. In fact, with the exception of one track on which Ken solos, the project is an assemblage of the songwriter’s compositions and arrangements delivered by a team of talented lead vocalists and background singers.

One of the vocalists, Ametrius Davis, contributes especially riveting performances. Serving also as the album’s vocal coach, Davis soars on “Everybody Sing Praises” and “You’ve Been My Strength.” “Everybody Sing Praises” is one of many cuts on I Honor You that is accompanied by hard hitting percussion and searing guitar work, under the music direction of Quentin Bethea.

The title track, rendered skillfully by leads Karmin Cyr and Kevin Toney, builds in intensity and volume as it progresses toward the conclusion. “You’re the Reason” adds spice to the project with its hot electro-Latin vibe and tight staccato attacks of percussion and vocals.

Hardeo, born and raised in Guyana but now based in Charlotte, NC, specializes in contemporary praise and worship and gospel songs that are eminently learnable by groups and choirs. His portfolio is represented well on I Honor You, courtesy of engineers Paul Whitley and Michael Tomblin. The duo’s crystal clear production of the jazz-gospel-rock fusion makes for an enjoyable listen.

The project would have benefited from a front cover photo of the group surrounding Hardeo, so those who browse through CDs in a music store or on the Internet would have a better understanding of what to expect inside the jewel case. Nevertheless, I Honor You is a fine introduction to a more-than-capable songwriter.

Four of Five Stars

gPod Picks: “Everybody Sing Praises,” “You’ve Been My Strength”

"Whose Report" - Pastor DeWayne Harvey Presents the Greater Blessings Tabernacle of Praise

“Whose Report”
Pastor DeWayne Harvey Presents the Greater Blessings Tabernacle of Praise
From the album The Report of the Lord
(release date: March 2010)
http://dewayneharvey.tumblr.com/

Pastor DeWayne Harvey, called “one of the Renaissance men of contemporary gospel,” serves as musical director for the Praise and Worship Team at the Greater Blessings Tabernacle of Praise in Tallahassee, Florida. He introduced the world to Unrestrained Praise nearly a decade ago and next month will showcase the talents of his praise team.

“Whose Report,” the first single from the new album by Harvey and the Greater Blessings Tabernacle of Praise, is a straight-ahead, vocally aggressive church rouser, the singers and musicians performing at or near mach one. The lead calls out, “Whose report will you believe?“ and the group answers dutifully, “I’ll believe the report of the Lord.” The report heralds the elimination of affliction, disease, depression and other shackles of life.

Female vocalist Anita Edwards wrecks the church with her astonishing lead work.

Gospel Duo Duncan & Rachelle - God's Time

Gospel Duo Duncan & Rachelle
God’s Time
Independent Release 2009
http://www.duncanandrachelle.com/

Rev. Duncan P. Lane and Min. Rachelle Moore-Lane, both from South Jersey, were each members of various church and community choirs for years before linking up as husband and wife, and effectively launching their career as Gospel Duo Duncan and Rachelle, in 1988.

The duo's CD release is called God’s Time, and it spotlights the couple singing praise and worship songs, most of them crafted and arranged by their own hands. While the couple trades leads, the United Gospel Singers – an accomplished and high-energy sextet of relatives founded by Rachelle in 1989 – provide the background vocals. If it hasn’t already, this group deserves to record a CD of its own. The dynamic North Jersey Band and South Jersey Band lay down the album’s musical foundation.

On God’s Time, Duncan and Rachelle are at their best vocally when they close in on tight, sweet harmonies, such as on “He’s Been Good to Me” and “Benediction (‘Til We Meet Again).” “He’ll Pick Me Up” also features lovely harmonies but with the addition of take-charge bluesy runs for a sweet-and-tart musical experience.

The couple’s lead vocals are for the most part effective and emotional, but on some occasions, one or the other loses control in the lead trading and shouting and careens off into unfamiliar and shaky territory before veering back on track.

The album’s singles, “Born to Praise,” and “He’ll Never Forsake Me,” are passionately rendered, with the former a slow ballad and the latter a mid-tempo praiser. Both are fine examples of the duo’s overall sound and texture.

Three of Five Stars

gPod Picks: “He’s Been Good to Me,” “He’ll Pick Me Up.”

Black Gospel Music Restoration Project Director, TBGB Founder...now on iTunes U

From a Press Release:

Baylor's Black Gospel Music Restoration Project Is in the Spotlight on iTunes U

Baylor University's Black Gospel Music Restoration Project, the most popular download on Baylor's iTunes U site, will be added to Apple's top featured graphics this week -- timing that coincides with Black History Month.

The continuing restoration project -- to identify, acquire, digitally record and catalog the most at-risk music from the black gospel music tradition from the 1940s to the 1980s -- is led by Robert Darden (photo, left), associate professor of journalism at Baylor University.

Sixteen songs from the project are available on iTunes U, among them such black gospel treasures as "Ain't That Right," "Great Get'n Up Morning," "Old Ship of Zion" and "This Train is Bound for Glory."

Darden's search has turned up 78s, 45s, LPs and music in various taped formats used in the United States and abroad. Those involved in the project also are compiling taped interviews, informal photos, music programs, newspaper clippings and sheet music.

The project is accessible through a graphic link at the top of the front page of Apple's iTunes U service, said Colin Witt, director of electronic communications for Baylor University. The link will be featured for two weeks.

"Baylor is happy to be a part of iTunes U and to work with Apple on exciting projects such as this one," Witt said. "The opportunity to feature unique research work taking place at Baylor is exactly the reason we wanted to be a part of the iTunes U community."

The project grew out of a 2005 editorial by Darden, published in The New York Times, in which he shared his concern that while contemporary gospel was thriving, early gospel might be lost forever.

While albums by such legends as Mahalia Jackson are readily available on CD, music recorded by lesser known greats such as the Sensational Nightingales and the Spirit of Memphis were hard to find, he noted.

"For an unabashed fan like me, it's a painful situation," he wrote. "I realize that no corporation is going to put out albums just to please a few aficionados, but they may not realize that many people want to hear this music."

He was approached by several people interested in preserving music from "the Golden Age of Gospel Music." Among the financial contributors were Charles M. Royce, chairman of the board of TICC Capital Corp. in Greenwich, Conn., and Harold and Dottie Riley of Austin.

One of the major contributors of records was Bob Marovich (photo, right), a Chicago collector and founder of The Black Gospel Blog.

"It is from his collection of gospel 45s that the majority of the iTunes U songs were drawn," Darden said.

Besides Darden and Witt, others at Baylor University contributing their talents to the ongoing project are Dr. Gardner Campbell, director of the Academy for Teaching and Learning at Baylor, who has done interviews with Darden and Marovich for the site; and Tim Logan, assistant vice president for Baylor's Electronic Library, who has helped identify and prepare tracks to use.

"It has been a real pleasure working with such talented, hard-working folks," Darden said.

The project's site also includes an interview Campbell did with Darden called "A Gospel Journey" and a joint interview with Darden and Marovich, presented in several segments.

In addition to the 16 tunes posted on the iTunes U site, about 180 partial tracks are provided, Witt said. Logan said Baylor has obtained about 1,500 records for preservation.

Baylor launched its iTunes U site in September 2009. It offers free downloads of more than 400 audio and video files. Among site highlights are episodes of Inside Baylor Sports, podcasts such as KWBU's Wordwise, lectures and speeches.

For more information about Baylor's Black Gospel Music Restoration Project, visit www.Baylor.edu/lib/gospel.

For the project's iTunes U site, visit www.baylor.edu/itunes.

TBGB Chats with Coko

TBGB had a chance to spend a few moments last week with gospel artist Cheryl "Coko" Clemens. Coko's CD, The Winner in Me (Light Records), was one of our Top Fifteen Gospel Albums in 2009.

We wanted to learn about Coko's inspirations, aspirations, and also about her recent initiative to help women and girls discover "the winner" in them. Here's a summary:

TBGB: Did you aspire to be a gospel singer when you were growing up?

CC: I grew up in church; my mother is a professional gospel singer.

TBGB: Who were your earliest music inspirations?

CC: I would have to say my mother; I travel with her a lot.

TBGB: You are taking the message of self-esteem explicit in “The Winner in Me” to young women and girls. What has inspired you to do this? How will you help young women and girls find the winner in themselves?

CC: I just want to encourage them to know that, in spite of everything they may go through in life, there is still a winner in them.

TBGB: In your opinion, what is the most important thing that parents should do to help their children grow up to be positive, confident men and women?

CC: Kids follow by example, so parents have to be a great example for them.

TBGB: What are your thoughts on the direction of gospel/inspirational music as it continues to incorporate the sounds of hip hop, rap, R&B, digital and other post-modern grooves into its musical DNA?

CC: I think it’s great, as long as we are inspiring, encouraging, and uplifting the masses.

TBGB: What would you be doing if you were not pursuing a music career?

CC: I would be a beautician/hair stylist.

TBGB: What is next for Coko?

CC: I have a few projects I’m working on…

And we'll leave it at that. Thanks to Coko for her time and for taking her message of positive self-image and confidence to women and girls everywhere!

TBGB Pick of the Week: February 22, 2010

“The Best in Me”
Marvin Sapp
From the Verity Records CD Here I Am (release date: March 16, 2010)
www.verityrecords.com

It’s an understatement to say that the past three years have all but belonged to Marvin Sapp.

From the spontaneously created “Never Would Have Made It” from his best-seller album Thirsty and the trailer-full of Stellars that resulted, through last year’s charter “Praise Him in Advance,” the pastor from Grand Rapids, Michigan and former member of Commissioned has come completely into his own.

“The Best In Me,” Sapp’s latest single and the first from his forthcoming CD Here I Am, has already shot to the top of music charts and playlists. Like “Never Would Have Made It,” “The Best In Me” marinates in a simple message: “He saw the best in me, when everyone else around could only see the worst in me.” God sees people for who they are, sings Sapp, and doesn’t judge based on one’s human frailties and mistakes. The live audience responds with public prayer and shouting, suggesting that Sapp has once again tapped an exposed nerve.

"We Can Rock the World's Foundation" - JunSix, Blac Heat and Jess the Facts

“We Can Rock the World’s Foundation”
JunSix, Blac Heat and Jess the Facts
Music and Strength for Haiti 2010
www.musicandstrength.tv/group/musicandstrengthforhaiti

With the exception of Hurricane Katrina, no other natural disaster in modern history has received such an overwhelming outpouring of support from the creative community than the Haiti earthquake. Despite difficulties getting supplies to the displaced and suffering, money and materials have been made possible as a result of individual acts of kindness.

In the gospel community, Kirk Franklin and Artists United for Haiti responded to the call by recording “Are You Listening?” Earlier this month, hip hop artists JunSix, Blac Heat and Jess the Facts released “We Can Rock the World’s Foundation.” Over snippets of news reports and a sample of Marvin Gaye’s “Wholly Holy” (a line from this song gives the tribute its title), the group encourages financial generosity and prayer for the Haitian people. They specifically cite Wyclef Jean’s work on behalf of his homeland.

Below is a “making of” video.

"Jesus is Coming Back" - Jevon D. Brock & Restoration

“Jesus is Coming Back”
Jevon D. Brock & Restoration
From the album Urgent Messages (2009)
www.cdbaby.com/cd/jevonrestoration2

On “Jesus is Coming Back,” Jevon D. Brock & Restoration is enraptured by The Rapture. Their rejoicing is set on hyperdrive, with the singers and musicians shouting and clapping frenetically through what sounds like an extended praise reprise.

In fact, the Milwaukee-based group sings “Jesus is coming back/Will you be ready?” with such vigor that they seem not only ready for the second coming, but are joyously rolling out the red carpet.

"Let Go" - PJ Morton feat. Bishop Paul S. Morton

“Let Go”
PJ Morton featuring Bishop Paul S. Morton
S.O.S. (Songs of Solomon) (2010)

After being asked by audiences to perform the Stellar Award-winning hit he wrote for DeWayne Woods, PJ Morton decided to commit his version to CD. PJ’s father, Bishop Paul S. Morton of Greater St. Stephen Full Gospel Baptist Church, joins him on an emotional performance of the popular ode to letting go and letting God.

Morton couples this single with “Son of a Preacherman,” which is even more compelling than the lauded “Let Go.” The autobiographical song features the bespectacled singer-songwriter rapping about the conundrum of a preacher’s progeny: expressing his individuality in the face of unreasonable and confining expectations from parents, the church community, and the wider public.

PJ’s fifth album, Walk Alone, is due in stores and on iTunes April 6, 2010.

Meanwhile, check out PJ's YouTube page: www.youtube.com/sonofapreachermantv

Various Artists: A Gospel Tribute to Martin Luther King, Jr.

Various Artists
A Gospel Tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Against The Flow Records 2010
www.ilovegospelmusic.com

Grammy-winning producers Cedric and Victor Caldwell weave the musical tapestry for well-known singers to render traditional spirituals, gospel songs and anthems with a contemporary twist on A Gospel Tribute to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

This various artists project was released last month, just in time for the King national holiday and in anticipation of Black History Month.

“Lift Every Voice and Sing,” which opens the album, features a marvelous combo of Mary Mary and Smokie Norful, who gospelize the African-American National Anthem in a manner reminiscent of the 1990 version led by Melba Moore. Popular traditional singers Beverly Crawford and Ann McCrary (daughter of the Fairfield Four’s Sam McCrary) let loose on “Eyes Have Not Seen” and “I Need Thee Every Hour” respectively. Later, Crawford dips deep into her vocal register for “Run to the Water,” and comes up sounding very much like Mavis Staples.

One of the more interesting duos is Bernice A. King, Dr. King’s daughter, who introduces Christian hip hop artist IROCC’s “Born a King.” The great leader himself is represented by snippets of his speeches, which highlight the track “Farewell.” Angie Winans’ completely new interpretation of “The Lord’s Prayer” is enfolded in Take Six-like close and complex harmonies. Jerard Woods is aided by the Joint Heirs and Francis Mustapha on “Hands on the Plow.”

Surprisingly, “Take My Hand, Precious Lord” is not included on the project. It is no secret that Dorsey’s 1932 classic was Dr. King’s favorite gospel song. It would have been great to hear Ann McCrary, Beverly Crawford, or Mary Mary perform it here.

All in all, the gospel tribute to the slain civil rights leader has plenty of commercial appeal and hopefully will introduce the gospel artists to a much wider audience.

Four of Five Stars

gPod Picks: “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” “Born a King.”

41st Annual GMA Dove Awards

Congratulations to the artists nominated for the 41st Annual Gospel Music Association (GMA) Dove Awards!

Among those nominated in top categories this year are:

Artist of the Year
Mary Mary

New Artist of the Year
Crystal Aikin
Brian Courtney Wilson

Group of the Year
Hezekiah Walker & LFC

Female Vocalist of the Year
Mandisa
Heather Headley

Male Vocalist of the Year
Donnie McClurkin
Smokie Norful

The Dove Awards will be presented at the Grand Ole Opry Theater in Nashville, Tennessee on Wednesday, April 21, 2010.

The complete list of nominees is available at www.doveawards.com.

Black Heritage Gospel Showcase to Honor Minister Phyllis Kennedy Taylor

From a press release:

Houston, TX – The Inaugural Black Heritage Gospel Showcase will be held Saturday February 27, 2010 beginning at 6:00 pm at Greater True Faith Missionary Baptist Church in Houston, TX.

Minister Phyllis Kennedy Taylor has been named as this year’s recipient of The Gospel Warrior Sword Award.

The Houston Chapter of the Gospel Music Workshop of America (photo above), aka Houston Mass, under the leadership of Minister Ronald Materre, Dr. Theola Booker, and Minister Kenneth Miles, has been confirmed as the feature performer of the evening. The event is set to conclude Black History month for the gospel community for the city of Houston.

The gospel showcase will serve as the climax for a week of activities, including a two-day choir workshop that is open to the public. The workshop rehearsals will commence nightly at 7pm February 24 & 25, 2010, also at Greater True Faith Missionary Baptist Church. Minnie Cleveland, the congregation’s Director of Music, has been named clinician for the 2-day event.

Under the direction of Minister of Music, Yolanda Proctor, the workshop choir will perform as the opening act for the event. “This magnificent event will not only be to the glorification of God, but also for us to remember the (often forgotten) huge role the Church has played in Black History,” Yolanda explains.

Individual registration for the workshop choir is $10. For additional information about event participation or attendance, contact Yolanda Proctor at (713) 367-2925 and/or via email: yproctor43@yahoo.com.

P.A.M. Productions Presents Melba Moore in NYC March 7

Last October, TBGB readers had a chance to visit with acclaimed singer Melba Moore.

Patricia Martin of P.A.M. Productions told TBGB she is presenting Ms. Moore in a special Black History Month Celebration program in NYC, Sunday, March 7, 2010 (note new date).

The program will be held at 4:00 p.m. at Southern Baptist Church, 12 W. 108th Street in Harlem. Rev. Keith Roberson is Pastor. MC will be Daulton Anderson of WHCR 90.3 FM, with prayer and devotion by Rev. Eugene Rice.

Other artists on the March 7 program include the Seasons of Joy, the Joy Wonders, Rev. Mary Freeman, Catherine Miller, the Cocolo Japanese Gospel Choir, mime and praise dancers, and – one of my favorite choir names – the House Wrecking Dayspring M.B. Church Choir.

Martin, who moved to NYC from South Carolina at a young age, told TBGB she has been in the promotions business for six years: “I’m the baby on the block.” Still, she has produced programs featuring major artists such as Dorothy Norwood and Vickie Winans. Her motto is "Gospel Music at its Finest," and her strategy is to add local groups and singers to her productions so they benefit from the exposure.

“I was brought to the church through gospel music,” Martin commented. “If I can bring gospel music to one person, and that person comes to the church, then my work hasn’t been in vain.”

For more information, contact Patricia Martin at www.pamproductions.ning.com.

Photo: Melba Moore (left) with Patricia Martin (right) - from P.A.M. Productions website.

Chicago May Finally Get Gospel Music Museum

by Bob Marovich, The Black Gospel Blog.

Click below for a story from Chicago's WLS TV (ABC) on the progress of Rev. Stanley Keeble's efforts to get a gospel music museum up and running in its rightful birthplace: Chicago.

Gospel Music Museum

There is a correction to the story. Rev. Keeble (photo above, right) explained at a special luncheon he hosted this afternoon that it was mistakenly reported the museum received $1,000,000 in funding but should have read that he is seeking $1,000,000. As one attendee responded, "Well, then, let's do what we can to make it true!"

The new site for the museum is the pastorage adjacent to the historic Metropolitan Community Church at 41st and King Drive, now the Metropolitan Apostolic Community Church. Rev. Keeble has persisted with this project for years despite many setbacks, and has to be the happiest man alive to see the museum find space for its collection.

Interestingly, one of the most famous pre-gospel choirs, Prof. J. Wesley Jones and the Metropolitan Prize-Winning and Radio Choir, hailed from the church now providing quarter to the museum. In fact, one of gospel's pioneers, Magnolia N. Lewis Butts, was the group's featured soloist and went on to direct what is "technically" the city's first gospel choir: the W.D. Cook Gospel Chorus.

This afternoon's event at Captain Hard Times on Chicago's South Side was attended by some of Chicago's gospel legends, including reigning Queen of Gospel, Dr. Albertina Walker; Doris Sykes and Donald Smith from the Maceo Woods Singers and Christian Tabernacle Concert Choir; organist and songwriter Kenneth Woods, Jr.; Shirley Wahls of the Argo Singers; Bertha Melson of the Lux Singers; Eddie Robinson, pianist to Mahalia Jackson; Bro. Nash Shaffer; Pam Morris; Pastor DeAndre Patterson; singer-songwriter Calvin Bridges; Rhodessa and Billie of the Barrett Sisters; Betty Lester; and many more.

During the festivities, the Barrett Sisters (sans DeLois), Doris Sykes, Calvin Bridges and Bertha Melson separately rendered traditional gospel songs, with Bro. Shaffer on the electric piano.

Power: Money, Music and the Almighty - Melvin Couch

Power: Money, Music and the Almighty
Melvin Couch, with Kate E. Stephenson
Welstar Publications 2009
164 pages, w/illustrations

The music business is tough. Whether working in pop, rock, classical, jazz, easy listening, blues, country or gospel, there will be moments of joy and moments of frustration and disappointment. There will be trustworthy people and those whose behavior could embarrass the devil himself. There will be trials, lessons, lucky breaks, heel-kicking surprises and second chances.

Melvin Couch experienced all of them.

The late Mr. Couch, owner of Meltone Records and Nu-Sound Entertainment, passed away December 19, 2009 after a long illness. Despite his waning energy, Couch got his affairs in order, one of which included completing his autobiography.

Released posthumously, Power: Money, Music and the Almighty lives up to its title. Much like Ray Charles’ autobiography, Brother Ray (sans the blue language), Couch pulls no punches, telling it like it was. In conversational style, he chronicles the good, bad and ugly of his personal and business life. Born in 1940s Philadelphia, Couch was a Marine, police officer, numbers writer, and owner of fast-food restaurants and furniture stores before his Christian conversion and entrance into the music business. Couch was a bootstrap entrepreneur, turning nickels into dimes wherever he could. He admits to as many failures as triumphs along the way.

The story of the rise and fall and resurrection of the Meltone Entertainment Group is a primer for anyone desiring to start a record label. According to Couch’s story, it takes equal parts guts and luck as well as business acumen and well-cultivated relationships.

The book also covers Couch’s singing career with the Golden Wings and later as Melvin Couch & Company. Of course, Meltone Records was among his proudest achievements, as was his family and friendship with mentor Fred Mendelsohn of Savoy Records. Meltone focused on the traditional side of gospel, its roster resplendent with the likes of Doc McKenzie, Katie Sankey, Dr. C.J. Johnson, and the Violinaires.

Power: Money, Music and the Almighty is a case study in the reality of the music business. It ought to be required reading for those who want to enter the music business, have read the how-to books and attended the workshops, but want to see the landscape without rose-colored glasses.

At the same time, I doubt Couch’s intention was to scare readers off with his honest portrayals. Indeed, his stick-to-itiveness despite seemingly insurmountable obstacles should inspire many to make the journey anyhow. His was a life rich with phoenix-like moments, and in the end I’ll bet he’d say it was worth it all.

Various Artists - Grassroots Vol. 2

Various Artists
Grassroots Vol. 2
Lamp Mode Recordings 2009
www.lampmode.com

On its website, Lamp Mode Recordings of Philadelphia states that it is about “Christ-centered, excellent music that stays true to the authentic, rugged hip-hop aesthetic that we love while bringing glory to God - and at an affordable price. And when we can, we will give it away for free.”

Uh, wait. Did they say free?

In November 2004, the label released its first free holy hip hop compilation, Grassroots Vol. 1, as a thank you to fans for their support. They did it again in December 2009, issuing Grassroots Vol. 2 as a downloadable album.

The second various artist compilation features a dozen tracks, most unissued, remixed or soon-to-be issued singles from the label’s roster of Christian rap and holy hip hop artists, including Stephen the Levite, Hazakim, Json, shai linne, Evangel and Jas Knight. Lamp Mode’s commitment is to organically-created music unfettered by popular tastes, and as such, the tracks are fairly straightforward and the beats standard. On the other hand, the artists' rhymes make for pretty compelling listening.

Shai linne’s contributions provide the standout moments. On “I’m the One,” Death is the baddest gangsta on the planet, taunting, daring and scaring straight all those who don’t take him seriously. “Testify (remix)” finds the rapper sharing born again testimonies by the seriously street-hardened, the well-educated and one who grew up in a normal, God-fearing home.

On the subject of “What’s Your Proof,” Stephen the Levite rattles off Biblical passages like audibles to quieten Christianity’s skeptics. Json’s “Who Is He” features Christian rap star Lecrae.

As far as I can tell, the album is still downloadable for free at www.lampmode.com. So go get yourself a little somethin' somethin', courtesy of Lamp Mode. Then turn up the volume.

Four of Five Stars

gPod Picks: “What’s Your Proof,” “I’m the One,” “Testify (remix).”

Kenny Lewis & One Voice is on a Mission

by Bob Marovich, The Black Gospel Blog

More than a decade ago, Kenny Lewis was content to be a member of Appointed by God, a Chicago-based male group affiliated with Stellar Award-winning producer Daniel Weatherspoon. But God had other plans for him.

“I had no desire to have a group or choir,” explained Kenny Lewis. “But God laid it out for me. He sent people my way and gave me direction on how to put a group together.”

Kenny Lewis & One Voice was born in January 1999, and its debut CD, The Bridge, was released on Marxan Records in 2002. Now, nearly eleven years to the month of its founding, the choir has released its newest CD, The Mission. It is a project that captures the group’s vocal power and muscular stage presence.

The “Pentecostal born and bred” Lewis hails from Chicago’s south side. He has been in music ministry for years, teaching choirs and praise teams. “Music was my life from a young age,” he said. “My mom – God rest her soul, she’s been gone two years now – there were ten siblings in her family, and everyone in the family sang. And they all had children, and their children had children. Everybody sang.”

He adds, “I also grew up very strict. We couldn’t listen to any other kind of music but gospel. I think we are freer now; however, I thank God for my upbringing. The strictness saved my life.”

The sound of Kenny Lewis & One Voice is large and athletic. Lewis moves up and down the stage like a soldier in boot camp. Lewis laughs: “I was energetic even at a young age.”

At the same time, he points out, “Our music isn’t geared to one group of listeners. The sound has different variations, depending on whether or not it’s a high-energy song. I also love worship music. I love resting and bathing in the presence of God. We can bring it all the way down at times and leave it on the floor. We have something for everyone.”

Lewis counts among his earliest musical influences Thomas Whitfield & Company, Andrae Crouch and Walter and Edwin Hawkins. He also enjoys the Clark Sisters and Daryl Coley. “I like the older groups. They are kind of traditional but they also have a variety of music. And the lyrics have substance."

Lyrics are important to Lewis, who began writing songs as an adolescent. “God gives me songs even when I’m driving. He’ll just birth a song and I keep a tape recorder in the car so I won’t forget it. He has given me songs of personal experience, songs you can grasp onto. You don’t need to be a scholar to understand what the message is.”

Besides writing for his own group, Lewis has composed for artists such as Adrian B. King & Reverence, Mark Hubbard & United Voices for Christ, Albertina Walker, and Ricky Dillard & New G. About 85 percent of the songs on The Mission come from Lewis’s pen.

“I believe that in this time, God has called me to be an encourager. So often we’re tearing each other down – you shouldn’t do this or you shouldn’t do that – but you need somebody to let you know that you can make it, that there is an exit sign out of your trials and tribulations.”

The current single from The Mission, “I Am,” is making noise on XM and radio stations around the country. “The song simply means He’s everything,” Lewis explained. “He’s your protector, your promoter, your ruler. And when we’re going through things, we sometimes forget how powerful God really is.”

The next single from the album is likely to be “Victory,” featuring powerhouse vocalist Kim McFarland. The equally fiery Min. Tim White leads “Give Thanks,” what Lewis calls “an old school churchy type of song.”

The past few months have been busy for Kenny Lewis & One Voice, and there are no signs of slowing down any time soon.

“I don’t care how big of an artist you are, people don’t have to call you to do anything,” Lewis commented. “We’ve been blessed to be asked to appear at Chicago’s Gospel Fest. And we’re on the road a lot. But that has been my prayer, that God will allow us to minister to people that I don’t know, that maybe can barely speak my language, but understand that there is hope through Jesus Christ.”

He added, “I knew I would minister in music. I just didn’t know it would be on the level God has taken me to.”

For more information, go to: www.myspace.com/kennylewisonevoice.

TBGB Pick of the Week: February 15, 2010

“In the Name of the Lord”
Distinctive Praise
From the Ivory Coast Records album First Fruit
www.ivory-coastrecords.com

KC Fortenberry of Distinctive Praise said the group’s 2008 appropriately titled debut album, First Fruit, was intended to be “real and emotional.” If the album's single “In the Name of the Lord” is any indication, the finished product met KC’s expectations.

“In the Name of the Lord,” is a no-holds-barred, bluesy Chicago-style hand-clapper. Like an apostolic band of Robin Hoods, Distinctive Praise declares that it is taking back everything Satan stole from them, including their joy, “in the name of the Lord.” Based on the joy that pours forth from this track, I'm thinking they succeeded.

Coming later this month: the premier episode of The Black Gospel Blog Music Hour…where with the push of a button you’ll hear a sampling of the songs we write about every week!

You Deserve All Praise - Madelyn Berry

Madelyn Berry
You Deserve All Praise
BerryTightMusic 2010
https://www.cdbaby.com/cd/madelynberry

Madelyn Berry is an extraordinarily gifted vocalist. She possesses boundless energy, superb pacing, a personality that leaps out of the speakers, and a spectacular voice that runs the gamut from throaty warble to launching pad for high notes that soar into the ozone layer.

On her first major release, You Deserve All Praise, the Orlando, Florida-based singer comes out of the gate already warmed up, extending syllables on the opening track, “Oh Clap Your Hands,” as if it were a Handel recitative. She performs Chris Tomlin’s quintessential praise and worship ballad, “How Great is Our God,” with power and aplomb, tagging a sing-along version of “How Great Thou Art” to the coda. Berry also tears the cover off the congregational gospel song, “Oh How I Love Jesus.”

Berry slows down the energy and tempo mid-program, probably to catch her breath in preparation for a strong conclusion.

The singer wrote most of the songs on the album, either alone or in collaboration with her husband, Taron Berry, who also produced the album and assisted on keyboards. Three original compositions deserve special mention. “Leaning” has an effective call and response and simple, jump rope chant melody. “Yes You Can,” punctuated by inspirational messages from Berry’s pastor, Rev. Zachery Tims of New Destiny Christian Center in Apopka, Florida, is a ballad of encouragement with crossover potential. The title track is an excellent sampling of Berry’s touch on an extended praise and worship number.

While this is a live album, at least one track sounds studio-produced. But no matter: a hidden live track gives the listener an unexpected opportunity to catch a few more minutes of the program.

You Deserve All Praise is a well-produced major introduction to Madelyn Berry. She is scheduled to appear on Dr. Bobby Jones' program in May, which affirms that her star continues to rise.

Four of Five Stars

gPod Picks: “Oh How I Love Jesus,” “Leaning,” “Yes You Can,” "You Deserve All Praise."

"Free" - RiZen

“Free”
RiZen
From the Verity Records CD Free (2009)
http://www.verityrecords.com/

Free, the third CD by Adriann and Aundrea Lewis, better known as the Stellar Award-winning gospel duo RiZen, has energy and optimism to spare. The title track pulls no punches, either. It is as liberated musically as its title and theme suggest.

With a team of producers including Fred Hammond, Aaron Lindsey, Daniel Weatherspoon and the Lewis’s brother Ay’Ron, “Free” is unabashedly urban. The song also benefits from a stack of remixes. The A Lin-Z mix (aka Aaron Lindsay) is especially fresh and compelling.

The Sojourners (Black Hen Music)

The Sojourners
The Sojourners
Black Hen Music 2009
www.blackhenmusic.com

Vancouver is on everyone’s minds these days as the Winter Olympics start today, but there’s another reason to focus attention on this wonderful city. It’s a quartet – technically a trio – called the Sojourners.

The Sojourners are Will Sanders, Ron Small and Marcus Mosely. They hail originally from the lower 48 but Canada is their home now. First appearing as a trio backing Canadian blues icon Jim Byrnes on his House of Refuge, the Sojourners went on to release their debut album, Hold On, in 2007. Their eponymous sophomore project for Black Hen Music is now available.

The Sojourners as a group may be relatively new but make no mistake: each member has toiled in the music business for some fifty years. Their expertise is telling, too. With a staccato attack on the jump jubilee “Brother Moses Smote the Water” and a lovely harmonic rendition of Doris Akers’ “Lead Me, Guide Me,” the Sojourners sound as if they built their playlist from a stack of old gospel records.

Point in fact: the album features a rarely-covered early Violinaires classic, the falsetto gospel/doowop “Another Soldier Gone,” which in its narrative interlude takes on a chilling relevance to today’s conflicts. Kudos to Vancouver gospel announcer Marc Lindy for suggesting the group include the song on its project.

The Sojourners capture the chilling eeriness of death anthropomorphized on its cover of Rev. Gary Davis’ “Death Don’t Have No Mercy.” Dorothy Love Coates’ “Strange Man” and a spritely version of “By and By” are other vintage pieces included on the album.

On two tracks, the Sojourners sound as if they are getting in touch with their inner Impressions. They imbue “Nobody Can Turn Me Around” and “When I Die” with the loping soul groove of Curtis Mayfield’s iconic vocal group.

The Sojourners’ self-titled second CD is jump out of your seat joyous, a marvelous mix of tight, old-school harmonies surrounded by stinging slide guitar work and languorous dobro plucking. Rootsy and righteous!

Five of Five Stars

gPod Picks: “Nobody Can Turn Me Around,” “Brother Moses Smote the Water,” “Lead Me Guide Me.”

Julia Royston - For Your Glory Lord (Live DVD)

Julia Royston
For Your Glory Lord: Concert DVD
Juju 4ee Publishing
www.juliaroyston.com

Jeffersonville, Indiana sits on the north bank of the Ohio River. Louisville, Kentucky gazes across from the south bank. On May 24, 2009, folks from both banks gathered to attend gospel singer Julia Royston’s musical, For Your Glory Lord, and it was preserved on DVD.

Hailing from Jeffersonville, Royston is a singer-songwriter, poet and producer who founded For the Kingdom Ministries and has performed on Dr. Bobby Jones' New Artist Showcase. She is what gospel fans teasingly call a flatfooted singer – she doesn’t move all over the stage but sings in place – and has a choir of sixteen (including husband Brian) as background vocalists. Her May 2009 program had a friendly, neighborly quality to it, very easy-going and intimate.

Similarly, the singer’s praise and worship songs have a gentle, accessible quality. Most all the songs she sang that evening came from her own pen, and the traditional-style pieces were the most compelling. For example, “Wait on the Lord,” what Royston referred to as a “back to the old church” number, is an up-tempo hand-clapper with a distinctive backbeat, fit for a mass choir. Royston even borrowed from Ricky Dillard’s classic “More Abundantly” for the song’s special section. Similarly, “Build the House” featured the happy-go-lucky bounce that Dorsey endowed on his early evangelistic songs.

The DVD would have been even better had the videographer focused more often on the audience’s response to Royston’s music, and if program-goers had been asked to fill the first two rows so the well-appointed Bates Memorial, where the program was held, appeared full even when the camera was aimed at the artists. Otherwise, the sound was strong, the visuals were clear, and the musicians top-quality.

Royston has a knack for songwriting, as her composition “Strength” and the hypnotic “Love and Choose You” demonstrated that evening. For Your Glory Lord exudes the warmth of being among friends at a pleasant Saturday or Sunday musical.

Three of Five Stars

Oldest Living COGIC Jurisdictional Bishop A.T. Moore Dies

Jerry and Val Griffis of I Am Magazine reported that Bishop A.T. Moore, Jurisdictional Prelate Emeritus of the Kentucky 1st Jurisdiction of the Church of God in Christ, passed away.

According to his bio, Bishop Moore, who was born in 1911, was the "last living, active Jurisdictional Bishop in the Church of God in Christ who was personally appointed by the founder, Bishop Charles H. Mason."

Among other loved ones, Bishop Moore leaves his grandson, Austin Moore, member of the gospel group Nu Tradition.

We ask your prayers for the family, friends, and members of the Kentucky 1st Jurisdiction of COGIC on Bishop Moore's passing.

For more information, go to www.kycogic.org.

Various Artists - WOW Gospel 2010

Various Artists
WOW Gospel 2010
Verity Records
www.wowgospelonline.com

I have been an ardent follower of the WOW Gospel series since its debut in February, 1998.

Back then, I was not as heavily involved in the gospel music industry as I am now, so the collection was a way to keep current on who was hip and what songs were popular. So eager was I every year to secure a copy of the latest edition that if my local music store hadn't yet stocked its shelves with the project on the Tuesday of its release, I had the clerk go into the storeroom and pull one out.

More than a decade and thousands of CD previews later, I still regard the annual release of the WOW Gospel compilation as something of a special event. The event is the opening of an audio yearbook and a chance to reflect on the gospel hits of the previous twelve months.

It is also a chance to catch up on songs I hadn’t previewed the first time. Like Whitney Houston’s “I Look To You,” which is exquisite, delivered by Whitney with confidence, poise and dignity. It demonstrates that the beleaguered member of the storied Drinkard/Warrick family has so much more to offer.

Familiar, but no less compelling, tracks include Mary Mary’s “I Worship You,” James Fortune & FIYA’s “I Trust You,” and one of the biggest gospel hits of the year, Hezekiah Walker and LFC’s “Souled Out.”

Some years ago, the series began spotlighting a different city with each release. This year’s edition is dedicated to Detroit, and – surprise – plenty of Detroiters are included in the collection to represent their hometown, such as CeCe Winans, Donnie McClurkin, J Moss, Kierra Sheard, Vanessa Bell Armstrong, Maurette Brown Clark, Deitrick Haddon and Byron Cage. Of course, these artists would be part of the project anyway. Nevertheless, their presence illustrates what an influence Detroit has had on the gospel scene, thanks in large part to the groundwork of legendary D-Town COGIC families the Winans and Moss/Clarks.

The project concludes with Rev. Timothy Wright and the New York Fellowship Mass Choir's 2007 “Enter His Gates.” It is a fitting if bittersweet tribute to the late Rev. Timothy Wright, whose passing last April continues to resound throughout the gospel music community.

Listening to the new WOW Gospel release is an eagerly-awaited annual tradition, now in its thirteenth year. And in a world that paves over traditions at will, every special moment, no matter what the occasion, needs protecting and cherishing. Can I get an amen...or a WOW?

Five of Five Stars

Here's One for the Quartet Fans!

Marvin Lyles, who invited me to be a guest on his "Gospel Sunrise" program this past Sunday (WGVE 88.7 FM - Gary, IN), lent me this photo to share with you.

The photo was taken at the American Gospel Quartet Convention in Birmingham, Alabama on January 22, 2010, and shows Lyles surrounded by quartet living legends.

From left: Horace Thompson (Sensational Nightingales), Thomas Spann (Brooklyn All Stars), Roscoe Robinson (Five Blind Boys of Mississippi), Larry Moore, Lyles, Darrell Luster (Malaco Records gospel artist), Min. George Stewart (founder and president of the AGQC), and Jo Jo Wallace (Sensational Nightingales).

Lyles also noted that Evelyn Starks Hardy, the last living member of the Original Gospel Harmonettes, received the AGQC's "John Legion Lifetime Achievement Award" at the convention and recently published her autobiography, The Sweetest Harmony. Willa Ward received the "Dorothy Love Coates Award."

Photo Credit: PicturePlus Productions

TBGB Pick of the Week: February 9, 2010

“The Great I Am”
Donnie McClurkin
From the Verity Records CD We All Are One (Live in Detroit) - 2009
www.verityrecords.com

Donnie McClurkin laces up his shouting shoes and leads his energetic vocalists and the live audience in Detroit through a rollicking, hand-clapping old-school sounding praise workout that is actually one of his own compositions, “The Great I Am.”

The song’s swinging tempo and the brisk call-and-response between McClurkin and his vocalists give you the feeling of being present during a Pentecostal worship service when the Holy Ghost enters the sanctuary.

Paulis Sanchez - Seguro En Ti

Paulis Sanchez
Seguro En Ti
Oxygeno Musica 2007
www.paulissanchez.com

It’s evident that gospel music is an international phenomenon when a Colombian-born Latina living in Toronto, Canada sings a Walter Hawkins song in Spanish. And it works.

Meet the lovely and talented Paulis Sanchez.

Sanchez, who for years has led the bi-lingual worship services at her home church, Rhema Christian Ministries in Toronto, released her debut solo album, Seguro En Ti (Safe in You) in 2007. It is an impressive debut: well produced, compelling, and melodic. Most importantly, the album exudes Sanchez’s joy in singing the glory down.

Steeped in black gospel music at Rhema, Sanchez is just as comfortable rendering praise and worship songs and hard-hitting urban-flavored gospel (Papa San and Sean Simmons are guest artists) as she is delivering heartwarming worship ballads in the Latin Christian tradition. She can work a hip hop-infused gospel such as “Me Tienes,” and then sing as tenderly as the late Selena Quintanilla-Perez. Ballads such as “Cuan Hermoso,” and her oft-requested song, “En Ti Jehova” are fine examples of her softer style.

Sanchez displays her commanding yet graceful alto on songs such as “Canta al Senor,” “Quien,” and “Gracias,” the latter a Spanish-language version of Walter Hawkins’ classic “Thank You.” “Gracias” is followed immediately by “Gracias Fiesta,” a reprise that highlights the song’s Latin groove.

Sanchez plans for her next release to be in English, which will help open more doors for her. But even if you don’t know a word of Spanish, you will enjoy the singing of Paulis Sanchez, as well as the sweet melodies and variety of styles displayed on Seguro En Ti.

Read more about Paulis Sanchez in an article I wrote for Music as Follows.

Four of Five Stars

gPod Picks: “Quien,” “Eres Mi Gozo,” “En Ti Jehova.”

Blind Boys of Alabama to Perform for the Obamas

From a press release:

BLIND BOYS OF ALABAMA TO PERFORM AT WHITE HOUSE FOR PRESIDENT AND MRS. OBAMA

Concert Airs on PBS February 11th

Also Features Bob Dylan, John Legend, Seal, Jennifer Hudson, John Mellencamp, Natalie Cole and Smokey Robinson

Fairfax, VA (January, 2010) -- The Blind Boys of Alabama have been invited to perform at a special concert at the White House on February 10th. “In Performance at the White House: A Celebration of Music From the Civil Rights Movement,” will be held in the State Dining Room, and is timed to celebrate Black History Month.

The Blind Boys will join hosts President and Mrs. Obama as well as music superstars Bob Dylan, John Legend, Seal, Jennifer Hudson, John Mellencamp, Natalie Cole and Smokey Robinson on the bill. Morgan Freeman and Queen Latifah will emcee the entire event. The concert will be the White House’s first music event of 2010, and is the latest concert in a music series started last year by Michelle Obama. It will be streamed live online at whitehouse.gov and broadcast on PBS on February 11th.

The event is a particularly poignant one for the Blind Boys. "Our group started singing together in Alabama in the late 1930s, and we lived through the dark days of segregation," says Jimmy Carter, the band’s leader and one of its founding members. "That’s why it is a great pleasure and an even greater honor to sing on this program."

The White House concert adds to an already remarkable year for the legendary gospel group. The band opened 2010 with a series of concerts in China, then flew to New York last week where they were joined by Lou Reed for a blistering performance on the "Late Show with David Letterman." Their rendition of “Jesus,” from the Blind Boys’ current album Duets, marked the first time the unusual collaborators had performed in public together.

The Blind Boys are also featured in the new documentary film which relates to the subject matter of the White House show. Soundtrack for a Revolution tells the story of the civil rights movement through the music which accompanied the struggle. The movie is on the short list in the Best Documentary Film category for the Academy Awards.

Soundtrack features the Blind Boys as well as the Roots, John Legend, Wyclef Jean and many other performers interpreting the music of the Civil Rights Movement. In its review of the film, the New York Times noted that one of “the best musical performances belong[s] to…the Blind Boys of Alabama.”

The group will be touring the rest of the spring, including upcoming concerts in Morristown, N.J. (with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band), at UCLA’s Royce Hall (with Allen Toussaint) and at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, punctuated by their induction into the Alabama Music Hall of Fame in Montgomery, AL on March 25.

The Blind Boys of Alabama Tour Dates Include:

February 20 Springfield, IL University of Illinois - Sangamon Auditorium*with John Hammond

February 21 Wiliamsburg, VA The College of William and Mary Kimball Theater

February 25 Chico, CA California State University, Chico Laxson Auditorium

February 26 Reno, NV Knitting Factory

March 4 Santa Barbara, CA Lobero Theatre

March 6 Los Angeles, CA UCLA Live

March 7 Solana Beach, CA Belly Up

March 19 Franklin, NC Smoky Mountain Center for the Performing Arts

March 25 Huntsville, AL The Alabama Music Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony

April 23 Tampa, FL Skipper’s Smokehouse

April 24 Wellington, FL Wellington Community High School Theater

April 25-26 New Orleans, LA New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival

May 16 Gulf Shores, AL The Hangout Music Festival

June 12 Fès, MOROCCO Festival de Fès

Various Artists - Shoutin' Down the Aisles

Various Artists
Shoutin’ Down the Aisles
Time Life/Sony Music Entertainment 2009
www.timelife.com

On the two-CD version of Time Life’s Shoutin’ Down the Aisles, the effervescent Donnie McClurkin declares to the congregation:

“We talk a lot about gospel music but I come to find out the things that we’re singing really nowadays aren’t really gospel. They’re inspirational, but they’re not really gospel music.”

Pearson’s comment could easily serve as the preamble of this marvelous, thirty-track collection of previously-released traditional gospel recordings by today’s superstars and longtime legends of the genre.

While most compilations that focus on traditional gospel feature vintage recordings by classic artists, Shoutin’ Down the Aisles does things differently. While you’ll find delicious fare by powerhouse traditional singers such as Evelyn Turrentine-Agee, Dottie Peoples and Marvin Sapp, contemporary stars such as Mary Mary, Tonex, Kirk Franklin and Coko also put on their shoutin’ shoes.

Focusing primarily on recordings of the 1990s and 2000s, with most selections from the 2000s, the compilation demonstrates that even urban contemporary artists have a Zion song or two tucked away in their repertories. Mary Mary’s “Call Him Jesus,” included on the set, is every bit as roof-shaking as Tamela Mann’s “Praise Medley.”

New classics one might expect on a project of this ilk include Jimmy Hicks and the Voices of Integrity’s “Born Blessed” and Vickie Winans’ church-wrecking “Long as I Got King Jesus” (attributed to James Cleveland, but contrary to popular belief, it was written by Calvin White of the Gospel Wonders). The Chicago Mass Choir’s popular “Holy Ghost Power” features the roof-raising vocals of Lemmie Battles.

Plenty of pleasant surprises abound, too, such as “Oh Lord, I’m Asking You One More Time” by H.E. Dixon and Truth Tabernacle; the pulse-racing “My Everything” by the James’; and a stunningly beautiful choir outing, “If You Come to Him,” by the Edwin Hawkins Music and Arts Tri-State Mass Choir, featuring soloist Carolyn Ransom.

Bill Carpenter, author of Uncloudy Days: The Gospel Music Encyclopedia, contributed informative liner notes.

The two-CD version sold so well via direct response television that Time Life has released a fourteen-track version of Shoutin’ Down the Aisles that is now available in stores. The shortened version includes two selections not on the original: one song each by the Blind Boys of Alabama and Gary’s Deniece Williams who, before her disco career, sang with the Northern Indiana State Mass Choir of COGIC.

Both the two-CD and single-disc package should come with a consumer warning: listening to this fast-paced, hand-clapping, foot-stomping, hip-slapping collection while driving a motor vehicle could result in a speeding ticket.

Five of Five Stars

gPod Picks: "Long As I Got King Jesus," “If You Come to Him,” “My Everything,” “Call Him Jesus,” “I’ve Learned to Lean.”

"Try" - Charise Miles

“Try”
Charise Miles
From the Bajada Records CD Charise Miles (2009)

I heard Smokie Norful say recently that gospel is the music of hope and encouragement. If so, then “Try,” the single by Detroit’s lovely Charise Miles, is literally by the book.

Here, amidst relentlessly bouncy, high-energy R&B, Miles provides a litany of affirmations for you to tackle the impossible and the unreachable, because God’s got your back. But then again, she reminds, “without faith, it’s not possible.”

“Try” was written, arranged and produced by the supremely talented Percy Bady, whose trademark polyrhythmic musicianship is all over this track like fingerprints. Miles’ self-titled debut is released on Bajada Records, the label owned by Straight Gate Church of Detroit’s Bishop Andrew Merritt.

Shawn Brown, Co-Founder of Youthful Praise, Dead at 43

A press release from Urban Roundup:

NORWALK - One of the local legends of Gospel Music and an internationally recognized top songwriter, Shawn Brown died Sunday night (Feb. 1) after a long illness.

Brown was born January 29, 1967 and died just days after his 43rd birthday. His manager Germane Miller was working with him on a number of great projects and is committed to maintaining his legacy.

Brown is best known as the co-founder of the popular group Youthful Praise. He and local singer-songwriter James "JJ" Hairston started Youthful Praise or "YP" as it is called.

Founded in 1992, the 35-member choir was birthed out of their home church, Cathedral of Praise in Bridgeport, Connecticut, where the group remains as one of the church's choirs. As their ministry grew, they began singing background for artists such as Destiny's Child, Pastor Shirley Caesar, and SWV, to name a few.

In 2001, YP released their debut album, Awesome God. The mid-tempo title track became an instant hit among church and college choirs across America, and propelled the album to #13 on the Billboard Gospel Albums chart. Additionally, it earned two Stellar Award nods in 2003 for Choir of the Year and Contemporary Choir of the Year, a Soul Train Award nomination for Gospel Artist of the Year, the Gospel Music Workshop of America Excellence Award nomination for Choir of Year and the Gospel Truth Magazine Award for Contemporary Choir of the Year.

The 2004 release of Thank You For The Change continued in the same stride with songs "Up There" and "He Rose." However, it was Live: The Praise, The Worship, released in 2005 that put YP on the map. Producing the anthem, "Incredible God, Incredible Praise," YP received two Stellar Award nominations, peaked at #6 on Billboard's gospel singles chart, and was also #27 on Billboard's hottest gospel songs of 2006.

Known nationally for his contemporary hits, Brown credited the legendary songwriter Thomas Whitfield and his contemporaries V. Michael McKay and Richard Smallwood.

Brown told GospelFlava, "It's one thing to write or be a director. It's another to be able to capture what you hear. Understand that as a writer, you hear in your mind exactly what you want to achieve, where you want the sound, when you want it. And if you can get the choir to sound the way you have it in your mind, then that's a good director."

The family is making funeral arrangements and TBGB will provide additional information as it becomes available.

Road 2 Nowhere - Pettidee

Pettidee
Race 2 Nowhere
Soldier Sound Records 2010
www.soldiersound.com

Race 2 Nowhere is the sixth album from Pettidee (aka Dewayne Petty), a Christian hip hop artist from Florida who is now based in Nashville. His dirty south sound is gritty, tough-as-nails, unflinchingly honest and musically intense.

At the same time, the album is compellingly tuneful, thanks to a generous injection of what Pettidee calls “Quad-Rock,” a mixture of hip hop, rock, jazz and digital. A lovely vocal line by Debra Hood on “Hydro,” which echoes in your mind long after the track is over, doesn’t hurt, either.

Race 2 Nowhere is a theme album, the songs vignettes about the mean streets and its satanic rule, but also how salvation is the antidote to, and escape valve from, a dead-end life of poverty, pain and entrapment. Just as Jesus was “beat for me and died,” he also “rose from the grave.”

The race metaphor flows throughout the project, which explodes like dynamite during the second track and current single, “The Ghetto.” Here, Pettidee exposes today’s crooked, mean-spirited, dog-eat-dog society, and his assertion that when you are “from the gutta of the ghetto…there’s nowhere else…to go” but up. And that’s exactly where he has gone.

Even though Pettidee rhymes about the “race to nowhere” existence from the other side of the hurdle, he doesn’t stop to rest. In “The Grind,” he raps, “I can’t give up or quit/Broke is bad for my health; My kids can’t eat a bowl of sorry for self.”

Race 2 Nowhere aims its invective between the eyes of the distinctly unsaved, whose road to potential salvation and survival isn’t paved with hymns but with hip hop. Pettidee spits his rhymes as if someone’s life depends on it, because someone's does.

Four of Five Stars

gPod Picks: “The Ghetto,” “Fly,” “Freeze.”

TBGB Pick of the Week: February 1, 2010

"Running Back to You”
Lowell Pye
From the Miralex Records CD Finally (2010)
www.miralexrecords.com

Team an experienced vocalist (Lowell Pye) with a top gospel producer (Asaph A. Ward), have him sing something from the catalog of a successful songwriter (Fred Hammond) and voila! You have “Running Back to You.”

A former member of the Stellar Award-winning quartet Men of Standard who cut his gospel teeth as part of John P. Kee’s New Life Community Choir, Pye knows his way around a gospel song. Commissioned’s “Running Back to You,” a lovely, melodic ballad about prodigal forgiveness, is perfect for Pye’s crooning pipes. It combines sufficient measures of classic contemporary and today’s sound to make the single appealing to fans of both.

“Running Back to You” is released on Asaph Ward’s new Miralex Records imprint. By the way, Miralex sports one of the coolest-looking logos out there: an angel, head and halo tilted stage left, belting into a vintage microphone.