TBGB Pick of the Week: February 28, 2011

“Will Not Rest”

Yunek

From the forthcoming CD Detour (available Spring 2011)

http://www.yunekmusic.com/

TBGB readers will remember Jessica Joseph, aka Yunek (pron. unique), from our review of her single, “Got Fruit,“ almost three years to the day.

Yunek was our Pick of the Week then and our Pick of the Week now. 

After a brief hiatus, the Houston native lends her pleasant, whisper-to-a-cry voice to a deliciously melodic and pop-flavored inspirational piece called “Will Not Rest.”

Yunek describes “Will Not Rest” as a “heartfelt ballad about the unyielding goal of getting back to that initial place of comfort in God’s presence. This song is a cry out for restoration and oneness with the Father. It’s about racing back to the place where you first felt His love.”

Jonathan DuBose, Jr.: The "Prophesying Guitarist" with a C.A.U.S.

By Bob Marovich for The Black Gospel Blog.

Scan the liner notes of a gospel CD and chances are you will see the name of Jonathan DuBose, Jr. listed among the musicians. Not surprising: DuBose has been an in-demand guitarist in the sacred and secular music arenas for many years.

DuBose recently spoke with TBGB about his beginnings, where his career has taken him thus far, and his passion for "C.A.U.S."

Beginnings in Bridgeport

Born December 12, 1960, DuBose first picked up the guitar at age four when his mother and father, quartetter Jonathan DuBose Sr. of the Sensational Starlights of Bridgeport, Connecticut, would take him to the quartet’s weekend engagements.

While the audience was soaking in the Starlights’ tight harmonies, young Jonathan was listening intently to the guitar players, one in particular.

“My uncle Willie Edmond played the guitar in such a way that it made me want to be like him,” DuBose recalled. “Uncle Willie played with reverb and tremolo. He used a tremolo bar, or what we call a ‘whammy bar.’ He produced a reverb chamber echo sound. That’s what piqued my interest, and to this day, I play with echo and reverb.”

Secular musical influences DuBose picked up along the way, mostly from his mother’s side of the family, included Sam Cooke, James Brown, and Archie Bell and the Drells. “I became familiar with secular music as well as gospel music.”

From listening to performing: at age eight, DuBose took the stage with the Sensational Starlights. “One day the guitar player, Benny Graham, couldn’t make it. I sat in for him and before you know it, I started to play live. Then somebody else saw me play and asked my father, ‘Could your son play for us?’ My father said, ‘Sure...if you guys pay him!’

“The more people who heard me play, the more my service and presence was requested. That’s how I started getting out.”

Among the artists who learned of DuBose’s emerging talent were Walter Hawkins and the Hawkins Family.

In 1982, the late Willie Smalls of New Haven, Connecticut asked DuBose to accompany his singing group, which was scheduled to perform at the Edwin Hawkins Music + Arts Seminar in Atlanta, Georgia. “When I got [to Atlanta], I saw the Hawkins Family musicians rehearsing, but they didn’t have a guitarist. So I asked if it was alright if I plugged in. I plugged in and played what I felt. At the end of the song, 500 people gave me a standing ovation.”

Walter Hawkins was so impressed with DuBose, he invited him to move to California to work with the Hawkins Family. “When preparation meets opportunity, it brings upon success,” remarked DuBose.

Since then, the guitarist has worked with some of the top talents in the music industry. At one time, he was on the road approximately six months of the year, touring as a musician with the likes of Harry Connick, Jr., Tramaine Hawkins, Jennifer Holliday, and the late Phyllis Hyman.

DuBose reckons he has performed on approximately 120 projects in the twenty-five years he has been in the music business. CDs by artists such as Donald Lawrence, Hezekiah Walker and Richard Smallwood have benefited from his guitar styling. DuBose was also part of Kim Burrell’s Everlasting Life, an album he calls “trendsetting…it changed the course not only of gospel music, but it introduced a brand new category called C.A.U.S.: Classified As Universal Sound.”

The Effect of C.A.U.S.

C.A.U.S. is one of DuBose’s major passions. “I was playing for Harry Connick, Jr.  We were in New Zealand at the time, and all of a sudden, I got a premonition to come up with a new style, a new sound: C.A.U.S., or ‘Classified As Universal Sound.’

"This is music that the Lord has given me.  C.A.U.S. can deliver people from their various dilemmas. It’s a stew of gospel, R&B, classical, jazz, hip hop, pop, Latin music, country music, all these different styles thrown into one pot, stirred up, and served as C.A.U.S. music. The Kim Burrell record was the very first record to come out under this C.A.U.S. production.”

DuBose’s own solo CD, Expect the Unexpected, contains the essential elements of C.A.U.S. “It has gospel overtones and the lyrical content is based on the truth, but the musical style is a mix of every style. The record company was trying to figure out what category it would fit, but we told them that it’s so vast, we had to create a category for it.

“I believe C.A.U.S. music will become the new sound of gospel music," DuBose continued, "especially for young musicians who want to demonstrate their gift and talent. They can bring in a Latin sound, mix it with reggae, and have a unique product. The beautiful part is that the lyrical content is based on the truth.  It is based on the word of God, based on Jesus Christ. That’s what makes gospel music gospel music. It’s about uplifting the name of Jesus Christ. It’s about making people aware that He’s alive today. That’s why we use different musical genres: so we can reach as many people as possible.”

DuBose’s new record, The Victory is Won, has been released under his own label, JoBo Enterprises, and is available at http://www.jdubose.com/. He is also busy performing and engineering guitar tracks for a variety of artists’ projects, all from his home studio. "I prefer being a studio musician more so than being a live musician because the final product is as perfect as I can make it.”

In addition to guitar, DuBose plays bass, some keyboards and can program the drums, “so I’m kind of like a one man band. I like challenging myself to play as much as I can, but when I recognize that I fall short, I will call someone else and ask him to help me. ”

As if he wasn’t already scheduled to the hilt, DuBose has taken time to write his autobiography, Roots, Branches and Vines, and is now pastoring a church, Agape House Fellowship. Holding its first worship service last month, Agape meets Saturday evenings at 7:00 p.m. at Winston Tabernacle at 265 Colorado Avenue in Bridgeport, Connecticut.

“We’re very musical,” DuBose said. “We even do songs that were popular in the Sixties and Seventies to convey the message of the evening, such as Kool and the Gang’s ‘Celebrate’ and the O’Jays’ ‘Love Train.’”

And Agape, DuBose explained, is a “texting church.”

"When I get ready to preach my message, I ask everyone to take out their cell phones, compose the text I will be preaching, and send it to one person of their choice. They hit ‘send’ on the count of three. Everyone who sent that text just became a disciple. I can’t reach everyone they’ve texted to, but I can give them the background on what to say when they get a response.”

To learn more about Jonathan DuBose, Jr. “the prophesying guitarist,” visit his website: http://www.jdubose.com/.

"In the Middle" - Isaac Carree

“In the Middle”
Isaac Carree
From the Sovereign CD
Uncommon Me (2011)
www.facebook.com/isaaccarree

Men of Standard alumnus Isaac Carree (“Simply Redeemed”) demonstrates an impressive capacity to sing gospel with plenty of urban R&B swagger on the clap-along single, “In the Middle.”

Written by Gerald and Tammi Haddon, the song has the distinctive Haddon bounce, while Carree relates the way to stop worrying and start living: no matter what happens, give praise “in the middle of it.”

"Come On Jesus" - The Soul Seekers

“Come On Jesus”
The Soul Seekers
From the My Block Records/Malaco Music Group/Sovereign CD
Soul Seekers II (2010)
http://www.thesoulseekersmusic.com/

The latest single from the Soul Seekers’ marvelous sophomore project is “Come On Jesus.” It is a deliciously soulful performance that harkens back to the gut-wrenching, hard-singing, guitar-led work of quartets that was particularly popular during the 1960s.

Lyrically, the song begins with a plea to the Lord to take care of us individually “in the midnight hour,” but concludes with a call for national intervention, including some disaster recovery work: “go down to New Orleans/Clean up that Gulf Coast.”

"(GMF) Gospel Music First" - Regula

“(GMF) Gospel Music First”

Regula

http://www.regulamusic.com/

Chicago-born Christian rapper Regula spits propers to the life-saving properties of gospel music while also lifting up some of its current stars, such as John P. Kee, Marvin Sapp, Mary Mary, Donald Lawrence and Mali Music. He goes on to thank God for keeping him safe and encourages women not to sell themselves short.

Regula, whose new single, “Running to You,” bears resemblance to the shimmering urban sound of fellow Chicagoan Aaron Sledge, attends Holy Ghost Temple Outreach and Deliverance Ministries, under the leadership of Pastor Gregory Thompson.

...And Then There Were Two: Trin-i-tee 5:7's Angel and Chanelle

By Bob Marovich for The Black Gospel Blog

GRAMMY® Award-nominated and Gospel Music Association Dove Award- and Stellar Award-winning Trin-i-tee 5:7 will release their new CD, Angel and Chanelle, in stores May 2011.

"Over and Over," the first single from the new album, debuted at #24 on Billboard’s Top Gospel Songs Chart.

Known as the best selling female gospel trio in music history, Trin-i-tee 5:7 is now a duo. New Orleans natives and original group members Chanelle Haynes and Angel Taylor spoke with TBGB about their early influences and their new music.

TBGB: How does it feel to be a duo now, instead of a trio?

Chanelle: In some ways it is different, but Angel and I are high school buddies, so it’s really like being in high school again.

Angel: I agree. It feels like the day we started, just the two of us, very natural. It’s a good feeling. We’re now carrying a lot more of the pressure, too, but that’s good as well.

Chanelle: It’s quite fascinating how God put us together and sustained us. I remember us spending a lot of time in the gym exchanging music. And when I say a lot of time, I mean we were supposed to be in class! But we were musical soulmates.  We didn’t know then that this passion and love for music would be the glue to our friendship into womanhood.

TBGB: What kind of music were you exchanging in high school? Who were your musical influences?

Angel: Chanelle introduced me to Commissioned. I gave her one of my Yolanda Adams CDs, but mostly I was giving her R&B music because she couldn’t listen to it at home. And she was introducing me to different gospel artists.

Chanelle: Our early influences are R&B and gospel. That’s really the sound of Trin-i-tee 5:7.

TBGB: Is there a New Orleans influence in your music?

Chanelle: Absolutely. My grandfather is a jazz pianist, and my grandmother was a singer in church. As a jazz musician, my grandfather made me understand the importance of honoring the song. He would say it’s great to do your own thing and put your own twist on it, but always respect the body of the song. We have a lot of pride in the musicians who have come out of New Orleans: Louis Armstrong, Mahalia Jackson, Harry Connick, Jr. Lil’ Wayne might be a stretch, but I like him!

TBGB: “Over and Over,” the first single from your forthcoming album, Angel and Chanelle, has had an immediate impact on radio.

Angel: We’ve gotten incredible feedback from the song. It’s humbling, because you never know what’s going to happen with any music that you put out. You just go into the studio with the best intentions. We want to make great music for our fans and for the world, and to see that happen with the song! We already knew when we heard PJ [Morton]’s demo that it was a beautiful and anointed and touching song, so it feels great to get that kind of feedback.

TBGB: Did you know PJ Morton from your New Orleans days?

Chanelle: Yes, we’ve known him since we were teenagers. His father, Bishop Paul Morton, has been one of our spiritual advisors since the day Trin-i-tee was born in 1998. We go way back; we’d be at his parents’ home getting counsel, and he’d be playing around on the piano, but it’s our first time working together professionally. We knew whenever that day would come that it would be something magical.

TBGB: What is the underlying message of “Over and Over?”

Chanelle: That it’s always important to go back to the basics. This world is filled with distractions, and everybody’s ideals are different. You get lost trying to be what people think you should be, but I’m just so glad God loves me for who I am and not for who I could be. This song is all about Him blessing us without us even deserving it. You can’t deserve God’s blessings, He just loves us. We just want to encourage people to embrace the love that He has given all of us.

Angel: It’s the story of Him being in our lives. We never thought we’d still be together fifteen years from the time we came together. We’ve been through a lot: we’ve been up and we’ve been down, but through it all we stuck together as friends, so the song is our life testimony. He keeps on blessing us, and nobody is ever deserving of what God does, so we’re very thankful.

TBGB: Is there an underlying theme to the songs on Angel and Chanelle?

Chanelle: We write about the moment we are in, right then and there. The album is very honest and very current. It’s not something we wrote two years ago. It’s about real life experiences. It’s easy to write about the same topics in gospel music, and they are wonderful and appropriate, but it’s also appropriate to write about what we are going through in ways relatable to our generation.

For example, one of the songs [on the album] is about letting go of the things you desperately want to hang on to. But when you let go, it feels so good, you feel lighter, you feel better. This is a message not just for Christians: we can’t talk to just one group of people; we have to talk to all of God’s children. This includes people who don’t necessarily go to church or who have never thought about having a genuine relationship with God.

TBGB: Are you still helping out with the Hurricane Katrina recovery effort?

Chanelle: It’s a lifestyle now. I think in the beginning, everybody thought, ‘Let’s come together, let’s contribute over here, let’s build over there.’ But if you are a native of New Orleans, you know that this is not just one moment to come together, this is the rest of our lives. It’s going to take that long to get the city…I don’t know that it will ever be what it was.  But the people of New Orleans are very resilient. They are passionate about our culture and the beauty of our city, so what Angel and I do is go back home and do several concerts without charging the churches there. We give concerts that help raise money for the community. That’s one of the ways we’ve given back.

TBGB: What’s next for Trin-i-tee 5:7?

Angel: Promote, promote, promote!

Chanelle: Promoting the record, knowing how much it means to us that people have embraced our music. We never take it for granted that someone says, ‘I love your music.’ It could be a six-year-old child who tries to sing the songs back to you. Moments like that are special to us. We’ll continue spreading the news of God, of Jesus Christ, and hope more people are drawn to Him through our music.

NOTE: Trin-i-tee 5:7 asks everyone to please keep in touch with them through Facebook and Twitter. “We are there a lot,” Chanelle said. “It’s how we stay connected. Angel’s twenty million times better at it than I am, and I figure it out as I go along, but please visit us!”

For more information, go to www.facebook.com/trinitee57 or twitter.com/therealt57

Visit the Trin-i-tee 5:7 website at: musicworldent.com/artists/trinitee57

"Celebrate" - Pastor DeWayne Harvey & Greater Blessings

“Celebrate”
Pastor DeWayne Harvey and Greater Blessings
From the forthcoming Innovative Records CD The Report of the Lord (available March 15, 2011)

The fiery “Whose Report” remains my favorite Pastor DeWayne Harvey selection, but his latest single, “Celebrate,” serves its purpose as a mid-tempo praise song that is the musical equivalent of an aerobic warm-up to Sunday service.

It’s a simple, conventional P&W song delivered with full-throttle enthusiasm by Harvey and the choristers from his Greater Blessings Tabernacle of Faith Church in Tallahassee, Florida.

Read more about Pastor DeWayne Harvey here.

Mississippi Mass Choir - ...Then Sings My Soul

Mississippi Mass Choir
…Then Sings My Soul
Malaco Records (2011)
http://www.malaco.com/

Reviewed by Bob Marovich for The Black Gospel Blog.

Time will tell but …Then Sings My Soul could well go down in history as the crown jewel in the Mississippi Mass Choir’s estimable catalog of gospel gems.

This two-disc set was recorded in June, 2009 at First Baptist Church in Jackson, Mississippi. The 200-plus member multicultural choir, which has been “serving God through song” since 1988, is as strong as ever. Its lead singers more than hold their own against the thunderous wall of vocal power – because when Mississippi Mass crescendos, they can drown out a jet plane.

After the compulsory praise opener, the program never stops to take a breath. There is scant entr’acte commentary as flatfooted ballads alternate with traditional-style church-wreckers. High-tempo workouts include the strutting “I Love to Praise Him,” led by the beloved Mosie Burks; the holy dancing “I Will Survive,” and a Warriors-esque “Don’t Stop Praying.” “Lord, You’re the Landlord” is the kind of congregational song that Babbie Mason might sing; here, Jesus is a trustworthy landlord who will come to your rescue when “there’s a leak in your building.”

The gospel ballads are just as memorable as the uptempo pieces. Their lyrics tug at the heart and speak plainly to people in need of comfort and hope. Benjamin Cone III gives an effective reading to the current single, “God Made Me;” the fiery shouter Marva McKinley is equally striking on “We’ve Come to Praise the Lord,” and Luther Barnes, quartet star and one of the album’s producers, tears it up on “He’ll Carry You.”

In fact, the traditional-flavored "He'll Carry You," with its confident reminder that God will see you through all troubles, was clearly a favorite at the recording session, and is equal in mood and tone to “God Made Me.” It could very easily be a single.

It is difficult to choose a favorite from among the eighteen tracks on this double album.  Most all are well written, well rendered and well produced. …Then Sings My Song is how a gospel project ought to sound.

Five of Five Stars

Picks: “God Made Me,” “He’ll Carry You,” “Don’t Stop Praying.”

TBGB Pick of the Week: February 21, 2011

“Over and Over”

Trin-i-tee 5:7
From the forthcoming Music World Gospel CD Angel and Chanelle
(in stores May 2011)

http://www.musicworldent.com/

Trin-i-tee 5:7 is now a duo but the sound remains intact. Proof positive: “Over and Over.” It’s the optimal first single from their forthcoming CD, due out in May.

On "Over and Over," the duo expresses the joy of receiving multiple blessings even when they don’t deserve them. The song rolls along with passionate R&B sensibility – its main motif sticks with the listener like a successful advertising jingle – while Chanelle Haynes and Angel Taylor turn up the heat with their melismatic singing. The song’s producer, fellow N’awlander PJ Morton, lends an effective vocal assist towards the end.

Nice work, ladies (and gentleman)!

Check out TBGB this week for an interview with Angel and Chanelle.

Pastor DeWayne Harvey Has Reason to Celebrate

By Bob Marovich for The Black Gospel Blog.

Pastor DeWayne Harvey has cause to celebrate.

He has a new single, new album, new record company and, most importantly, a new lease on life after a near-death experience two years ago.

The Floridian minister told TBGB that he got his first taste of religious music while attending the Pilgrim Rest Primitive Baptist Church with his extended family.

“From a young age I was bit by the gospel bug,” he said. “My mother had three sisters and two brothers and they all sang Sunday mornings in the church choir. At the age of three, I started singing in the choir. I would have to be dressed like them, so if they wore a robe, they would have to make me a robe. If they wore suits, they would make my suits to match their suits.”

At thirteen, Harvey was made the church’s choir director. He credits his membership in the Primitive Baptist Church for his grounding “in that good traditional gospel sound.” It also surrounded him with singers “who could not only sing well, but whenever they opened their mouths, you could feel the presence of God.”

At fourteen, Harvey joined the First Born Church of the Living God, the denomination of fellow Floridians the Consolers, Sullivan and Iola Pugh. Harvey also spent time in the Missionary Baptist Church and in the Church of God in Christ, for which his father’s family helped plant a church. “So I’ve got a little bit of everybody mixed up in me!”

Not surprisingly, when he entered Florida A&M University, Harvey joined its renowned gospel choir and participated in at least one of the choir’s mid-1980s recordings. Afterwards, he moved to Sarasota, Florida, where he recorded with Bishop Henry L. Porter and the West Coast Gospel Chorus of Florida. While in Sarasota, Harvey organized a group of his own. DeWayne Harvey & Unrestrained Praise was made up of members from across the state and has four albums to its credit.

“From out of that group,” Harvey said, “God birthed the Greater Blessings Tabernacle of Faith Church that I now pastor.”

From Harvey’s non-denominational church in Tallahassee, Florida comes his fifth and latest project, The Report Of The Lord. The group on the album is comprised of “the singers I hear every Sunday morning at my church.” The CD will be released March 15, 2011 on the pastor’s label, Innovative Records, and distributed by Taseis Distribution.

Harvey organized Innovative Records because “artists rarely get any type of real revenue in gospel. In order to take my music to the next level, I had to take control and start my own record company.” With an MBA, the pastor has the business acumen needed to make it work.

“Celebrate,” the second single from The Report of the Lord, was released in mid-February.  Harvey hopes it receives the same positive response as the album’s first single, “Whose Report,” which met with critical review and made it to the Billboard Top Gospel Singles chart.

“Whose Report” was birthed out of a near-death experience in January 2009, when Harvey was diagnosed with sleep apnea, an inability to breathe normally while sleeping. It can ultimately exhaust the body. “I was always falling asleep,” Harvey said. “I stopped driving because when I’d drive, I’d fall asleep.”

The solution, the doctors said, was to perform minor outpatient surgery to open up his air passages. In and out, he’d be home in a couple of hours. So they thought.

“When I woke up in recovery, I was gasping for air,” Harvey related. “I couldn’t breathe. The nurse kept shaking me but I wouldn’t come to.” His airways collapsed. The minister thought he was breathing his last.

“At that time, I heard the devil say, ‘I got you now! Everything is over!’ But when they were rolling me back into surgery, I heard the voice of the Lord say, ‘Be healed!’ When I thought it was all over, God healed me.”

The doctors repaired Harvey’s airways and the minister recovered. “I believed the report of the Lord,” Harvey said, writing the song as his testimony. The song "is so apropos for this time," he added.  "In the midst of recession, whose report are you going to believe?”

Harvey is now working on his first solo project, on which most of the songs will be his own compositions. He anticipates the album will be released in 2012. “I’ve always done albums with groups, and now God said ‘It’s time for you to do a solo project.’”

Prof. Harold Boggs Gets Props from Hometown

This month, the Ottawa County Historical Museum will be paying tribute to a hometown hero, gospel recording artist Prof. Harold Boggs.

"A Celebration of Rev. Harold Boggs and His Music" will be held at 2:00 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 26 at the museum, which is located at 126 W. Third St, Port Clinton, Ohio.

For more information and a brief biography on the artist, read the story here, from the Port Clinton NewsHerald:  Prof. Harold Boggs

"Will You Watch With Me?" - Bishop Paul S. Morton, Sr.

“Will You Watch With Me?”

Bishop Paul S. Morton, Sr.

From the Various Artists CD To His Glory...A New Song (2010)

http://www.5redrosespublishing.com/

“Will You Watch With Me,” written by William J. Jefferson, is a solemn and life-altering conversation between the Lord and an apostle unable to hang with him during his darkest hours in Gethsemane.

The orchestration and Bishop Paul S. Morton, Sr.’s dramatic expressiveness, evocative of the musical stage, transforms the New Testament story into a metaphor of the power of God’s forgiveness, His generosity of second chances, and our opportunity to embrace courage over frailty.

It’s a different sound for Bishop Morton, given his catalog of more traditional vocals, but then again, if the song were arranged for B3 and acoustic piano, maybe not.

Chris Jasper - Invincible

Chris Jasper
Invincible
Gold City Records (2007)
http://www.goldcitymusic.com/

Reviewed by Bob Marovich for The Black Gospel Blog.

Some deliver the Word with fire and brimstone, others with flatfooted, melismatic vocal power, and yet others with honey-sweetness so the message goes down easy.

Chris Jasper falls into the latter category. On Invincible, the former member of the R&B group Isley-Jasper-Isley and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee bathes messages of hope, faith, encouragement and reliance on the Almighty in the cool, sweet soul that was the soundtrack of the mid-1980s. 

For example, on “A New Life in Christ,” Jasper exhorts the listener with “sound advice” to “turn away from the ways of the world…stick with something when you know it is right,” but removes the sting with an infectious melody and metronomic rhythm.

Many songs on Invincible are polyrhythmic power anthems anchored by Jasper’s high tenor and Sam Cooke-Johnny Taylor yodel. The lyrics are rooted in scripture passages (the liner notes identify which).  

Jasper wrote each of the ten compositions on the album.  His summary of the creation story on “Thank You Lord” is as airy and weightless as the CD, as is the final track, “Come on and Testify,” with its “wake up, get right and testify” message.

The music is delightfully retro 80s R&B but the lyrics are religious, not just inspirational. If you enjoy gospel and the feel-good soul of Isley-Jasper-Isley, Ready for the World, New Edition, and Michael McDonald, you will enjoy Invincible.

Four of Five Stars

Picks: “Come on and Testify,” “Thank You Lord.”

"Miracles" - Tonya Baker

“Miracles”
Tonya Baker
From the forthcoming Kingdom Records CD The Live Encounter (2011)
http://www.kingdomrecordsinc.com/

In 2008, we were introduced to Dayton, Ohio’s gospel gem, Tonya Baker, on her Kingdom Records’ solo debut, Special Friend. Since then, we’ve heard her on Joe Pace’s Live from the Sanctuary, when she delivered the goods on “Speak a Word,” arguably the album’s finest moment.

“Miracles” is the first single from the Dayton, Ohio native’s forthcoming sophomore CD and first live project, The Live Encounter. Produced by GRAMMY Award-winner Myron Butler, the album was recorded last July at The Ginghamsburg Church near Dayton, OH.

For the single, Tonya Baker teams with background vocalists in a call-and-response on the omnipotence of God. Baker’s elastic, tangy gospel vocal complements the swaggering contemporary jazz backdrop, evoking Kim Stratton's performance on "Favor Ain't Fair."

While Baker’s sophomore CD won’t be released until the spring, listeners can obtain “Miracles” on iTunes, Amazon.com and other online digital music outlets.

Singing the Hymns - Karen Washington and the New Singing Stars

Karen Washington and the New Singing Stars
Singing the Hymns
Dream Reality Records (2010)
http://www.klwashington.com/

Reviewed by Bob Marovich for The Black Gospel Blog.

On Singing the Hymns, Karen Washington and the New Singing Stars render timeless hymns, revival songs and gospels such as “Amazing Grace,” “Jesus Keep Me Near the Cross,” and “Nothing But the Blood.” The CD’s ten selections are so lodged in the subconscious of Christians throughout the world that you’ll find yourself singing along with no need of a hymnbook.

What the female quartet does is give the ten classics a quartet feel and beat with modern-day traditional quartet accompaniment of guitar, bass, drums and electric keyboards. Gratefully, the instrumentation complements, but does not interfere with, the harmonies.

Evoking quartets such as the Gospel Keynotes and Pilgrim Jubilees, Washington delivers a sermonette on “I Need Thee,” where, in a sign of the times, the encounter with a troubled soul takes place at the local gym.

“Glory to His Name” is the album’s high point, a mid-tempo piece on which the group’s harmony is particularly tight. Here and there on Singing the Hymns, Producer Eric Sharper blends his voice with the female quartet, giving the ensemble a mixed group timbre within the basic quartet framework.

Karen Washington is a board member of the South Georgia Chapter of the American Gospel Quartet Convention and the AGQC Chapter in Brunswick, Georgia. She and the New Singing Stars have been nominated for three 2011 Rhythm of Gospel Awards: Quartet CD of the Year (for Singing the Hymns), Female Quartet Group of the Year and Traditional Female Vocalist of the Year. For more information, go to http://www.therhythmofgospelawards.com/.

Three of Five Stars

Picks: “I Need Thee,” “Glory to His Name.”

"We're Just Getting Started" - Kevin LeVar

“We’re Just Getting Started”
Kevin LeVar
Available exclusively on iTunes (2011)
http://www.kevinlevar.com/

The number of wedding-ready gospel and inspirational selections continues to grow. Add one more to the list, courtesy of praise balladeer Kevin LeVar.

LeVar (“A Heart that Forgives”) composed and sang “We’re Just Getting Started” to his new bride and longtime manager, Shondale Bostick, at their wedding ceremony on December 17, 2010. He has since recorded the song and made it available exclusively on iTunes.

As gentle and lovely as one might anticipate, “We’re Just Getting Started” finds LeVar accompanying himself on piano, pouring out genuine emotions in a notable love song with an inspirational message that drifts along on breezes of contemporary gospel and country-pop.

"He's a High Class Physician" - Rev. Timothy Flemming, Sr.

“He’s a High Class Physician”
Rev. Timothy Flemming, Sr.
From the CD Rev. Timothy Flemming, Sr. Greatest Hits
God’s Strength Records
http://www.godstrengthrecords.com/

Rev. Timothy Flemming is an old-school preacher and traditional singer in a contemporary age, a loveable throwback like Babbie Mason and Katie Sankey. Not only does he enjoy singing the old-time way, he wears the traditional moniker as a badge of honor.

On “He’s a High Class Physician,” Rev. Flemming tugs on the familiar image of God as the doctor of doctors. Sings Flemming: “Heart trouble, cancer, diabetes, too/God’s got the medicine, the cure for you.” The enthusiasm and joy on this track alone could cause the lame to walk.

The song is included on the two-CD, twenty-seven track compilation of Rev. Flemming’s best recordings, available from God’s Strength Records.

TBGB Pick of the Week: February 14, 2011

“Whatever It Is”

Gail Holmes
From the forthcoming Habakkuk Music CD I Receive Your Love
(album release: April 19, 2011)
http://www.habakkukmusic.com/

April Washington-Essex’s Habakkuk Music has a knack for finding fresh talent.

The latest is psalmist and songwriter Gail Holmes. Holmes, who hails from Florida, lends her lovely voice to “Whatever It Is,” a breezy mid-tempo ballad on the importance of letting go and letting God.

Holmes sings, “Whatever it is/Let it go/Give it to God and He will show/You all the things he has for you/He will see you through.” She gives the timeless message a contemporary reading designed to revitalize listeners fatigued with the complexities of modern life.

Andrae' Crouch: Making New Music, Wants to Hear Yours

By Bob Marovich for The Black Gospel Blog.

Multi award-winning Andrae’ Crouch is moving into his sixth decade in gospel music, but he’s not slowing down.

The singer-songwriter who, along with the Hawkins Family and the Rance Allen Group, helped birth the contemporary gospel movement in the 1960s, is promoting a new single, a new album, and a choir competition.

The Journey, available May 15, will be Crouch’s first CD since 2006’s Mighty Wind. The album’s first single, “The Promise,” will be available as a digital download on Tuesday, February 15 exclusively at Walmart.com, iTunes, and Amazon.com, and all other online retail outlets February 22.

“God has given us all kinds of rhythms on this album,” Crouch told TBGB last week, “but there’s a beautiful ballad on it [‘The Promise’]. “There’s so much negative stuff going on. The economy is weird. Relationships are weird. Finances are weird. Where we live is weird. People’s jobs are weird. But God wants to remind you that He will never leave you or forsake you, no matter what your problem is or what you’re going through. He's saying, 'I’m right here: just lean on me.'

“’The Promise’ is about that, about referring back to the Word. There’s so much power and strength in Scripture.”

Crouch, who has written approximately 1,700 songs in his lifetime, including “The Promise,” gets his inspiration “from the Lord. I just sit down at the piano and start playing. And I’ll hear something and say, ‘Oh, that sounds pretty!’ And I’ll tape it. Believe it or not, I still work with a Radio Shack cassette recorder. I can fill up the tape, just flip it over, and there it is! I can take the recorder into the shower – of course I don’t take it in the shower – but I can put it on the sink while I’m getting ready. I have boxes and boxes, six feet tall, with cassettes with music on both sides…filled with songs I’ve never recorded."

Crouch added, “When God uses you, what a privilege that is! For Him to say, ‘I’m going to send Andrae’ a song today,’ that’s a privilege. For Him to be looking over this whole world, and to have a message, and there I am, eating a Popsicle, and I’ll begin to hum a melody.  That's what happens all the time.”

One of Crouch’s most popular songs was also one of his first. “The Blood Will Never Lose Its Power” was recorded by Crouch's group, the COGICs, by Richard Simpson in the early 1960s. Simpson was a jazz and gospel producer. “They called [Simpson] 'Bishop' because he liked gospel,” said Crouch, recalling that first disc. “Billy Preston is on the organ. We were like thirteen, fourteen, trying to look old!”

In addition to writing and singing, Crouch is Senior Pastor of New Christ Memorial COGIC in San Fernando, California, the church his parents founded. “Whenever I’m gone, [twin sister] Sandra takes over. And she can preach, boy!”

Crouch is preparing to launch "The Riverphlo Entertainment Presents Andraé Crouch 'The Promise' Choir Competition.” The competition begins February 15 and ends June 30, 2011.  It is open to church and community choirs in the U.S., Puerto Rico and Canada.  Participants must be at least 18 years or older.

Crouch decided to organize the competition because “I have seen so many great musicians, but I didn’t have anything set up to make a record on them.”

Grand prizes for the competition include:
- a two-song digital deal with Riverphlo Entertainment produced by Andrae’ Crouch and Mano Hanes;

- Hanes and Crouch conducting a music workshop on songwriting, production, and music ministry at the winning choir’s church and/or community;

- The option of Crouch and Hanes appearing and/or participating at the winning choir’s sponsored concert during the time period of the workshop;

- An opportunity to appear in Crouch’s upcoming documentary film;

- A chance to appear with Crouch in various local and national media opportunities; and

- Music and sound equipment from a leading music supplier.

Crouch said, “We hope the choirs will respond to the contest and that we can find some good talent that can deliver the music God has given them...whoever the Lord sends that meets certain requirements and we feel like they have something to share with the world. If what we present is encouraging to them, they’ll carry on. The main goal is to spread the gospel.”

The single and album are on Riverphlo Entertainment and distributed by Universal Christian Music Group. Riverphlo CEO Mano Hanes, who produced Mighty Wind, returned to produce The Journey.

A documentary on Crouch’s musical journey, a television show, book and other opportunities are forthcoming in 2011 and 2012. For more information, visit http://www.riverphlo.com/.

Said I Had a Vision: Songs & Labels of David Lee

Various Artists

Said I Had a Vision: Songs & Labels of David Lee
Paradise of Bachelors (2010)
www.paradiseofbachelors.com

Like the Numero Group and Big Legal Mess, North Carolina’s Paradise of Bachelors digs deep into record crates for those marvelous but regrettably forgotten discs, locates the originators, tells their story, and reissues the selections for the enjoyment of a wider audience.

One of the label's recent releases, Said I Had a Vision, is the story of music entrepreneur David Lee of Shelby, North Carolina. Like Waymon Jones, Hoyt Sullivan, Neal Hemphill, Joe Von Battle and many others, Lee operated a record store (Washington Sound), released recordings by local artists and kept as many plates spinning as time, fortune and ability allowed.

Lee’s waxed product were 14 singles and two albums on his Impel, Washington Sound and SCOP (Soul, Country, Opera and Pop, pronounced Scope) imprints. Said I Had a Vision re-introduces fourteen of the sides.

Several gospel quartet gems are nestled among label hitmaker Ann Sexton’s broken-hearted soul, Brown Sugar Inc’s party funk and the Constellations’ sock hop R&B. In fact, gospel quartet made up nearly half of the company’s limited output over three decades.

The quartets Lee recorded included the Gospel I.Q.s (International Quartet), Joe Brown and the Singing Mellerairs, the Sensational Gates and the Relations Gospel Singers.

Among the gospel highlights on Said I Had a Vision are “Peace in the Land,” a brisk and soulfully poppish performance by the IQ’s; Joe Brown and the Singing Mellerairs’ lovely “Vision” (from which the comp’s title derives); and the Relations Gospel Singers’ lo-fi “On My Way Up,” recorded live in Mice Creek Baptist Church. As one might imagine, the only difference between the gospel and soul/R&B/funk selections are the lyrics and hard-singing, Pentecostal-style quartet leads.

The superb and well-researched full-color booklet included with the vinyl album – yes, rich, warm, heavenly twelve-inch vinyl – tells Lee's tale sympathetically and with as many details as a home-grown record company can recollect.

Paradise of Bachelors' listening party last November included live performances by many of the artists included on the set. Not surprisingly, then, Said I Had a Vision exudes the enthusiasm and passion for music, in all its shades and hues, that the artists and the label owners share...and are now sharing with us.

NOTE: Although the first 500 copies of the LP sold out expeditiously, PofB recently accepted shipment of 500 more. So have at it!

Four of Five Stars

Picks: “Peace in the Land,” “Vision.”

Civil Rights on the B Side

Heather Nolan of the Beaumont Enterprise speaks with Professor Robert Darden of Baylor University about how some "B" sides of gospel records carried messages promoting the Civil Rights movement.

Read it here:
Gospel B-Sides and the Civil Rights Movement

Photo credit: Robert Rogers

"The Promise" - Andrae' Crouch

“The Promise”
Andrae’ Crouch
From the Riverphlo Entertainment/Universal Christian Music Group CD The Journey (release date: May 17, 2011)
http://www.andraecrouch.com/

Andrae’ Crouch, eight-time GRAMMY Award-winning pioneer of contemporary gospel, is back with a new inspirational ballad, “The Promise.” Reminiscent musically of “Through It All” and “My Tribute,” “The Promise” is a reminder, delivered by Crouch in his windswept, easy-like-Sinatra baritone, that God will be with you always, rain or shine.

The digital version of “The Promise” will be available starting this Tuesday, February 15 at Walmart.com, iTunes and Amazon.com, and at all other online retail outlets beginning February 22. The full project will be out May 17, 2011.

Watch TBGB this weekend for a special interview with Crouch that includes information on a special choir competition he is launching February 15 in conjunction with the single.

Chicago Gospel Fest to be Part of Taste of Chicago

As part of a cost-cutting measure, the City of Chicago is merging some of its standalone music festivals, including Gospel Fest, into Taste of Chicago....which means Gospel Fest shrinks to one day, down from three at its apex.  I agree with Pastor DeAndre Patterson: it stinks.  Read more here:  Chicago Gospel Fest.

NOTE: Chicago Gospel Fest 2011 will be held Sunday, June 26.

Dr. Levi R. King Sr. & Gateway Area Bible Fellowship Apostolic Church Restoration Choir - He Is Good!

Dr. Levi R. King Sr. & Gateway Area Bible Fellowship Apostolic Church Restoration Choir

He Is Good!

El King Music Group (2007)

http://www.gatewayareabfac.com/

Reviewed by Bob Marovich for The Black Gospel Blog.

On January 14, 2007, amidst “the craziest weather," Gateway Area Bible Fellowship Apostolic Church Restoration Choir recorded He is Good.  It's the church's third CD but its first release in a decade.

Located in the Edgemont area of East St. Louis, Illinois, Gateway Area Bible Fellowship Apostolic Church is led by Dr. Levi R. King Sr.  King lends a hard-shouting lead to a number of the songs on He Is Good, although he can also embellish with ease, as on “Don’t Be Afraid,” a simple song about God’s presence that one can imagine Bishop Paul S. Morton recording, as well.

He is Good hums along at live performance tempo, with King punctuating the proceedings with personal reflections, teachings, and explanations of songs.  The Restoration Choir possesses a big, round, full-throated sound, attacking complex harmonies at maximum volume in the signature manner of contemporary gospel choruses.

What is especially interesting about this project is that a local quartet, the Zion Travelers, participates in the live recording as guest artists, singing “I’ve Decided to Make Jesus My Choice.” Seldom, if ever, does one hear a quartet on a choir's live recording.  For that, Dr. King is to be commended.

Standing out amidst conventional praise and worship songs on He Is Good is “I Will Bless Your Holy Name,” a lovely ballad on which the choir moves from a condensed whisper to thunderous shout. “Psalms 24” is a cathedral-sized anthem delivered as a church wrecker that evolves into a praise break by the conclusion. The crowd pleaser, however, is the dramatic title track, with its classic “gospel waltz” tempo.

He is Good showcases a well-tuned and enthusiastic church choir that knows its way around harmony and dynamics.

Four of Five Stars

Picks: “I Will Bless Your Holy Name,” “He is Good,” “Psalms 24.”

Fantasia Barrino to Play Mahalia in Biopic

Gather reported that Fantasia Barrino is set to play gospel's first queen, Mahalia Jackson, in a biographical motion picture to begin filming in April for a December 2011 release.  Jackson would have turned 100 this October.

Read more here:

Fantasia to play Mahalia in Biopic

"Rejoice" - Rehoboth

“Rejoice”

Rehoboth

From the forthcoming Utrecht Music CD He Is Great (2011)

www.reverbnation.com/rehoboth

The Baltimore-based Rehoboth is a small choir comprised of singers, songwriters and musicians. The group released its debut single, “Rejoice” on January 11 of this year.

“Rejoice” is a bright, optimistic praise song that would suit the opening of a worship service. It has a steady, up-tempo rhythm that blends CCM and gospel in the style of JJ Hairston and Youthful Praise. It is rendered professionally and with full-throttle enthusiasm, a skillful team of musicians in support.

TBGB Pick of the Week: February 7, 2011

“Trust You”
Modern Day David
Fresh Entertainment, Inc. 2011
http://www.moderndaydavid.com/

Modern Day David (Lawrence Williams) brings his club-ready electric beats and infectious pop energy to bear on a song about the tug-of-war between the fear of trying and the importance of trusting in God. Guess what wins in the end?

MDD’s sound is rooted in the Deitrick Haddon/J Moss school of edgy urban R&B with inspirational lyrics, which if you ask me, sounds fresher musically than most anything on today's pop charts.

Bishop Samuel R. Johnson, Sr. Presents The Sounds of Living Water: Kingdom Keepers

Bishop Samuel R. Johnson, Sr. Presents
The Sounds of Living Water
Kingdom Keepers
NSeason Records/Royalton Records (release date: February 15, 2011)
http://www.nseasonrecords.com/

Reviewed by Bob Marovich for The Black Gospel Blog.

It’s been thirty years of toiling in the musical vineyard, from writing and singing R&B (with the Determinations) to moving into the gospel music industry, but Bishop Samuel R. Johnson, Sr. is about to realize his life-long dream.

This month, the pastor and founder of Living Water World Ministries in Dayton, Ohio will release a full-length CD, Kingdom Keepers, featuring the church’s house group, The Sounds of Living Water.

Kingdom Keepers opens with the single, “The Power of God,” which features Bishop Johnson scatting in a husky, smoky preacher’s voice while the group bounces behind him. The praise song “Trust in Him” is an old-fashioned church-wrecker, led ably by Zandra Arnold. The group's contemporary groove continues with “Through the Storm,” an evocative song about seeing the Lord in the midst of the storms of life.

Then, without warning, Kingdom Keepers makes a 180-degree turn and gives the listener whiplash with “Are You Gon’ Praise,” an urban R&B rocker with hip hop flair to make J Moss grin. It’s done well and is so decidedly different from the preceding tracks that you will think you are hearing another group entirely. In the midst of the beats, we are introduced to the project’s brightest light, female vocalist Toyana Holloway. More about her in a moment.

Shifting gears yet again to reach “the young, old, saved and unsaved,” Kingdom Keepers ladles out a sax-led Latin beat on “Pray,” then moves into a full-bodied praise song with Funkadelic-style performance attributes and the world’s shortest title: “I.” “Something in the Air,” about the rising of the spirit, changes the funk beat to an ‘80s Gap Band groove.

The Sounds of Living Water settle back into the contemporary gospel milieu towards the end of the CD with “I Wanna Be Loved,” a solo, and a well-deserved one, for Toyana Holloway. Holloway renders this love song to Jesus with a sacred sensuality that never crosses the line but gets so close as to make every man wish she was singing it to him. “I Wanna Be Loved” is not only the finest track on the CD, but one of the best gospel songs I’ve heard this new year. It’s a five-star performance that proves Holloway deserves a solo project.

Bishop Johnson and The Sounds of Living Water fare best when they work within the contemporary gospel groove, but to say that Kingdom Keepers has something for everyone – “for everyone who has an ear to hear” says Johnson – is an understatement.

Four of Five Stars

Picks: “I Wanna Be Loved,” “The Power of God,” “Trust in Him.”

P.S. Here’s a Black History Month trivia question: what does Bishop Samuel Johnson have in common with the late Miss Roberta Martin? They both enjoy riding horses.

Canton Jones on Dominionaire: the Album, the Mindset

By Bob Marovich for The Black Gospel Blog.

On February 1, award-winning singer, songwriter, producer, vocal arranger and entrepreneur Canton Jones released his latest project, Dominionaire.

It’s his first double disc and the first release on his new label, CAJO Records.

Jones spent time with TBGB on the project’s release day to describe the new CD and what it means to be a "Dominionaire."

Why a double disc?  “It had been so long since I had a project out," Jones explained.  "I had so much music I wanted to release.  In fact, you’d be surprised how many songs did not make the album.  We settled on these 22 tracks because they were the best ones to represent me at this point in time, where I am in my life.”

The music on Dominionaire, explained Jones, “goes from hip hop to R&B to what we call R&P – ‘rhythm and praise’ – to jazz. There’s straight praise and worship, even a steppers' groove! There’s something on the CD for the entire family.

“I make CDs for the family,” Jones added. “So if parents have children who are listening to the music, I want them to enjoy the experience as well. I don’t want it to be like, ‘Mom likes it but the kids don’t,’ and vice versa.  We want it to be a family experience," Jones laughed, "almost like Disney!”

On the origin of the album's title, Jones explained, “Dominion is the name of my son. We named him Dominion because when my wife was five months’ pregnant, the doctor said that his heart stopped beating. At that point, we took authority over the situation. We said, ‘Our child isn’t going to be like this.’ We took dominion over death and sickness, invoking the words of Jesus Christ.

“We added the ‘aire’ to Dominion to give it that quartet feel. My dad, who sang quartet with the Nobleaires, went on to be with the Lord last year.  The title in part pays respect to the quartet movement. But it also has that prestigious feel of having an abundance of dominion.”

The two-CD set features a lineup of major gospel talents, including Deitrick Haddon, James Fortune, Keith “Wonderboy” Johnson and Mr. Del.  Jones' wife and mother are also among the guest artists. “A lot of people pitched in to make this project happen,” Jones replied.

The first single from Dominionaire, “Window,” is already impacting radio. “People need to hear something positive, they need something to look forward to,” Jones explained. “The song simply says, ‘I see a window over your head and it’s pouring out blessings.’”

Most importantly, the thematic content of Dominionaire is in step with the worship warrior movement heralded by groups such as Shekinah Glory Ministry and worship leaders such as Phil Tarver. In a nutshell, it’s taking a proactive position over the forces of evil.

“Dominion is the theme, taking dominion, taking authority, taking over because of the authority you have in Jesus’ name,” Jones said. “On ‘Be Healed,’ you take dominion or authority over sickness. There’s a song called ‘In Da Club,’ where you take dominion over a club where Christians wouldn’t be allowed, or at least they definitely wouldn’t be dominant.

"On the song, ‘That Devil,’ the line goes, ‘if anybody sees that devil, tell him I’m after him.’ Some old songs say, ‘the devil thought he had me, but I got away,’ meaning you were being chased by the enemy. ‘That Devil’ states, ‘if anyone sees the enemy, tell him I’m after him.’ It’s a different mindset from being somebody who’s kind of passive as a Christian to somebody who walks in dominion, in authority, like God told us to.

“In the proactive mode, you make things happen,” Jones continued. “You take charge of the situation you are in, and you don’t necessarily wait until you are attacked. So, for example, before there’s a need for healing, we claim health. That is a proactive instead of a reactive mentality. That’s what Dominionaires are. We’re coming to take over and recover all; we’re not necessarily going to keep fighting the enemy off. We’re going to squash the enemy until he goes away!”

The album encourages listeners to have confidence in their role as children of God.

“If we realize we are sons and daughters of God,” Jones said, “then we will have more confidence in our ability to ask Him for what we want and need.  People are familiar with ‘God will supply all your needs,’ but they are also familiar with ‘The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.’ In other words, He’s going to eliminate your wants AND give you what you need.

"For example, my child may do something bad in school or be reprimanded by her teacher, but she’s still going to have food, she’s still going to have the best clothes, all of the best that I can supply her with because she is my child. She may have to go to bed early or something like that, but she will still get everything she needs simply because she’s my child."

What advice does Jones have for new and emerging artists?

"I tell artists, 'you were born with a distribution deal: that’s your right leg and your left leg.' You have to be aggressive. You should distribute the truth to as many people as you can, and if you are faithful over a few, God will make you ruler over many. When you’ve done all you can, passed out as many CDs as you can, and sing as many places as you can locally, then God will see that faithfulness and take you to the next level. You can’t be a superstar overnight. Before you go across the world, make sure the person across the street knows who you are."

Now that their new CD has hit the stores, Canton Jones and his team are preparing to tour Germany.  A Dominionaire tour is in the works for March and April of this year. “This generation is dying and they need hope,” Jones said. “We want to give our young people the truth and the truth will make them free.”

For more information, visit http://www.cantonjones.net/.

"Stand Up" - Chris Jasper

“Stand Up”

Chris Jasper

From the Gold City Records CD Everything I Do (2010)
http://www.goldcitymusic.com/

In 1985, Chris Jasper ("Superbad") of Isley-Jasper-Isley was the lead vocalist on the phenomenal chart-topping “Caravan of Love.” In the 1990s and 2000s, he combined the soul feeling of Isley-Jasper-Isley with inspirational lyrics, and even re-recorded “Caravan of Love” for 1992’s Praise the Eternal.

Jasper’s Everything I Do is a collection of pop and inspirational songs jacked up on the shoulder-shaking, bass-thumping, up-tempo ‘70s funk that recalls the artist’s time with the Isley Brothers.

In fact, the album’s “Stand Up” sounds like a sacred, and slower, version of the fist-shaking “Fight the Power.” Here, the rallying cry is against issues such as taking God out of the Pledge of Allegiance, with Jasper encouraging “everyone who loves the Lord, stand up!”

Shirley Caesar - A City Called Heaven

Shirley Caesar
A City Called Heaven
Shu-Bel Records/Light Records (2009)
http://www.lightrecords.com/

The old saying is that everyone wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die to get there.

So with the Mayan calendar suggesting that 2012 is the end of the world as we know it, there is a temptation to see irony in Shirley Caesar’s GRAMMY-nominated A City Called Heaven, because it handles subjects such as death and the Rapture with, well, rapturous enthusiasm.

But this is gospel music – traditional gospel music – where there is joy, unspeakable joy, in the hereafter. Or, as Pastor Caesar sings on the tambourine-shaking “Celebration,” when the Lord comes back, what a time it will be. Similarly, on “Get Light for the Flight,” Caesar admonishes listeners to get their soul right because “the sign of the times are everywhere.”

A City Called Heaven finds Pastor Caesar in fine fettle, growling and shouting like the evangelist she is and has been since her Caravan days. She’s stayed relevant; her duet with J Moss on “Nobody” is not only thematically current (abusive marriages, illness, the economy), but the urban R&B beat is pure J Moss.

Still, the finest moments on the CD are when Caesar goes old-school, such as on the church-wrecking “Been So Good” and the gospel waltz “Can’t Even Walk (Without Him Holding My Hand).” The latter song, with its country feel and church mother philosophy, is the kind of performance that suggests Caesar could well become the next reigning Queen of Gospel.

The string-laden, piano-led title track, not the old standard but a new song by Aaron and Bryan Sledge, is a splendid conclusion to a splendid CD. Long live Shirley Caesar!

Four of Five Stars

Picks: “Cornerstone,” “Been So Good,” “Can’t Even Walk (Without Him Holding My Hand).”