I Remember Gospel and I Keep On Singing - Minister Gene D. Viale

I Remember Gospel and I Keep On Singing
Minister Gene D. Viale
Bloomington, IN: AuthorHouse, 2010
257 pp. with Illus.
www.geneviale.com

Gene Viale has quite a story to tell.

His is a unique perspective on the gospel music business during and after the golden age, and he chronicles it in his recently published autobiography, I Remember Gospel and I Keep On Singing.

Viale was one of the first non-African Americans to sing gospel music to a predominantly African-American audience, and he did it as a member of the Cleveland Singers. (Elizabeth Meagher of the Exodus Singers was another). While Viale was often considered white, he was in fact Latino, and as such encountered similar humiliations as his fellow singers, such as developing kidney problems from having to drive hundreds of miles through the Jim Crow south without access to a bathroom for non-whites. Other trials were particular to his situation, including a tense moment at Chicago’s storied Mt. Pisgah Church when a group of young Black Muslims were ready to mess him up for singing their music, but changed their minds after hearing him.

Interesting stories that Viale tells include how the famed Jessy Dixon Singers served as the background singers on his 1968 solo album, What Color is God (Checker), and how the Caravans might have done the honors. He chronicles the controversy over the album’s jacket cover that all but sunk any chances at continued radio play. Other tidbits, such as how Chicago's popular radio minister, Bishop James Anderson of the Redeeming Church of Christ, was once a member of the Katherine Dunham dance troupe, are the stuff that make historians fist pump.

I Remember Gospel places the reader in the middle of the golden age of gospel, with all of its triumphs and tragedies, joy and sorrow, elation and disappointment. Along the way, the reader meets Mahalia Jackson, Sallie Martin, Thomas A. Dorsey, James Cleveland, Albertina Walker and the Caravans, Dorothy Love Coates, Sandra and Andrae Crouch, Danniebelle Hall, and so many more -- those who gilded the golden age and those who reshaped gospel into a contemporary form.

Written in a conversational style, as if Viale is simply recounting the story of his life around the dinner table, I Remember Gospel radiates a warm and generous spirit on every page. It is written with dignity, grace and humility, a remembrance of a career with highs and lows but always anchored in family, friends, faith, hope and enduring gratitude for blessings bestowed. Gene Viale keeps on singing, indeed, and his resilency as an artist and minister is perhaps the real crux of the story.

"You Pulled Me Through" - Toni Rackard feat. Marvin Winans, Jr.

“You Pulled Me Through”
Toni Rackard feat. Marvin Winans, Jr.
From the Beyond the Veil Records CD
Unconditional Love 2010
www.tonirackard.com

A chance encounter (or was it?) with Marvin Winans, Jr. in Tampa enabled Floridian Toni Rackard to get some of that Detroit sound on the first single from her forthcoming debut album, Unconditional Love (Beyond the Veil Records).

Rackard explained: “We were at the Good Luck Café in Tampa and Marvin was there. Marcus Turner [Behind the Veil’s Promotions Director] thought it would be nice to have Marvin on the CD. So we talked to him and he agreed to do a song with me.”

Opening with the soft and smooth vibe of Michael Jackson’s “Human Nature,” “You Pulled Me Through” is a contemporary gospel duet that celebrates Christ’s redemptive power. The song’s question, “Where would I be without you?” could also apply to Winans’ participation on the single. Rackard has honed her craft the old-fashioned way – building plenty of local buzz – but when it comes to national exposure, it doesn’t hurt to have an established artist beside you.

Rackard is the praise and worship leader at Jesus People Family Worship Center in Tampa, FL.

Brian Courtney Wilson: An Artist Rising

By Bob Marovich of The Black Gospel Blog.

To say that much has happened to Brian Courtney Wilson since he sat down to talk with TBGB in September 2008 would be an understatement.

Wilson's debut solo album, Just Love, was released on Matthew Knowles’ Spirit Rising Music imprint in January 2009, and shot like a bullet to the Top Ten of the Billboard gospel album charts. Today, more than a year after its release, Just Love still sits high, at #11.

The album’s first two singles, “Already Here” and “All I Need,” also charted. “All I Need” has been on the Billboard gospel single charts for 49 weeks and remains in the Top Twenty.

Last week, Wilson told TBGB why he believes “All I Need” became popular and has remained so. “Yolanda Adams played it on her [syndicated radio] show early on. And I recently saw a tweet that said ‘All I Need’ was ‘simple yet heartfelt at the same time’ and that it has ‘depth in the performance.’ When you do gospel, you want to be authentic. When people respond this way, we know we did it.”

In addition to chart success, Wilson received a 2009 Mississippi Gospel Music Award for Song of the Year by a National Single Artist for “All I Need,” written by Stan Jones, who also produced Just Love. Next month, Wilson will find out if he garners any honors at the 41st Annual GMA Dove Awards. Last year, he was a presenter on the program. This year, he has been nominated for New Artist of the Year and Urban Recorded Song of the Year (“Just Love”).

Meanwhile, “Believe,” a selection from Just Love that TBGB includes on its list of Gospel Songs for Weddings, is being marketed to urban contemporary radio. “The video we did of this song at my church had 10,000 hits on YouTube before the album was even released,” Wilson commented.

The latest single from the album is the title track, “Just Love.” “This is the song that talks about my transition to gospel music ministry, meeting Matthew Knowles and recording the album.”

Needless to say, Wilson’s previous career as a pharmaceutical rep is in the rear view mirror. He is now writing songs and pitching them to artists planning recordings. Spirit Rising Music is also discussing a re-release of Just Love with four new songs sometime this fall.

Despite the success, Wilson acknowledges that it has not been a frictionless journey. “There was a year when we weren’t even sure that the album was going to come out, but God loves me so much, he won’t let me mess his will.”

Photo: Brian Courtney Wilson w/TBGB's Bob Marovich, September 2008.

Various Artists - ilovegospelmusic Traditional

Various Artists
ilovegospelmusic Traditional
ILG Records 2009
www.ilovegospelmusic.com

We’ve been reviewing a number of various artist reissue compilations recently, and here’s another.

ilovegospelmusic Traditional is a collaboration between ILG Records, Central South Distribution and several record labels, most prominently MCG and Blackberry.

The twelve track CD includes previously issued tracks from the stoic Lee Williams and the Spiritual QCs and Keith “Wonderboy” Johnson – the young man with an old quartetter’s soul – to Norman Hutchins and Juanita Bynum.

While the compilation is designated as traditional, William Murphy and Nicole Binion’s lovely and emotional “I Will Rejoice” and Myron Williams’ “Made to Worship” might more properly be classified as praise and worship. A nice surprise on the project, and one of the album’s highlights, is “More Like Jesus,” a driving uptempo quartet track by the Racy Brothers.

The project benefits from many live selections and extended workouts that possess that spontaneous electricity that distinguishes gospel from other forms of music. Great lyric lines abound, too. On “I Just Want to be Right,” Keith “Wonderboy” Johnson declares, “Now how many know the devil doesn’t have any new tricks, he just has new faces?” And the Canton Spirituals note of their music ministry on “Strugglin’ and Strainin’”: “I have never received a Grammy but I hope somebody was saved.”

ilovegospelmusic Traditional ends, appropriately, with an altar call, courtesy of “We Offer Christ” from Bishop Paul Morton and the Greater St. Stephen Mass Choir. From the sounds of the warm applause punctuating the singing, the call was successful.

Four of Five Stars

gPod Picks: “More Like Jesus,” “I Just Want to be Right.”

Reviewed by Bob Marovich for The Black Gospel Blog.

TBGB Pick of the Week: March 29, 2010

“I’m Free”
Rafeal Ross
From the R2 Music CD New Creation – Live 2010
www.rafealross.com

Rafeal Ross’s “I’m Free” is an ideal selection for anticipating the joy of Easter Sunday.

This song, written by Ross and Tifani Wilson, is about the personal freedom gained from Christ’s death and resurrection. It is accompanied by an appropriately ecstatic vocal performance by the artist and a choir of background vocalists from Mt. Pleasant Baptist Church of Herndon, Virginia (Rev. Dr. James Graham, pastor), where Ross serves as Director of Music and Arts.

Monthly Gospel Hour Series Debuts at Chicago's Regal

Chicago’s Regal Theater resounded with the sounds of local gospel music Saturday evening, March 27, as choirs, groups, a Christian comedian, praise dancers and soloists participated in the first ChiTown Tonight: the Gospel Hour Series.

ChiTown Tonight was created to provide a regular, affordable, family-friendly gospel program featuring emerging and nationally-known Chicago artists in a theater setting. The goal is to hold the program every fourth Saturday evening at the Regal, 1645 East 79th Street.

The first half of the program featured local choirs and the second half recording artists. Hosts Larry Tabron and Yvonne Wesley kept the audience entertained and the program moving along, as one group after another took to the spotlight, accompanied by a parade of musicians who settled in behind drums and plugged in keyboards, guitars, and bass. A vintage Hammond B3, looking for all the world like a survivor of gospel’s golden era, got a workout all evening.

Highlights of the program included the choir from Pastor Pearley Champion’s Peace, Mercy and Charity Church. The choir nearly sent the Regal’s winged lion statues to holy dancing as it burned up the stage with its sanctified performance.

Later, the legendary Leanne Faine (photo above) paced the stage, singing her current single, the churchy and uptempo “Serve the Lord.” Donald “Buster” Woods and G3, his choir of youth between the ages of 14 and 22, provided an aerobic performance, drawing from the theatricality of Kirk Franklin and Tye Tribbett’s ensembles.

Kenny Lewis and One Voice closed the show, with the diminutive ball of energy Min. Tim White guest soloing with the group. White then rendered Pastor Marvin Sapp’s new single, “The Best in Me,” as a classically extemporaneous gospel solo, demonstrating his seemingly boundless energy. Great things are in store for White, who can just about out-shout any gospel artist out there.

The next ChiTown Tonight gospel program will be Saturday, April 24. Elder Phil Tarver (“Better Than That”), New Direction with Percy Gray and Fellowship’s Anita Wilson,"one of gospel music's gems," are the scheduled headliners. Tickets will be available next week from the Regal Theater: (773) 768-9900.

Photo of Leanne Faine: Bob Marovich - The Black Gospel Blog.

DJ Official - Entermission

DJ Official
Entermission
Reach Records 2010
www.reachrecords.com

“My mission is to find him and introduce him to saving grace…I grab my Bible and iPod and leave the house.”

This line, from J.A.Z. and Magellan’s “Streets of New York,” is an apt description of the 21st century missionary. To save the errant who run today’s mean streets, one must be fluent body and soul in the most contemporary ways, means and styles. No coward soldiers here.

“Streets of New York” is one of eighteen selections from Entermission, a various artists project released last December by DJ Official. Entermission features a team of Christian hip hop missionaries who bring salvation to the lost (i.e., enter-mission). Like God’s posse, they take to the highways and byways, “spit the truth,” and lure the wayward with rhythm and rhyme. Their view of mission work is not something one does only on Thanksgiving and Christmas but 24/7.

The 24 Christian hip hop artists on Entermission wear their ministry on their sleeve, and sometimes also as clothing and tattoos – “shirt to the shoes, everything for Jehovah" – as Lecrae and Flame explain on “Show Off,” the album’s current single. Artists participating on the project include Lecrae, K-Drama, Sho Baraka, Tedashii, Cam, Stephen the Levite, and Json. They work alone or in groups and, with DJ Official serving as MC, present their “straight outta church” messages that, as the introduction professes, “make Christ known in our daily lives.”

Of special note is JR and Lecrae’s “Without You,” a melodic track that eschews rapid fire rhyme for melodic but muscular power pop. Similarly, Cam’s “Forward Me” veers toward more mainstream urban gospel. Meanwhile, H.G.A. and Tedashii’s “Go” demonstrate an impressive roll of rhymes that move along at Mach Two.

As is commonplace in Christian hip hop, split seconds of humor break the intensity of the rhymes, especially in the use of modern day references as metaphors. Those who enjoy Christian hip hop will already know most, if not all of the participants, and those who haven’t given the style a shot can use Entermission as a way to get some education.

Four of Five Stars

gPod Picks: “Without You,” “Show Off.”

Review by Bob Marovich for The Black Gospel Blog.

Various Artists - GospelCity Shout 2010

Various Artists
GospelCity Shout 2010
SoulCare Music
www.gospelcity.com

Earlier this month, SoulCare Music, in collaboration with the popular website Gospelcity.com, introduced GospelCity Shout 2010. It is a ten-track collection of previously released gospel performances by some of today’s liveliest old-school choirs, fiery gospel singers, and pumped-up groups and quartets. Linda Klosterman compiled from a portfolio of record labels and publishers.

Songs blend seamlessly into one another as if programmed for radio. Among the songs designed to get blood pumping and hearts racing are “I Love the Lord,” a Doc Watts with a sanctified beat, courtesy of Phillip Carter & Sounds of Victory; “Jesus Is All We Need,” a hard-shouter from the delightfully extroverted and evangelistic Lemmie Battles; and “Do It!,” Dottie People’s high-octane hit. The Soul Seekers render the quartet standard “Somewhere Listening” as a nine-plus minute bass-thumping, cymbal-clashing uptempo performance with an exciting vamp that goes on well after the singers have left the building.

A nice surprise is the sassy-confident vocal that Tiffany Welch contributes to Joshua Troop’s funky “L.O.V.E. Love (I’ll Do).” The inspired addition of a track from Ugandan artist Omega Bugembe Okello, an alumna of the African Children’s Choir, will help introduce her to a wider audience.

The collection would have been even better had the opening track, a snippet from a Paula White lesson, been contained to about a minute. Well into the second minute, I had pretty much gotten Paula's point and was chomping at the bit for the music.

GospelCity Shout 2010 is all concentrated energy, a superb collection of work by artists who don’t necessarily show up with regularity on the annual WOW Gospel series.

Four of Five Stars

gPod Picks: "Somewhere Listening," "I Love the Lord," "L.O.V.E. Love (I'll Do)."

"Go Hard or Go Home" - George Moss

“Go Hard Or Go Home”
George Moss
Dreamlight Entertainment 2010
www.g-moss.com

For Christian hip hop artist George Moss, “Go Hard Or Go Home” is not just a song: it’s a way of life.

A defining moment for the Grand Rapids, Michigan native was when he became a single parent at a young age. The responsibility of a baby son could have scuttled his career plans for good, but he was determined to support his new family and stay dedicated to music. After serving as one half of the hip hop duo UN1ON, Moss landed a position as an announcer on Christian radio station WAYfm in Grand Rapids. In February, 2008, he released his autobiographical debut album, All or Nothing, which included the popular single, “Whoa.”

“Go Hard or Go Home” is Moss’ newest single. Based on Ephesians 6:12, the song demonstrates not only the artist’s warrior-like commitment to serving God through music but also his uncanny ability to rhyme with rapid-fire precision.

Lady Antebellum, Marvin Sapp and Ludacris...

...hold the top three positions, respectively, on Billboard's Top 200 best-selling albums chart this week.

Billboard reports that Sapp's Here I Am (Verity) is the first gospel album to reach the Top 10 in sales since Mary Mary's The Sound (Sony) did so in November 2008.

Congratulations to Pastor Sapp on his continued success! Let's hope this is a sign of a comeback in gospel music sales, as well.

Read more from the New York Times: "Chart Gets Religion"

Phenomenal in Philly, Michelle Bonilla to Release Sophisticated Second Project

Her new CD, In Spite of Me, will be available digitally April 13, 2010.

by Bob Marovich for The Black Gospel Blog

When your father organized a rock band in his native Puerto Rico and played Latin jazz in Village clubs upon moving to New York, your musical tastes are going to be eclectic.

Such is the story of emerging Christian artist Michelle Bonilla. She grew up in a Dominican Republic-Puerto Rican household that feasted on a steady diet of BB King, Eric Clapton, the Beatles, and the Fania All Stars. She breathed it all in like fresh air in a spring meadow.

Then, when her father got saved, Bonilla told TBGB, “he started listening to Christian contemporary artists. He played them all the time!”

One of her father’s favorites, the Winans, became hers, too, though she later developed a fondness for the music of the Clark Sisters, Kim Burrell, Kirk Franklin, Fred Hammond, Amy Grant and others.

With such an eclectic musical palette, it’s no surprise that Bonilla’s sophomore album, In Spite of Me, is an amalgam of musical influences distilled to a distinctly urban finish. For Bonilla, it’s not about genres or labels. “I want to do good music and I’m not going to sacrifice on the quality. It may not fit [a category], and I’m okay with that, because at this point I just want to share the love of Christ, what He’s done for me, and how I developed a relationship with Him, and put it into music.”

Bonilla’s career in Christian music didn’t start until she was a teenager, but she was no stranger to public performance at an early age. “My father put a microphone in my hand when I was five. He was like, ‘Sing,’ and I was like, ‘Okay!’" She led worship at church with her father and sang three-part harmony with her two sisters.

Then tragedy struck. “My father fell back into alcohol and drugs. He fell away from everything he had taught us about the Christian faith. It was a difficult time for us, but I kept going to church. Eventually, I moved to Bay Ridge Christian Center, a bilingual church in New York.”

Bonilla hadn’t planned to participate in worship ministry at her new church, “but they asked me to. Somebody heard me singing in the pews and said, ‘You should be up there!’” While she wasn’t sure she had what it took to lead worship on her own, she obliged.

It was during this period in her life that Bonilla met Lee Jerkins. He had come to Bay Ridge for a concert, heard Bonilla leading worship and singing a Christianized version of Bill Withers’ “Ain’t No Sunshine.”

“Lee told me, ‘You have something, but that song isn’t it!’” He became her music mentor and the two eventually married.

With Jerkins’ encouragement and assistance, Bonilla began developing into a Christian artist. “People think you kind of just wake up and all of a sudden you are an artist who’s developed and ready to go,” Bonilla said, “but that’s not necessarily the case. You have to grow into it.”

Practice and persistence paid off: five years later, Bonilla released her debut CD, Phenomenal. It was the first time she tried songwriting. “I took experiences from my life, turned them into songs, and showed how God was in the midst of all of it.”

While pursuing music, Bonilla attended the City University of New York. She studied first to be a doctor, then subsequently turned to law. At 21, on sheer faith, she changed direction and moved to Philadelphia. “I put my life in God’s hands, two pastors took me in, and I worked on my second album.”

Bonilla’s father encouraged her to complete her education, just to be on the safe side, so she enrolled in Temple University, earning a bachelor’s degree in English. She graduated cum laude. “I continued to pursue music because it’s what I love to do. I’d get out of class at 6 p.m., after a full day of work, and be in the studio working until midnight, 1 a.m.

“I don’t think that I would be happy if I wasn’t doing something creative, and I definitely wouldn’t be fulfilled if I was doing it without sharing my faith.”

In Spite of Me is the result of Bonilla’s late hours and determination. In some respects, the new album follows the formula of Phenomenal: “real life experiences married with Christian faith.” Stylistically, however, there are some differences.

“Phenomenal was a middle of the road album,” Bonilla explained. “I had these different musical influences, and I wasn’t sure what genre I would fit into. I don’t sound like a black gospel artist, but I don’t necessarily sound like a CCM artist. And I have all this Latin stuff in me, too, and what do I do with that? Phenomenal was a fusion of all these styles.

“For In Spite of Me, I streamlined my sound. I gave it an urban feel. I am characterized as an urban artist but I hadn’t yet produced an urban project.”

The album’s current single, “I Love You,” has earned the singer plenty of positive feedback and radio spins. “Philly's 103.9 recently gave me some local love, and it’s been on a lot of online radio stations. It’s not traditional like you’d hear Sunday morning in church, but why couldn’t it be? Why shouldn’t it be?"

One song from the album, “My Generation,” addresses an issue that is at once eternal and distinctly post-modern. “We [youth] are told that we have potential but we’re not tapping into it, that we are not listening to our elders. But elders aren’t elders anymore. Grandma is 35 years old. Who is passing wisdom down to us? Is it that we don’t have potential or is it that do we not have the wisdom? We do have potential, but times are changing, and the way we share the message of Christ has to change as well.”

Bonilla sings one song in Spanish on In Spite of Me, and plans someday to do an entire Christian album in Spanish. “I want to take my time and do it right. I’ve grown up around Latin musicians who are absolutely excellent, and I don’t want to present anything less than that.”

In Spite of Me will be released digitally on April 13 and Bonilla will hold a CD release party on Saturday, April 17 at her home church, Calvary Chapel of Philadelphia. The date the album will be available in stores has not yet been determined.

Meanwhile, Bonilla is building buzz for the new album by tapping social networks and performin other kinds of grassroots marketing. “I’ve got a message of Christ, I’ve got a message of hope,” Bonilla stated, “and whatever I’ve got to do to get it out there, that’s what I’m going to do.”

For more on Michelle Bonilla, visit her website: www.myspace.com/michellebonillamusic

"Do It Afraid" - Debra Ashley

“Do It Afraid”
Debra Ashley
From the Habakkuk Music CD New Birth
(release date: April 20, 2010)
www.habakkukmusic.com

Debra Ashley’s “Do It Afraid” is a sweet, inspirational ballad about maintaining faith and courage in the face of everyday crisis. The singer’s lullaby-like delivery imbues the song with the intimacy of maternal wisdom.

The single appears on Ashley’s sophomore release, New Birth, which features seven songs from her own pen and the estimable production talents of award-winning producers Kevin Bond and the legendary Fred Hammond.

In addition to singing the gospel, Ashley has formed her own production company, Angel Calling Entertainment, LLC, and opened the full-service Angel Calling Recording Studios in Jacksonville, Florida. Her company and studio, named for the prophetic vision that led her to pursue gospel music later in life, seeks to produce and nurture young, emerging talent.

TBGB Pick of the Week: March 22, 2010

“We’re Going to Make It”
Rev. Timothy Wright feat. Myrna Summers
From the Savoy album The Godfather of Gospel
www.malaco.com

A little less than a year ago, Rev. Timothy Wright passed from earthly labor to eternal reward after months of hospitalization following the tragic July, 2008 auto accident that claimed the life of his wife and grandson.

As a tribute, the Savoy Records division of Malaco released a compilation of some of Wright’s best-loved songs, including a 1988 track previously unissued on CD: “We’re Going to Make It,” featuring gospel star Myrna Summers.

“We’re Going to Make It” is a song of hope and anticipation that features a stirring duet between the commanding presence of Wright and Myrna Summers, whose vocals shift from vulnerable to determined by the conclusion. The choral sound and arrangement borrow liberally from Hawkins, and the climax -- a staccato duet between the choir and percussionists – results in a praise break that doesn’t appear on the radio edit and is faded out all too soon on the album version.

Regardless, "We're Going to Make It" makes for a fine remembrance of Wright on the upcoming first-year anniversary of his passing.

Rev. Roy Reed & the Zion Jubilees - Let's Give Him Praise

Rev. Roy Reed & the Zion Jubilees
Let’s Give Him Praise
Sharp Records 2009
www.sharprecordsusa.com

One thing’s for certain: young gospel artists may throw everything but the kitchen sink into their contemporary arrangements, but quartets pretty much stick to their knitting. That is not to say that gospel quartets haven’t adapted to predominant musical styles and techniques over time – they have – but you know that deep quartet sound when you hear it. The groups strive for the quintessentially authentic, and the community that supports them fervently would have it no other way.

Take, for instance, Rev. Roy Reed and the Zion Jubilees. Formed fifty years ago as the Reed Brothers, the Zion Jubilees garnered national attention in the 1970s while signed to the Jewel label. TBGB caught up with the group in 2006 and reviewed two of their releases: the self-produced In the Precious Name of Jesus and One More River to Cross (Jubu 2004). The group has issued a couple more releases since then, all available on CD Baby.

Let’s Give Him Praise, released on Tommy Sharper’s Sharp Records, is the Zion Jubilees’ latest album and taps the same vein as the group’s earlier projects. The quartet offers a bluesy, deep southern groove, a sound as sunny, humid and languorous as a Mississippi mid-summer afternoon. Selections such as “My Father’s House” and “One More River to Cross” are classic examples of their southern-fried soulfulness.

Standout tracks on the album include the chugging “My Soul to Be Lost,” featuring Joe O. Bailey’s deliciously gravelly yodels; and the uncanny “You Better Get Ready,” on which Rev. Roy Reed declares “You better get ready, you got to die” but the loping beat and relaxed Impressions-like harmonies are spoonfuls of sugar to make the bitter truth go down easy.

Three of Five Stars

gPod Picks: “You Better Get Ready,” “My Soul to Be Lost.”

Reviewed by Bob Marovich for The Black Gospel Blog.

One 4 Christ - God Can Still Use You

One 4 Christ
God Can Still Use You
DA’Vine Destiny Entertainment 2009
www.one4christ.net

One 4 Christ was founded in March 2004 by Sharon Bouie, and boasts musical direction by Derral Anderson, Jr. and production by singer-songwriter Andrae Ambrose. The 40+ member group from suburban Chicago is similar aurally to John P. Kee or James Fortune & FIYA in its vocal largesse, high-energy, ample use of leader-choir call and response, and contemporary arrangements with a touch of the blue note.

God Can Still Use You is One 4 Christ’s debut CD. Guest soloists on the album include the in-demand gospel star Malcolm Williams and the formidable Min. Tim White. When White gets to shouting, he can body slam a song like quartet greats Archie Brownlee, Bob Washington and Joe Ligon, and that’s exactly what he does on the slow and bluesy “My Answer is Yes.” I don’t know anything about Natasha Robinson, but she delivers a lovely contemporary female lead on “Show Me.”

The title track and current single was penned by Malcolm Williams and states that no matter what kind of person you are, “God Can Still Use You.” “He’s Been Good to Me” is an appropriately fast-paced Chicago-style church rouser. Though not selected as a single and sounding for all the world like the reprise to the previous track, “Greatness,” the anthemic “I Bow” provides the album’s most delicious harmonic progressions.

The liner notes list a Willie Jones on organ – might he be one and the same as the Chicago gospel announcer and second vice president of the Chicago Area Gospel Announcers Guild?

One 4 Christ doesn’t till new musical ground on God Can Still Use You, but for those who enjoy a contemporary choir that isn't afraid to put on its shoutin' shoes every once in a while, the album is sure to satisfy.

Four of Five Stars

gPod picks: “He’s Been Good to Me,” “My Answer is Yes.”

"The Harvest Song" - Anthony Brown feat. Maurette Brown Clark

"The Harvest Song"
Anthony Brown feat. Maurette Brown Clark
Key of A Music 2010
www.keyofamusic.com

Baltimore's Anthony Brown penned Maurette Brown Clark's popular "It Ain't Over" and "Sovereign God," and she returns the favor by duetting with him on his single, "The Harvest Song."

"The Harvest Song" is a bright, optimistic piece on which Brown, in his pleasant, resonant tenor, and Maurette in near church-wrecking mode, anticipate reaping their harvest of blessings. They have complete confidence that the blessings are on their way, but just what they'll actually be when they arrive is a secret. Group therAPy, the background vocalists, chime in like a Greek chorus, "All I know is He's gonna do something."

"The Harvest Song" is the first single from Brown's solo CD, due out in June 2010.

R.I.P. Rev. Phillip E. Sneed

Dennis Cole and Gregory Gay informed TBGB that Rev. Phillip E. Sneed died on Monday, March 15, 2010.

Said Cole: “Rev. Sneed was the power behind a single that swept the country, "He That Believeth", with the Chicago Mass Choir. Later, Rev. Sneed did another hit tune with Nu City Mass Choir, "Nobody Like Jesus". Rev. Sneed sung/recorded with over 10 choirs with his famous raspy voice. He will be missed.”

Gay noted that Rev. Sneed also did guest appearances on a number of projects, including those of Malcolm Williams, James McCray, and the BOG Mass Choir.

The following are the particulars for Reverend Sneed's Homegoing Celebration:

MUSICAL TRIBUTE - Friday, March 26, 2010
7:00 p.m. until 10:00 p.m.

WAKE & FUNERAL SERVICES - Saturday, March 27, 2010
Visitation & Refreshments - 9:30 a.m. - 10:30 a.m.
Service - 10:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.

Both services will convene at SWEET HOLY SPIRIT CHURCH
8621 S. South Chicago Ave., Chicago, Illinois
Bishop Larry D. Trotter, Host Pastor, Officiant and Eulogist

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that monetary contributions be given in honor of Rev. Sneed. Donations should be made payable to "Sweet Holy Spirit Church," Attn: Sneed Memorial Fund, and be mailed to the address above or brought directly to the church.

Here is a YouTube video (really just the audio) of Rev. Sneed with Nu City.

The Regal and Gospel: Two Chicago Institutions Join Forces March 27

From its opening in 1928 through the late 1960s, Chicago's Regal Theatre – then located at 47th and Parkway (King Drive) – was a nationally-recognized entertainment showplace.

All the greats in jazz, swing, bebop, R&B, doo wop, blues and soul played the Regal. In the 1930s, you could hear Duke Ellington and maybe catch a glimpse of boxing champ Joe Louis and his wife Marva in the crowd.

During the same period, Chicago's south side also teemed with the sounds of the new, rhythmic gospel music. Joyful singing emanated from churches large and small, high school auditoriums, from radio and records, and eventually made its way on television.

On March 27, 2010, the twain shall meet.

That is when “ChiTown Tonight: The Gospel Hour Series" debuts at the Regal Theater, now located at 1645 East 79th Street.

Headliners will be Minister Donald "Buster" Woods & G3, Kenny Lewis & One Voice, and Leanne Faine. The evening's host will be Larry Tabron; the lovely Yvonne Wesley will serve as co-host.

Rick McCoy, the Regal's general manager, wanted to do something new and exciting with gospel music. He brought the concept to the theater’s event director, Andrew Griffin. Griffin knew a thing or two about gospel, having previously served as artist manager for Angela Spivey and Jennifer Hudson. McCoy and Griffin pulled together a team to organize a monthly gospel series at the Regal that would feature Chicago artists. March 27 is the series debut.

Project manager Wanda Ewing, president of WE Management, told TBGB that ChiTown Tonight is a chance to fuse the rich history of the Regal Theatre with the music birthed on the south side during the 1920s and 1930s.

“Chicago gospel music is very much alive,” Ewing said. “People have passion for the ministry and the music. We want to show that Chicago is still one of the greatest cities for gospel music and that the city has some of the most talented gospel singers in the world.”

The first half of ChiTown Tonight will showcase local choirs and feature the explosive singer Min. Tim White. The second half will belong to headliners Woods, Lewis and Faine.

"Gospel and the Regal is an awesome marriage that we can celebrate for years to come," noted Ewing. "It is something we can hand over to the next generation.”

For more information on ChiTown Tonight: The Gospel Hour Series, contact Wanda Ewing at (708) 945-5368.

Tickets are available at the following locations:

The Regal Theater
1645 East 79th Street
Chicago, IL
(773) 768-9900

Pentecostal Word Explosion
7900 South Prairie
Chicago, IL
(773) 783-6441

New Sound Gospel
10723 South Halsted
Chicago, IL
(773) 785-8001

"Press Towards the Prize/Last Chance" - Preachers Music Group

“Press Towards the Prize/Last Chance”
Preachers Music Group
From the Lions Whelp Records CD PMG Live
(available on iTunes and amazon.com)

On their single, “Press Towards the Prize/Last Chance,” the Preachers Music Group featuring Bishop Clifton Edwards, Jr. sound like Commissioned with their high, tight harmonies, husky voices and funky beat.

The chorus's melodic hook resembles an advertising jingle, and as a result, it sticks in your head long after the song is over. The false ending goes well with the song’s crux: this is your last chance, so you'd better get with God now.

Bishop Edwards and wife Lady Tracie Edwards pastor the City of Zion International Ministries in Lancaster, CA.

Lady LaVarnga Hubbard - Royalty

Lady LaVarnga Hubbard
Royalty
LA Sing Management 2010
www.ladylasing.com

Chicago has never had a shortage of flammable female gospel singers. Those still singing include Albertina Walker, Inez Andrews, Delores Washington, Leanne Faine, Lemmie Battles, Angela Spivey, Shirley Bell, Dianne Williams, Queenie Lenox…the list goes on and on.

The list is not complete without Lady LaVarnga Hubbard, the “Duchess of Gospel.”

You have heard Lady Hubbard with the Chicago Mass Choir (“Call Him Up”), Bishop Larry Trotter & the Sweet Holy Spirit Church Choir (“I Got What I Needed”) and Dexter Walker & Zion Movement Chorale (“The Blood”). She’s starred in gospel plays. If you are an early riser, perhaps you’ve caught her Thursday morning radio show on WYCA, 102.3 FM in Chicago. She’s been a faithful member of Greater Mt. Carmel Missionary Baptist Church in Chicago and for fifteen years a singer with Dr. Ricky Dillard’s New Generation Chorale.

In fact, it is Dr. Dillard himself who introduces Lady Hubbard on her second live solo CD, Royalty. The album, produced by Percy Gray, Jr., was recorded at West Point Baptist Church, home church of Albertina Walker.

With such a provenance, you know Royalty is filled with churchy songs as old-school as a Leslie speaker. Prime examples include “Cannot Afford Not to Give You Praise” and a real pewburner called “My Soul is Anchored,” which has the potential to be a huge radio hit wherever high-octane gospel choir music is appreciated. “Jesus is on the Main Line” is given the funkiest bass line I’ve ever heard ascribed to the popular congregational song.

The album rolls along like a true gospel musical, with Hubbard trading her shouting shoes for praise and worship balladeering on “You Never Gave Up on Me” and “I Will Praise Your Name.” Still, the aerobic, traditional pieces are the best complement to her shout-till-you’re-hoarse gospel voice. No doubt about it: Lady LaVarnga Hubbard is the real deal: heart, soul and voice.

Four of Five Stars

gPod Picks: “Cannot Afford Not to Give You Praise,” “My Soul is Anchored.”

Review by Bob Marovich of The Black Gospel Blog.

"I Want to Say Thank You" - Lisa Page Brooks

“I Want to Say Thank You”
Lisa Page Brooks
From the Habakkuk Music CD Strong
www.habakkukmusic.com

“I Want to Say Thank You,” by Lisa Page Brooks, is a plaintive but comforting ballad that plays out as part thanksgiving for blessings bestowed and part apology for not always deserving them.

If you listen closely, towards the end you will hear Lisa give thanks for her husband, who is Pastor Michael Brooks, himself a gospel music artist and producer, best remembered for his work with Commissioned.

Clearly, the song has hit a chord with radio listeners who share Lisa’s belief that sometimes we get what we don’t deserve.

Strong is Lisa Page Brooks' first solo release since her 2001 self titled debut. She is the Stellar Award-winning lead singer of Witness and has been nominated for Dove and Grammy Awards.

Angelia Robinson - Lessons in Love

Angelia Robinson
Lessons in Love
The TFD Music 2010
www.angeliarobinson.com

Growing up in the Maryland suburbs of the Nation’s Capitol, singer-songwriter Angelia Robinson soaked up all types of music. She has wrung out all of these influences onto her debut album, Lessons in Love.

Lessons in Love mixes hefty helpings of neo-soul with R&B, a touch of Prince-fueled psychedelia and even an island beat (“Let Me Count the Ways”). The frank lyrics cast a blinding light on Robinson’s challenging journey to a saved life. “I Hear His Voice” sets the tone – Robinson resisting but ultimately heeding the call to change - and on “If I Didn’t Let Go,” Robinson admits that “if it wasn’t for what God said/I’d be left for dead.”

Each track features Robinson imparting in her smart, straightforward alto the lessons learned while traversing from sin to saved. Sometimes the lessons narrowly saved the singer from veering off the cliff. The current single, “Keep Tryin’,” even references fleeting thoughts of suicide, and the touching ode “Wishing You Were Here” suggests that among Robinson’s peers, at least one attempt was unfortunately successful. The latter song was selected to be part of the soundtrack for the film Saving God, starring Ving Rhames.

Not all songs on Lessons in Love deal with such weighty issues. “They Don’t Know” is simply a passionate love song to Jesus, while “It Ain’t Goin’ Down” is a spitfire warning to avoid men who want “it” without commitment. In essence, the journey Robinson travels is about seeking and finding love, whether that be in a personal relationship with Jesus and/or with a God-fearing life partner.

Despite the varying musical influences, Lessons in Love has an overall calm coolness, as if Robinson has simply curled up on a rug with a dozen young women to tell her story, an important story, as honestly as she can.

Four of Five Stars

gPod Picks: “Keep Tryin’,” “Wishing You Were Here,” "I'm Gonna Make It."

Review by Bob Marovich of The Black Gospel Blog

TBGB Pick of the Week: March 15, 2010

“Mercy”
LaShell Griffin

Detroit’s LaShell Griffin is well-known for wringing every ounce of emotion from an inspirational ballad. On her latest single, “Mercy,” she shows that she can shout just as effectively.

At the conclusion of “Mercy,” a praise song that ranks close to “Free” and “Dreams are Possible” as among her most powerful performances, Griffin lets loose on some Aretha-like gospel blues runs that are sure to lift audience members from their seats, if they are still sitting at this point in the song.

Griffin, 2004 winner of Oprah’s Pop Star Challenge, knows how to work it. She has sung for President Obama, appeared in several fashion magazines, traveled all over the country with husband Lee promoting her music, and hosts “Friday Night Live,” a talent show in her native Detroit.

Change My Lyfe - Half Mile Home

Half Mile Home
Change My Lyfe
God Made Millionairze Ent./IMG Recordings/
Bungalo Records/Universal Music Group
www.HalfMileHome.com

On “Testimony,” Akron, Ohio’s Half Mile Home sings, “Can’t nobody tell my testimony for me/How somebody else gonna try to tell my story?”

This could be the mission statement of Half Mile Home's distinctive sophomore release, Change My Lyfe. The group uses every technological device at its disposal to create an imaginative, power-packed, high-energy, techno-infused sonic firecracker of a record with memorable choruses and punched-up beats.

The sixteen cuts on Change My Lyfe provide unpretentious everyday spirituality, with praise, worship, thanksgiving, repentance and redemption among the chief subjects.

The quintet is comprised of Deaken (brother of opera star Lawrence Brownless), Lil Bull (aka Buttons), Q, Ty-Traxx and Weezie. The first iteration of the ensemble entered the music industry back in the day as R&B group 1-900 and signed with the legendary Solar Records just before the label went paws up. “Unfulfilled promises” and missed opportunities dogged the group for years, but in 2004, the renamed and reconstituted Half Mile Home embraced its gospel roots (most if not all are pastor’s kids) and released The Movement (Malaco). The group hasn’t looked back since.

Examples of the group’s sonic sound are “Survivor” and the infectious current single, “This Far.” “Even” celebrates unconditional love in a retro soul mood. “Won’t Let Him Go” blends urban R&B with a straight-ahead, churchy quartet strut.

Half Mile Home is among a number of post-modern gospel groups reaching a new generation of believers by putting extra cool factor in the mix.

Four of Five Stars

gPod Picks: “This Far,” “Survivor,” “Won’t Let Him Go.”

Review by Bob Marovich of The Black Gospel Blog

HeeSun Lee & SeDa - The Lost LP

HeeSun Lee and SeDa
The Lost LP
JahRock’n Productions 2010
Available for download at http://jahrockn.bandcamp.com

Religion and science fiction/fantasy have been mates for several decades, thanks to groundbreaking, thought-provoking books by authors such as Robert Heinlein, C.S. Lewis, Arthur C. Clarke and Roger Zelazny.

Gospel music and science fiction/fantasy…well, not so much.

However, that has changed since NYC holy hip hop artists HeeSun Lee and SeDa joined forces with the JahRock’n Productions crew to produce an album based on ABC’s hit television series, “Lost.” To create The Lost LP, the team selected themes common to both the popular series and to life in general, and dipped them in techno-charged, digital urban music soundscapes and samples fronted by straight-talking, God-fearing rhyming.

The opening track, “I Don’t Need That,” puts the listener on notice about what is to come, as SeDa kicks prosperity theology to the curb, declaring that Jesus is enough for him, and “anything extra is a perk.” The Lost LP covers the well-trodden themes of faith (“Give It To You”) and redemption (“Fly Away”), but it also ponders love of one’s self and others, and whether life is simply a series of random acts or something that gives purpose and control (“Set Free”). Heady stuff, perhaps, but HeeSun and SeDa break it down so that it feels like a Sunday afternoon conversation instead of a 400-level course in philosophy.

The album’s finest selections are SeDa’s plaintive “Give It To You,” HeeSun’s aggressively-energetic challenge to “Test Me,” and the love song “Lost in You.”

All of the selections hearken back to episodes, themes, and characters in "Lost" throughout its years-long successful run. Audio snippets from the television series and even variations on the show's musical theme are used throughout the project to provide the appropriate thematic context and mood. The album's thorough and fascinating booklet gives song-by-song explanations of the technical and artistic creativity that went into each track, including the specific "Lost" references. If you want to reap the project's full effect, read the booklet before listening.

Although “Lost” enthusiasts will more readily understand the album's references, those of us (including myself) who have never seen the program can still play along without getting…um…lost.

Four of Five Stars

gPod Picks: “Give It To You,” “I Don’t Need That,” “Fly Away.”

Review by Bob Marovich of The Black Gospel Blog

Shirley Wahls - Born to Sing

Shirley Wahls
Born to Sing
Shirley Wahls Music 2009
www.shirleywahls.com

Not only can Shirley Wahls sing, she was born to sing.

Her earliest vocal experience was with the junior choir of Chicago’s Mt. Pleasant Baptist Church, under the direction of a young Ruth Jones (aka Dinah Washington). Wahls went on to join some of gospel music’s most famous and fiercely impassioned female groups, such as the Argo Singers, Ward Gospel Singers and the Dorothy Norwood Singers. She also did some stage work, principally with Jackie Taylor’s famed Black Ensemble Theater. Wahls’ ability to deliver gospel classics in a late night jazz club mood, a la Fontella Bass, has made her a perennial favorite of European audiences.

Wahls just released Born to Sing, a solo CD that showcases her booming, no-nonsense alto on a collection of contemporary tracks, traditional pieces and two cuts from a concert she gave in Montreux, Switzerland. In fact, the Montreux performances are the CD’s finest moments because they feature the gospel solo voice in the most pristine of circumstances: accompanied only by piano. Wahls’ Montreux version of Andrae Crouch’s “I Don’t Know Why Jesus Loves Me” is even better than the original.

“Searching for the Light” is another solid pick. Loping along as a gospel blues at the beginning, the tempo picks up midway through to become a church stomper. Later, Wahls sings the notes off the page on “Jesus is the Best Thing,” James Cleveland’s gospelized version of the Gladys Knight hit.

Wahls assembled top musicians to back her on Born to Sing, including Terry Callier, Kevin Smith, Harold Chip Johnson, Duane Jones, organist Richard Gibbs (Inez Andrews’ son), and the distinguished Robert Mayes of Christ Universal Temple, where Wahls is a member and Rev. Carlton Pearson is the new interim senior minister.

Four of Five Stars

gPod Picks: “Searching for the Light,” “I Don’t Know Why Jesus Loves Me.”

Review by Bob Marovich of The Black Gospel Blog

"Best Friend" - T'Juan

“Best Friend”
T’Juan
From the No Compromise Records CD 29:11
www.101distribution.com/artist/?id=8205&srh=s

Holy hip hop artist T’Juan (“Crank Dat Church Boy”) received accolades and awards for his mix-tape, The Arrival, hosted by Bigga Rankin. He recently toured with the BET Wrap It Up team to generate a greater awareness of HIV/AIDS.

The Jacksonville, Florida-born artist’s new project, 29:11, released last month, includes the single “Best Friend.” On “Best Friend,” T’Juan gives a simple shout-out for a special someone to complete him. “Times get tough, need someone I could be with…show you to the pulpit…you fit that description.”

It’s a love song enfolded in what T’Juan calls “urban kingdom” or “real life” music. It doesn’t get any more real than finding someone who has your back at all times.

JAIA - Just As I Am

JAIA
Just As I Am
JAIA 2010
www.jaia2.com

www.cdbaby.com/Artist/Jaia

JAIA (signifying Just As I Am) is the gospel team of Lisa Davis and Lynda Knox. These songbirds from Oklahoma City are not sisters but they certainly could be, because they play off one another vocally as if they have been harmonizing together since preschool.

On Just As I Am, the duo’s soulful harmonies and brassy lead trading are given a soundtrack of alternately pulsating and easy-flowing gospel music infused with smooth jazz, soft rock and powerful R&B arrangements. For example, “I Wanna Know” has a bright, feel good, bouncy R&B vibe and possesses radio potential, though to be fair, “Lord, You’ve Been Good” and its slow building emotion sneaks into the subconscious after repeated plays.

During “Change Has Come” (which includes snippets of a speech by President Obama) and the lively “Not Ashamed,” JAIA morphs into a youthful and optimistic techno-dance duo praising unashamed. These two tracks are especially good examples of the plethora of musical influences that inform the duo’s style. Their press kit says the ladies are into so many kinds of music that they have a “CD collection that takes up an entire room.” Righteous!

JAIA performed alongside Little Cedric and the Hailey Singers in the days before Cedric and Joel became Grammy-winning superstars Jo-De-Ci and then K-Ci & Jo Jo. Cedric and Joel Hailey make a cameo appearance on the duo’s project, assisting the women on “He’ll Fix It for You.”

The final track, “F.A.T.E.” (Fighting Addiction Through Education), differs from the album's other offerings in theme and sound. Dedicated to the memory of Brandon Whitten and to the Whitten-Newman Foundation, “F.A.T.E.” is an acoustic CCM-style directive encouraging listeners battling substance abuse to remember three little words: “Just Say No.”

Just As I Am benefits from a tight production, courtesy of JAIA and Kenneth Springs, Jr. and makes for very pleasant listening front to back. Fans of female groups such as RiZen and Z’iel will especially enjoy this project.

Four of Five Stars

gPod Picks: “I Wanna Know,” “Lord You’ve Been Good,” “Not Ashamed.”

Review by Bob Marovich of The Black Gospel Blog

TBGB Pick of the Week: March 8, 2010

“Serve the Lord”
Leanne Faine & Favor
From the CD Serve the Lord

Powerhouse Chicago gospel singer Leanne (“The Conqueror”) Faine cut her musical teeth singing under the direction of Dr. Mattie Moss Clark and Rev. Milton Brunson, so it’s no surprise she can tear up a church with the ferocity of a Vanessa Bell Armstrong or Pastor Shirley Caesar.

On “Serve the Lord,” from her latest release of the same name, Faine leads a church rouster, declaring, “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” Then, during the song’s vamp, Faine outlines the many ways she will serve Him, including in her dance, which you can almost visualize, courtesy of the stomping sanctified beat.

Here I Am - Marvin Sapp

Marvin Sapp
Here I Am
Verity Records 2010
(CD and DVD release date: March 16, 2010)
www.verityrecords.com

It is unfair to do what we reviewers are wont to do: compare Marvin Sapp’s newest CD, Here I Am, to his multi-Stellar Award-winning Thirsty and its mega-hit, “Never Would Have Made It.”

Following Thirsty with an album of equal or greater power would have been miraculous, but Here I Am comes as close as is humanly possible. Produced by Aaron Lindsey with vocal direction by Myron Butler, Here I Am is Sapp, former member of Commissioned, sounding on top of the world, doing what he does best: leading a live congregation in a rousing praise and worship service with alternately plaintive and tender pastoral moments peppered throughout.

The opening tracks are fairly standard contemporary gospel fare, though “Wait” is a body-swaying congregation rouser with an infectious beat. Patiently waiting for the Lord’s blessings is the message of “Wait” and a theme also echoed in “He Has His Hands On You.”

By "He Has His Hands On You," Sapp has slowed the praise party atmosphere down momentarily to deliver some plain, mother-wit ministering. Several songs in a row benefit from his everyman theology. For example, the inspirational “Don’t Count Me Out” (i.e., “if you don’t see what God sees”), is an excellent selection for youth groups and choirs. “The Best In Me” is the album’s first single and it hit number one with a speeding bullet shortly after its release. Here, Sapp sings: “He saw the best in me/When everyone else around could only see the worst in me.” The live audience responds with emotional shouts of empathy.

The title track is tuneful, hopeful and radio friendly, and the mid-tempo “Praise You Forever” rides on a dramatic piano ostinato reminiscent of Coldplay’s “Clocks.”

Here I Am stands on its own as a well-produced, supremely-paced example of the Marvin Sapp ministry. Listeners looking for the next “Never Would Have Made It” on the album may not find it, but hopefully they won’t miss the forest for the trees.

Five of Five Stars

gPod Picks: “The Best In Me,” “Wait,” “Don’t Count Me Out,” “Here I Am.”

Review by Bob Marovich of The Black Gospel Blog

"I Love You" - Michelle Bonilla

“I Love You”
Michelle Bonilla
From the RockSoul Productions CD In Spite of Me
(release date: April 13, 2010)
www.myspace.com/michellebonillamusic

After a four-year music hiatus, which included graduating cum laude from Temple University, Michelle Bonilla has released a hot new single. “I Love You” pulls no punches in delivering heavenly devotion.

The song is from Bonilla’s sophomore release In Spite of Me, and is as fiercely confident and urban-sophisticated as her album cover suggests. The singer-songwriter “brags on God” to a twitchy beat, sprinkling praises on her Creator like confetti, none as frequent, as assured and as straightforward as “You know I love you.”

DeLois Barrett Campbell: 84th Birthday Musical - March 14

Special Guests Include:

The Barrett Sisters and Tina Brown
Angela Hunt - Spokane, WA
Kathy Taylor - Houston, TX
True Gospel Choir - Chicago, IL
Verlene Moore - Chicago, IL
Rev. Reginald Finley - Omaha, NE
Herbert Maddox - Charlotte, NC
Rev. Ray Berryhill & Choir - Evangel World Outreach Center
Rev. David Foreman & Company - Hartford, CT

DeLois Barrett Campbell and The Barrett Sisters CDs will be available.

For more information, contact (773) 928-0997.

Myron Butler & Levi: Revealed...Live in Dallas

Myron Butler & Levi
Revealed…Live in Dallas
(release date: March 30, 2010)
EMI Gospel 2010
www.emigospel.com

Myron Butler is a singer, songwriter, and musician. Together with his vocal group Levi, he produces energy-packed urban praise and worship.

Revealed…Live in Dallas is Myron Butler and Levi’s latest CD, recorded in Butler's hometown. Lyrically, the album is all praise and worship, but musically, it operates at two ends of the sonic spectrum. At some points, including on the title track, electric guitars purr and squeal while keyboards and drums deliver dizzyingly polyrhyhmic riffs like Jon McLaughlin on an infinite loop. Other times, such as on “Greatest Love” and “Moving Closer,” the vocalists bathe their lyrics in an aromatic, softly sensuous soul-jazz vibe.

Don’t take this the wrong way, but the finest tracks on the album feature the guest soloists. “Just Can’t Live” pairs Butler with longtime friend and colleague Kirk Franklin on a driving performance that showcases the harmonic talent of Levi to a hard-hitting beat and chorus that contains hints of “You Keep Me Hangin’ On.” “Run to the Cross” is arguably the album’s most moving piece, with labelmate Smokie Norful turning up the emotional temperature as he imparts the religious significance of the cross like a preacher on Easter Sunday.

Butler turns Cyndi Lauper’s ‘80s smash “Time After Time” into a worship piece, and it works so well that one can only wonder why it hasn’t been made over sooner.

As with some of today’s live recordings, Revealed...Live in Dallas doesn’t reveal enough audience response to the music, and yet an audience is the extra band member that adds electricity to the live performance. Even if we can't hear them during the songs, however, the attendees applauded with abandon after each track.

P.S: Butler credits the late Thomas Whitfield of Detroit as an influence. So many gospel artists have emulated Whitfield, and so much of today’s contemporary sound can be traced back to his music, that it’s surprising more hasn’t been written about him. Thankfully, Whitfield left a wealth of recordings on the Sound of Gospel label from which we can enjoy his pioneering efforts. He blended gospel with jazz, soul and classical into a stew that gospel artists still feast on today.

Four of Five Stars

gPod Picks: “Run to the Cross,” “Just Can’t Live”

Review by Bob Marovich of The Black Gospel Blog

2010 How Sweet The Sound Competition Now Open

From a Press Release:

REGISTRATION OPEN NOW FOR VERIZON WIRELESS’ HOW SWEET THE SOUND TO FIND “THE BEST CHURCH CHOIR IN AMERICA” FOR 2010

Three New Communities for 14-City Choir Competition

BASKING RIDGE, N.J. – Registration is now open for How Sweet the Sound™, which is back in 2010 and bigger than ever with the expansion to three new communities. Now in its third year, How Sweet The Sound - a national program created by Verizon Wireless - gives church choirs nationwide a chance to win the title of “The Best Church Choir in America” and up to $50,000 in cash and prizes.

How Sweet the Sound is much more than a singing competition for choirs – it is an opportunity to celebrate the unique ways that music connects people within their communities.

Interested choir representatives can visit www.HowSweetTheSound.com or select Verizon Wireless retail locations for more information and to register for a chance to compete at concerts that will take place in the following cities:

• Houston
• St. Louis
• Washington, D.C.
• Philadelphia
• New York
• Detroit
• Chicago
• Atlanta
• Memphis, Tenn.
• Los Angeles
• Oakland, Calif.
• Jacksonville, Fla.
• Cleveland
• Charlotte, N.C.

“We are excited to expand How Sweet the Sound to add Jacksonville, Cleveland and Charlotte and to bring the joy of Gospel music to a new audience,” said Joe Saracino, vice president of marketing for Verizon Wireless. “Gospel is a genre that attracts people from all walks of life and we are proud to have created such a special program that celebrates music and recognizes the many volunteers who make church choirs such an important part of the community.”

Last year, Atlanta West Pentecostal Church Choir was named the overall winner for the How Sweet the Sound tour. According to choir director Brandon Frazier, the choir is using their prize money to record its first Gospel music album.

Entry and Selection Process
How Sweet the Sound invites choirs affiliated with a church or other church organizations (as defined by the organization’s tax-exempt ID number) within one of the 14 tour regions to enter.

Visit www.HowSweetTheSound.com for additional information...and best wishes to all who enter!

Yvonne Cobbs-Bey - Worship With Me

Yvonne Cobbs-Bey
Worship With Me
Beydaz’l Records 2009
www.yvonnecobbsbey.com

Hailing from the musically fertile Bay Area, Yvonne Cobbs-Bey is a gospel artist, songwriter, actor and also serves as choir director and youth department supervisor for Oakland’s Harmony Missionary Baptist Church, where Rev. A.L. Cobbs, Sr. is Pastor. Not long ago, she graced the stage of San Francisco’s Lorraine Hansberry Theater in a production of Langston Hughes’ Black Nativity, to favorable reviews.

Last year, Cobbs-Bey released her third independently produced album, Worship With Me. The ten-track CD features praise and worship, contemporary and traditional selections. Her son, Davon Vigay, lays down the beat on several of the tracks and other family members assist, as well. She possesses a strong voice and a solid command of a song – what the biz used to call “selling a song.” She eases through the performance demands of each gospel style without altering her vocal approach.

The traditional pieces on Worship With Me are the most soul-stirring, especially the bluesy “I’m Ready.” I was also intrigued by the album’s two distinctly different interpretations of the hymn, “Guide Me, Oh Thou Great Jehovah.” One version is presented in long meter form with piano accompaniment and what appears to be a multi-tracked Cobbs-Bey lining out with herself. The other (identified as “Guide Me”) is a pulse-pounding up-tempo version.

While the studio-based Worship With Me is well done, Yvonne Cobbs-Bey is an artist whose style cries out to be captured in live church performance.

Four of Five Stars

gPod Picks: “I’m Ready,” “Guide Me, Oh Thou Great Jehovah.”

Pilgrim Jubilee Major Roberson Dies

Sarah Alfred of G&A Productions informed TBGB that Major Roberson, longtime member of the Pilgrim Jubilees, passed away. Mr. Roberson had been suffering from a prolonged illness.

D.A. Johnson of Malaco Records contributes the following:

Major Roberson was born to this world on June 11, 1925 in Gunnison, MS and went home to be with the Lord Monday, March 1, 2010, 11:00 PM at his home in Chicago, IL.

Major Roberson was not only a singer, but an accomplished songwriter, having written several songs for the famed group. His most notable songs were "The Old Ship Of Zion," "The Doors Of The Church Are Open," "Church Song," "Don't Let Me Drift Away," "Exit 100," "He Brought Joy To My Soul," "Me My God And I," & "Testify For Jesus."

Major Roberson is survived by his wife Hattie Roberson, several children, a
host of grandchildren and great grandchildren.

Arrangements have been scheduled as follows:

Friday, March 12, 2010 7:00 P.M.
"A Musical Tribute"
Gatling Chapel Annex
10133 S. Halsted St.
Chicago, Il 60628
773-881-4111

Saturday, March 13, 2010
Homegoing Celebration
Visitation: 10-11 AM
Funeral: 11-12 Noon

Greater White Stone MBC
3819 W. Ogden Ave.
Chicago, Il.60623
773-762-4113

For more information, to send flowers or cards of condolences, please
contact:

Gatling's Chapel
10133 S. Halsted St.
Chicago, Il. 60628
773-881-4111 Phone
773-881-3925 Fax

Or

Val Grant 708-841-3319

For more information on the history of The Pilgrim Jubilees, please feel
free to visit www.malaco.com.

Photo credit: Malaco Records

"I Still Remember" - Pastor C.L. Fairchild

“I Still Remember”
Pastor C.L. Fairchild & the Voices of Greater Faith
(feat. Pastor DeAndre Patterson)
GFH Records 2009

One can argue whether regional differences in music still exist, especially in gospel, given that an artist anywhere can reach millions via YouTube.

I suggest that, to some extent, regional differences in gospel do exist. The late Pastor C.L. Fairchild’s “I Still Remember,” for example, has Chicago in its musical DNA. The Voices of Greater Faith's vocal attack, the strutting rhythm and shouting lead are part and parcel of the city’s longstanding traditional sound.

Based north of Chicago in Waukegan, Illinois, Pastor Fairchild and the Voices began recording a full project, which included “I Still Remember,” in July 2007. The minister’s failing health and passing three months later brought the production to a standstill. Thanks to the efforts of Pastor's wife, Betty Fairchild; son, Jesse Hopson; and maestro Richard Gibbs, “I Still Remember” was released as a posthumous and bittersweet testimony to Pastor Fairchild and his legacy.

"He Wants It All" - Forever Jones

"He Wants It All"
Forever Jones
From the EMI Gospel CD Get Ready
(release date: June, 2010)
www.emigospel.com

The first single from Forever Jones' forthcoming debut project, Get Ready, "He Wants It All" is an uplifting, melodic ballad that contains echoes of contemporary Celtic music in its atmospheric piano and bodhran-like rhythm, like the Corrs meet the Murrills.

The whispery female lead paints a portrait of the Creator as a modern-day Jesus who walks the earth in search of all-in discipleship.

TBGB Pick of the Week: March 1, 2010

“Krazy Praize”
April Nevels
From the 7-Places Indie Records CD Krazy Praise
(full album release scheduled: Spring 2010)

April Nevels, a member of the popular Nevels Sisters (“Clap Your Hands”), has embarked on a debut solo album, Krazy Praize, scheduled for release this spring.

The title track and first single is a body-twitching anthem to DIY praise. April unapologetically declares, “Everybody’s got a right to praise, even if you don’t know what to say.” The song’s digital-infused music,thumping bass and rapid fire lyricism, produced by Rob Sayles, will facilitate all manner of “krazy praizes” the listener wants to unleash.

Enthusiasts of artists such as Niyoki, Raishein and Alkendria will especially enjoy “Krazy Praize.”

Jackson Renames Avenue for Hometown Quartet

WAPT reports that the Jackson Southernaires were honored in their hometown of Jackson, Mississippi yesterday when the Bailey Avenue Extension was renamed "Jackson Southernaires Drive."

Read more here: Jackson Southernaires