Joseph Middleton of the Golden Era Gospel Blog just informed TBGB that Minister Gene Viale died.
Viale, from the Bay Area and of Puerto Rican descent, was a member of the Cleveland Singers during the 1960s. It's his voice leading "Heartaches" for the Cleveland Singers, a group he once referred to as "his life." Viale also toured with the Caravans, recorded solo albums for Checker and other labels, and wrote his memoirs in a book called I Remember Gospel and I Keep On Singing.
I had the very good fortune to interview Gene on "Gospel Memories" some years ago and enjoyed seeing him every year at the Gospel Music Workshop of America. He was a wonderful man who will be sadly missed by me and so many others.
Gregory Gay of GOSPELflava.com reports that Lisa Burroughs Allen, an original member of the Richard Smallwood Singers, passed away November 23 in Washington DC.
Here is a link to Gregory's article, which includes homegoing service information: Lisa Burroughs Allen
TBGB sends its sympathies to Ms. Allen's family, friends, and to Mr. Smallwood and the original Richard Smallwood Singers.
Services celebrating the life of Lisa Burroughs Allen are as follows:
~ HOMEGOING CELEBRATION ~ Friday, December 2, 2011 – Viewing at 9:00 A.M., Celebration of Life at 10:00 A.M. First United Church of Jesus Christ, Apostolic 7901 16th Street, N.W. Washington, DC 20012
~ MUSICAL TRIBUTE ~ “Lisa Burroughs Allen: A Celebration In Song” Saturday, December 3, 2011 - 6:00 P.M. Union Temple Baptist Church 1225 W Street, S.E. Washington, DC 20020
Guest Artists Include: Ryan Vincent Ford & Ministry Minister Stephen Hurd Stephen Key & Company Mike McCoy & Voices United Minister Dennis Sawyers Juan Sellars & Selah The Richard Smallwood Singers ...AND MORE!!
“Stand Up”
Michael Boykin
Versatile Music Group (2011)
“Stand Up” is a foot-tapping mid-tempo number from Michael Boykin of the Mighty Voices of Clinton, North Carolina. Boykin calls out the first line and receives the response of a high-harmony male group, possibly the Mighty Voices, though the vocal group is un-credited.
The traditional-style single grooves along with a trainload of blue notes, a strong backbeat and a biting vamp, all of which thrill quartet enthusiasts, especially in the south and southeast.
Boykin dedicates this single to quartet great, the late Rev. Howard “Slim” Hunt of the Supreme Angels.
Gregory Gay of GOSPELflava.com reported that Bishop Odis Floyd, senior pastor of New Jerusalem Full Gospel Baptist Church of Flint, Michigan, went from labor to reward yesterday, Monday, November 28.
TBGB extends its sincere sympathies to the family and friends of Bishop Floyd and the congregation of New Jerusalem.
Rev. Stefanie Minatee & Jubilation promise to take us to church, and they do on “The Blood,” the first single from their brand new CD, Just Like Sunday Mornin’.
It’s not Andrae Crouch’s composition but the congregational song, “I Know it was the Blood” that any deacon worth his name badge and special seat in the church knows how to lead. The double-time rhythm is appropriately traditional, with instrumental interstitials between verses and a quartet-like vamp and lead trading at the end.
Says Rev. Minatee about “The Blood” and the new CD: “Black music, especially sacred music, is DIFFERENT. The moans, groans, squalls, cries, hollers, call and response, and other elements associated with Black music, especially Gospel music, are ALWAYS authentic! These sounds are still heard in many of our Churches on Sunday morning, and MUST remain alive in our music.”
And the presentation of "The Blood" has plenty of provenance. Rev. Minatee is related to the late Rev. Lawrence Roberts, who directed the Angelic Choir of Nutley, NJ. Roberts is the reason for all those wonderful Savoy LPs back in the day, including the legendary 1963 session with James Cleveland that produced "Peace Be Still."
Whether you have or haven’t, this Washington, DC trio’s Christmas EP is a brief but blessed listening experience.
HEIRess is Kiyanna (Kiki) Rivers, Kalilia (Lili) Wilson, Mumen (Mookie) Ngenge. The ladies look marvelous, sound marvelous…heck, even their names have a musicality. The group's sense of style is evocative of Trin-i-Tee 5:7.
On Once Upon an Heiress Christmas, the trio sings a Christmas medley; “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” from Meet Me in St. Louis; and Vince Guaraldi’s classic Charlie Brown carol, “Christmas Time is Here.” All three selections are perfectly suited to their sugar sweet harmonies and occasional launches into Take 6 complexity. The production is as crystal clear and delicate as the ladies’ voices.
If you like your Christmas carols with sweet harmonies, Once Upon an Heiress Christmas is for you. Although this EP is from 2010, the music is timeless.
On “Inspired,” the first single from his new album, LIFEMUSIC, the Christian rapper from Memphis is motivated and inspired by a list of things: by life, by God, by being free through God’s grace, by the children of St. Jude Children’s Hospital in his adopted hometown.
Although elated, F1 Diamond still seeks to rise further, praying to be more like Jesus. It’s a positive, upbeat, happiest-man-alive rap. Good stuff. Produced by D-Flow.
On Porque Me Amas/Because You Love Me, Linda Agosto pours a liberal helping of picante on her praise.
Agosto’s all-gospel salsa album finds the New York native singing to punctuating brass and rolling percussion. Even balladic selections such as “Thy Keeper” get a mildly caliente accompaniment.
It makes sense: salsa is a celebratory sound and the songs on the CD are celebratory, expressing praise for blessings received and a God who would deign to love little ol’ us. Agosto’s trademark style is also a tribute to her Puerto Rican roots and to the powerful influence of Latin music on her newly-adopted Florida home.
Throughout the album, Agosto sings with an insistent staccato delivery, using everything she has. A solid male group gives the selections added potency. And she sings in both English and Spanish; the title track and “In the Fire” (reviewed earlier on TBGB), for example, appear on the album in English and Spanish versions.
The performances have more passion and drama when Agosto sings in Spanish. This is most evident on the infectious “Por Un Granito de Mostaza” (“Like a Mustard Seed”) and “El Todo Poderoso” (“The Almighty”). I have experienced this once before: listening to the English and Spanish versions of the late Soraya’s En Esta Noche (Polydor), I preferred the Spanish.
The salsa gospel treatment works on all tracks except “His Eye is on the Sparrow,” where its traditionally serious reading trumps the joyous arrangement here.
If you are unafraid of moving in the spirit, you will not want to sit still during Porque Me Amas/Because You Love Me.
Three of Five Stars
Picks: “Por Un Granito de Mostaza,” “El Todo Poderoso.”
Gospel music has been presented in a festival environment for decades, since at least 1938, when Chicago’s First Church of Deliverance held its first candlelighting service at the Chicago American Giants baseball field on the city’s south side. The Fort Valley State College Music Festival also presented quartets, gospel singers and jubilee groups as early as 1938.
The best-known festival performances of early gospel took place at the Newport Jazz Festival. The event featured some of the day’s notables, including the Ward Singers, Mahalia Jackson, and the Drinkard Singers. The New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival has had a gospel music tent since its inception.
This year marks the first time a gospel collection has been part of the ESSENCE Music Festival CD series, produced by the festival’s official music partner, Mathew Knowles’ Music World Gospel. ESSENCE Music Festival, Volume 5: The Gospel Collection offers six live recordings from the ESSENCE Empowerment Series, held each year at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans on Festival Sunday.
Featured on the live CD are CeCe Winans, New Orleans’ hometown sweethearts Trin-i-Tee 5:7, J Moss, Ledisi and Kirk Franklin.
It is refreshing to hear these gospel artists in the organic, laidback festival atmosphere instead of a controlled recording session. While the performances on the ESSENCE collection are fine, with Ledisi sounding the most at ease, the finest selection on the disc is CeCe Winans’ “Oh Holy Place.” It is her trademark worship ballad style with a breathtaking arrangement.
I wish that the songs on the collection that fade out had been allowed to continue, and that more than six tracks had been included. Perhaps next year the set will be more robust, because this series could become an important historic record of live, unadulterated performances by the current top artists, like a live version of WOW Gospel.
Regretfully, the death of Charles Miller Lyons on November 22, 2011, in Louisville, KY.
Charles was a well-known organist, soloist and choir director in the Chicago area. The churches formerly served include the First Church of Deliverance in Chicago, St. Stephen Church of Louisville, and First Baptist Church of Gary. He was currently an organist at New Zion Baptist Church in Louisville.
Not to be confused with Brooklyn’s Angela Hall (Beautiful God), Angie Hall is a North Carolina-born indie singer-songwriter whose musical style is best described as “inspirational fusion.” Hall’s worship lyrics, set to an amalgam of pop, jazz, R&B, rock, CCM and gospel, can be sampled on her debut CD, Beyond Expectations…Thoughts from an Unspoken Mind.
Hall’s youthful, fetching voice is sweet in the high register and tangy in the low register. The musicians are the backbone driving the fusion, though they seem most at home during the jazzier moments. The drummer and producer M. Clemons, jams like a Pat Metheny alum.
Hall’s worship music is tuneful and pleasant, particularly on the opening track, “I Give You My Praise” and the ballad “No Greater Love.” “I Wanna Know” is an almost-whispered prayer lofted upward in a laid-back R&B groove. “Give It Over” assures that by giving your life to God, “things start happening.” Of all the selections on the album, “Give It Over” bears the closest relationship lyrically to gospel as it used to be written.
The most musically impressive track is “Your Love.” Featuring Vickie Farrie, “Your Love” benefits from a well-crafted pop melody and finely-honed musicianship. Hall turns in her most energetic performance of the album. As they used to say in the music business, this is a song “with legs.” Other gospel and inspirational artists whose style favors pop and R&B will find this composition worth checking out.
Beyond Expectations…Thoughts from an Unspoken Mind is a fine album debut for Angie Hall.
“Rescue Me”
The James’
From the Needle Gate Records CD Rescue Me www.needlegate.com
No, this is not a gospelized version of Fontella Bass’s 1965 soul smash. The title track of the James’ CD is hypnotic and bracing, a praise and worship melody given a marching tempo and all but overshadowed by performance techniques straight outta old school.
What makes “Rescue Me” distinctive is the insistent shouting, beseeching and exhorting of the firebrand lead singer, Sonja James-Bellephant, who grasps the lyric with both hands and, like a frothy evangelist, flings it at the congregation with the urgency of a prophet on the last day. You can see her in your mind’s eye, walking to and fro on the altar, testifying.
The five sisters who make up the James’ hail from Chicago’s Greater Rock Missionary Baptist Church, a church their family founded, where Rev. Floyd James serves as pastor.
Imagine yourself diving head first into a crate packed with dusty 45 rpm vinyl records of gospel music.
Not the hits of the day – not the Gospel Harmonettes, Gospel Keynotes, Davis Sisters or the Caravans – but quartets, trios, duos, singers, preachers and choirs you may not be familiar with, artists whose renown didn’t reach beyond their city or region. They sold their discs whenever and wherever they ministered in song. Some artists were fortunate enough to secure interest from a large indie label or a decent distribution deal, only to sink quickly into the nether regions of memory.
These are the records assembled on This May Be My Last Time Singing, the three-CD follow-up to gospel collector and enthusiast Mike McGonigal’s critically-acclaimed collection, Fire in My Bones, also a three-CD set on Tompkins Square.
It offers 72 selections from gospel music’s massive marginalia, many from artists who took advantage of recording’s DIY environment to put their own music out. Nestled amidst this assortment of artists, which runs the gamut from professional (Zion Travelers and the Clefs of Calvary) to locally prominent (Joiner’s Five Trumpets) to amateur (Brother Clark & his Trio), is a dizzying array of performance styles from gospel artists and preachers linked by their genuine religious zeal and desire to go all-out for the Lord.
Some amazing gospel music appears on smaller labels, however, and this set includes such thrilling performances as the Southland Singers’ jumping “Save Me Jesus” (Hi-Way, ca. 1963) and “All Wrap Up in One” by the Floridian Otis Wright and the Spiritual Harmonizers. The Zion Travelers’ “Milky White Way” (Excell) is a marvelous version of the Trumpeteers’ classic original, a song arranged by gospel chorus pioneer Professor Theodore Frye and covered by Elvis Presley. “If It Wasn’t For the Lord What Would I Do” by the Cumberland Rivers of Detroit (Kable) has a melody that echoes the proto-soul of its day. It is a fantastic single that has withstood the test of time.
Other selections on the set are by ensembles with more enthusiasm than skill. For example, Brother Clark and His Trio’s “Send the Holy Ghost Down” would have been outstanding were it not for one very off-key voice in the trio. The electronic drum machine on the Sounds of Soul’s “Perfect Like the Angels” obfuscates former Gary Echoes of Eden member Selma Kirkendall’s stunning old-school gospel vocal.
McGonigal’s wry sense of humor but genuine respect for the music come through in the accompanying booklet. He does an admirable job cleaning up the original discs that serve as the source material, some of which undoubtedly needed deep groove scrubbing after years of wear and love.
This May Be My Last Time Singing underscores how seemingly infinite is the number of small-run gospel singles, and what would be lost were it not for people like McGonigal who dive head first into crates of gospel records, pull several to the surface, and ensure they see the light of day.
On its latest, self-titled CD, the Sounds of Blackness underscores its optimistic message of healing, unity and hope with dramatic flourishes of theatricality. The sound is so tight, the theme so on point, and the melodies so compelling, the album stands out as one of the group’s best.
Even more than the quality of the individual tracks is the album’s overall motive and emotive force, its rhythmic complexity echoing Michael Jackson's later work. Sounds of Blackness could easily develop an effective stage musical from the components of this album.
As is its forte', the Twin Cities ensemble assembles its sound from an amalgam of American roots music styles, such as soul, R&B, rock, jazz, and gospel. If you've never heard Sounds of Blackness -- which I doubt -- all you need to do is read its list of "musical mentors" in the liner notes to know how vast are its influences: from Marian Anderson to Duke Ellington to Prince.
Notable moments on the CD are the inspirational anthem and current single, “Fly Away,” which benefits from the powerful gospel lungs of Jamecia Bennett; and the delightfully buoyant “Keep On Keepin’ On.” “Ubuntu,” or humaneness, is an African-flavored piece, its call for healing, togetherness and peace the overarching theme of the CD.
The album's two spirituals are given dramatically different treatments. While “Ev’ry Time I Feel the Spirit” opens with jazz guitar and later moves with Broadway-like flair, “Soon Ah Will Be Done,” arranged by Sounds of Blackness founder Gary Hines, bears kinship with the neo-traditional work of the late Moses Hogan.
“Hey Jude,” the Lennon and McCartney classic, seemed an intriguing inclusion, but its effective mix of brass, funk and gospel chorus would most certainly earn a tip of the hat from Sir Paul.
The Sounds of Blackness – the album and the group – can be summarized in the we-can-work-it-out message of the song, “Have Fun,” especially its infectious chorus: “Let’s have fun, do good, and live well.”
Having just released his fourth album, The Future is Now, gospel rapper ASON (aka Big Sonny, aka Thurman Custis) is getting his first real taste of national exposure. As he told TBGB during our interview earlier this month, he took the time needed to get the project just right.
It shows. The Future is Now is a fine vehicle to provide ASON with broader reach. The production and beats are strong, and the selections that are reinforced by melodies are the most compelling. Zesty soprano Christy Love deserves second billing for her ripostes to ASON’s raps on various selections. Her interjections alone add a star to the CD.
ASON’s measured rhymes are not at all hard to comprehend. His street vernacular varies from rough-edged, as on “Get On My Back,” to whimsical, as on “I’m a Ryda,” but nobody can say he’s not genuine. Imagine Mr. Del’s honest-to-God verse backed by Trip Lee’s approachable hip hop tunefulness, and you have a good indication of The Future is Now.
The lead single, “Lay Them Down,” is the album’s strongest selection, though from a lyrical standpoint, “Gotta Say Thank You” is the most dramatic and provocative. On this track, ASON uses vignettes to rap about divine deliverance from domestic abuse, the needless loss that violence produces, and when life attempts to block the pathway to success. To this point, “Gotta Say Thank You” underscores ASON’s personal commitment to keeping kids from dropping out of high school.
The message of The Future is Now is uncomplicated: life is short, your plans can change, but if you hold onto the one true God for help, you will be okay because He has your back. And as God’s sons and daughters, we’re down here living for a “well done” at the end of our life. Can I get an amen?
Los Angeles, CA--The founder and president of Born Again Records, Barnett Williams, who gave the world Christian comedian Broderick E. Rice, James Grear and Company, Mary Floyd, 5 A.M. Praise, Tim "Bishop" Brown and Sonya Barry to name a few has died, it was announced Friday, November 11, 2011.
Barnett Williams, known for helping so many people, recently released the highly-inspired compilation entitled, "Tell the Truth, Shame the Devil," celebrating artists from its inception to the present.
With over 30 recordings and fifteen Billboard chart toppers, Born Again Records has transpired as one of the leading independent gospel record labels, attracting artists from around the country seeking to launch their careers.
From the labels first release in 1995--Mary Floyd's "God Is Able," to the latest release from Stellar Award-nominated sister act 5 A.M. Praise, Williams was serious about his music.
A kind man who would give his shirt off his back, Barnett Williams will truly be missed.
**NOTE: there was a change in the location of the memorial service. It will still be on Friday, November 18 2011 but @8:30 A.M. - Holy Cross Mortuary, 5835 W. Slauson Avenue, Culver City, CA30230.
Directed by Joel Kapity (Blessed & Cursed), the DVD companion to Shekinah Glory Ministry’s two-CD set, Refreshed By Fire, captures the award-winning praise and worship ensemble in its tenth year.
The DVD is more compelling than the CD because SGM is, after all, as much a visual as an aural collective. Theirs is a finely choreographed church pageantry of psalmists, minstrels, karar (whirlers), banner-wavers, encouragers, lead singers, and the chorus. There’s even a painter in the film; Shawn Warren is seen painting a picture while a percussionist performs. The talented musicians who undergird all of the above are to SGM what the Funk Brothers were to Motown: rock solid and steady.
Valley Kingdom Ministries' Apostle H.D. Wilson opens the celebration and then Phil Tarver comes front and center as praise and worship leader and MC. The first half of the program is buoyant and full of high energy, with selections such as “Reclaim Your Mountain,” “Dance,” and “Giant Slayer,” which brings Tarver and fellow suburban Chicago church leader Pastor Dan Willis together for an incendiary duet. The second half of the program is meditative, quiet and unhurried. The extended period of musical interludes and solos in the second half may have worked well in person, but on the DVD it seemed lengthy. I couldn't wait to get to the final songs, including the single, "Just For Me."
Since the DVD is a visual document of the celebration, it follows the order of the CD, although the main movie and the DVD's bonus section include additional material not found on the CD. One of the behind-the-scenes segments is Apostle Wilson discussing the birth of SGM and its unintentional rise to international popularity.
Like the CD, the DVD booklet sometimes fails to indicate which singers and musicians led the various selections; this detail would have helped those unfamiliar with the many SGM personnel. Nevertheless, Joel Kapity does a stunning job capturing the swirling, colorful visual spectacle of the Refreshed By Fire program as it takes place on the altar, in front of the altar, and in the aisles. And the music, when heard in its totality, which is how I suspect it is supposed to be heard, is akin to a sacred opera or a praise and worship oratorio.
The Refreshed By Fire DVD rekindles Shekinah Glory Ministry's leadership in praise and worship for the eyes and ears.
“Simply Amazing”
Todd Dulaney feat. Michelle Williams
Todd Dulaney Ministries (2011)
Available at amazon.com and iTunes.
Here is a brand new and “simply amazing” recording that teams Stellar Award-nominated Todd Dulaney with Michelle Williams, a Destiny’s Child alumna who released a couple gospel albums of her own several years ago.
The uncomplicated and tender worship melody gets Dulaney’s trademark bracing tenor treatment as Williams provides soft but tight harmonies until the conclusion, when she counterpoints with Dulaney. The two go together like bread and butter.
Gregory Gay of the GOSPELflava.com Bloginformed TBGB that the National Convention of Gospel Choirs and Choruses (The Dorsey Convention) announced the selection of Marabeth Gentry as President during their post-convention meeting, held in Washington, DC.
Gentry becomes the third president of the NCGCC and its first female president.
That's what poet Nikki Giovanni had to say about Cynthia Williams, a fine contemporary gospel vocalist who is now based in Atlanta but was once a member of R&B groups in the Chicago area.
Williams' soprano does soar, evoking a gentler Deniece Williams, but without the dog-whistle high notes. The singer came to prominence in the gospel arena after her duet with the late Pastor C.L. Fairchild on a late 1980s recording of “He Brought Joy,” with the Voices of Greater Faith.
Blessed Speechless introduces Williams as a gospel soloist to a wider audience and portrays her in a variety of styles, though her warmer, traditional side is the most appealing. Perhaps that’s because the album is produced by Richard Gibbs, Sr. and GRAMMY Award nominee Kevin J. Yancy, neither of whom are strangers to traditional.
Several tracks on Blessed Speechless merit mentioning. Williams sings passionately on “Without Christ,” written by Kevin and Marvin Yancy. This worship ballad grooves along with a Seventies retro-soul feel. The title track is a ballad of gratitude that benefits from fine piano work but could have done without the melodramatic synth backdrop.
A gospelized version of Diane Warren’s “Because You Loved Me” finds Williams singing an almost note-for-note cover of Celine Dion’s recorded performance. Whereas “Because You Loved Me” is inspirational and hopeful, “Perfect Will,” rendered in a minor key, is a darker, haunting piece on Christ’s ultimate sacrifice and ideal for the minor-key tenor of Holy Week.
“Yes to Your Will” and several interludes at the conclusion of Blessed Speechless are among the CD’s finest moments. Here, Williams sings portions of hymns and gospels in an introspective, prayerful mood, accompanied by piano and organ. One hopes that Williams will release an entire album in this fashion.
The singing of those words was the familiar intro of “Jubilee Showcase,” one of the longest running gospel music television shows in history.
From 1963 to 1984, “Jubilee Showcase” producer and host Sid Ordower introduced Chicagoans to some of the finest names in gospel music. For many outside the African American church community, it was the first time they set eyes and ears on the artists whose techniques were the sine qua non of American soul and rock music during that period.
But when the show went off the air in 1984, that was it. Unless you lived in Chicago and possessed a library card -- a collection of episodes was available for viewing at the Harold Washington Library -- “Jubilee Showcase” disappeared.
Until now.
Steve Ordower, president of Rhythm and Light film and video production and son of the late Sid Ordower, has released four of 100 archived episodes on a sampler called “Classic Moments in Jubilee Showcase.”
The DVD contains spit-polished video and audio of episodes that starred artists such as the Staple Singers, Inez Andrews, Jessy Dixon and the Jessy Dixon Singers, two iterations of the Soul Stirrers (James Phelps leading one and Willie Rogers and Martin Jacox leading the other), the Salem Travelers, and the Norfleet Brothers. One entire show was dedicated to Andrae Crouch and the Disciples, who with Gene Viale are the only non-Chicago based groups included, though Gene did live in Chicago for a time before moving back to California.
Two of the episodes on the DVD conclude with extraordinary gospel jam sessions. On one, Jessy Dixon and the Jessy Dixon Singers join the episode’s other guests, Gene Viale, and the Salem Travelers, in an extended version of “I Know What Prayer Can Do.” These combinations are rare on audio or video.
In addition to the complete episodes (sans commercials), the DVD includes bonus features such as information on the artists presented, a history of the show and a bio on host Sid Ordower.
This glimpse into the Jubilee Showcase archives will make traditional gospel enthusiasts and music historians yearn for more. Steve Ordower told TBGB that if sales of “Classic Moments in Jubilee Showcase” go well, more releases will be forthcoming.
Listen to an interview of Steve Ordower by TBGB’s Bob Marovich on the November 12, 2011 Gospel Memories radio program (WLUW 88.7 FM, Chicago): “Jubilee Showcase”
Okay, gospel enthusiasts, historians, artists, industry people! Test your knowledge of gospel music history.
Q: What early group that recorded for the HOB label included the late Jessy Dixon?
The first person to email TBGB at bob@gospelmemories.com with the correct answer will receive a copy of Platinum Gospel: Greatest Hits of Black Gospel, a compilation of HOB Records classics, courtesy of Sonorous Entertainment.
WE HAVE A WINNER: Congratulations to Walter (Big Walt) Brown of Greenville, NC who answered the question: Jessy Dixon and the Combined Choirs of Omega B.C. (The Gospel Chimes would also be an acceptable answer).
“The One I Need”
3b4jHoy
From the forthcoming FatherjHoy Records album The One I Need (release date: early 2012) www.official3b4jHoy.com
3b4jHoy (pronounced “three before joy”) is Heather, Dominique and Claudette Farquharson. Although each was born in different states, the sister trio now hails from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where their parents are pastors of Just Life Messianic Ministries and they are the praise and worship leaders.
No strangers to recording – they made their first album in 2001 as JOY and a second in 2005 as jHoy – the sisters Farquharson have a new release slated for early 2012.
On “The One I Need,” the lead single from their forthcoming album of the same name – and their first national release – 3b4jHoy loft high, tight and sweet laid-back harmonies over a calm, flowing melody that mixes new age with P&W. While soloing, the ladies wrap their gentle gospel chops around the lyrics.
Their name is a tad confusing to me, with that silent H (which signifies the Holy Spirit), but the ladies look and sound great.
Having been married to the late Patricia Andrews Marovich, a Chicago high school choral director par excellence who departed this earth eleven years ago in December, I was intrigued to discover that a high school choir won a Stellar Award. Hearing their new self-titled album, their third CD, I can understand why.
In 2010, the Oxon Hill High School Choir, under the direction of Rev. Dr. Emory Andrews, won the Stellar Award for Children’s CD of the Year for their album Amazing. It was the first high school choir to win a major gospel award, but it’s not just any choir. Dr. Andrews has more than 35 years in music education. Gospel singer Philip Carter is an alumnus of Prince George's County's Oxon Hill Science and Technology High School in Oxon Hill, Maryland, and he knows a thing or two about directing a youth ensemble. Carter lends his talents to producing the album; he and his wife Stephanie are the project’s executive producers. Philip Carter even joins Dr. Andrews as a soloist on an album track, “Spiritual Warfare.”
The complexity of the arrangements and overall professionalism make it hard to believe the sound is coming from teens, but their youthful vitality shines through from beginning to end.
When I popped the CD in the player, I was hoping that the choir would do something a cappella to show off their talents, and also feature at least one soloist from the group. They didn’t disappoint on either count. “You Can’t Make Me Doubt Him” is a well-executed a cappella performance that showcases the group’s dynamic versatility; and on “Hear My Prayer,” chorister April Whitfield offers such a lovely, warm solo that this track is one of the album’s finest moments. While the guest vocalists do fine work, I hope that future releases by the choir feature more soloists from the choir like Ms. Whitfield.
The old standard “The Storm is Passing Over,” is the album’s lead single, and GRAMMY-nominated saxophonist Gerald Albright gives it a bounce that Charles A. Tindley couldn’t have imagined when he penned the gospel hymn, but it works. Most importantly, the performance gives the choir’s harmonies a solid hearing.
The album booklet indicates the presence of vocal overdubs by individuals not on the list of Oxon Hill students who participated in the recording. I hope this was kept to a minimum because a CD of a high school choir should focus on the choir, especially one as good as this.
NOTE: Hear cuts from the album during an online listening party on CJBRadio.com on Monday, November 14, 2011 at 4:00 p.m. EST. Rev. Dr. Emory Andrews, the founder of the group, will be interviewed by CJBRadio.com's own Kevin James as well. To tune in to the Online Listening Party, log on to www.CJBRadio.com.
Four of Five Stars
Picks: “The Storm is Passing Over,” “Hear My Prayer.”
“You/Thank You”
Williams Brothers
From the Blackberry CD: The Williams Brothers: LIVE at Hard Rock (2011) www.blackberryrecords.com
The Williams Brothers are their deliciously funky, soulful Mississippi quartet selves on this medley, a singular expression of gratitude to God for His willingness to “open doors I could not see.” The punchy brass section sounds borrowed from Earth, Wind & Fire.
The song ends, and quite appropriately so, it turns out, with the sing-along chorus of Sly and the Family Stone’s “Thank You Falletinme Be Mice Elf Agin."
Wanting to live as Jesus intended us to live is a theme expressed by many young gospel artists in their music, and that’s what Cheneta Jones does on her latest single, “Be Like You.”
The St. Louis songstress wrote the piece and infused it with a bright melody and rhythmic arrangement with electronica buzzing lightly in the background. It’s hard not to be drawn in by Jones’ breathy, free-as-a-bird voice as she expresses her unquenchable desire to be the Lord's vessel. As such, her sound reminds me of fellow artists Leah Smith, Angelia Robinson and Lisa McClendon.
“In one sense, I’ve been around for years, but in another sense, I’m being introduced for the first time.”
So reflected Christian rapper ASON on the eve of releasing The Future is Now, his fourth full-length LP but only the second with national distribution (Central South Distribution is handling this project, available November 8). The single, “Lay Them Down,” is already available on iTunes.
Growing up in Prince Georges County in Maryland, ASON, aka Thurman Custis, started in Christian rap around 2003 after going through an especially tough time in his life.
“I was considering backsliding pretty fierce,” he told TBGB, “but a friend told me about a Tonex concert. We went, and at the conclusion of the concert, [Tonex] was singing ‘Make Me Over.’ I felt like the Lord was speaking to me. I heard Him saying, ‘I want you to do this.’
“I saw the way the youth were really impacted by Tonex,” ASON, now a youth pastor, reflected. “I don’t sing like Tonex and I don’t dance like Tonex, but in high school, people thought I was a good rapper. I took [the Lord’s] message to mean that I should get on stage and perform, and my musical gift was rapping.”
The rapper named himself ASON, which he prefers to pronounced uh-sun, not ay-sun. Still, ASON says either way you pronounce it, it articulates the main point: a son of God.
“I want to be a voice for something different,” ASON said. “Right now, with young people, rappers and performers are the primary voice. Youth are choosing lifestyles that align less and less with their parents and more and more with their favorite artist. So for me, being a youth pastor, this is a means for me to be a voice, to help answer questions such as how does a marriage work? How do you go out and have fun and still be a Christian? How can you be prosperous in your finances, as a believer? I want to be relevant.”
How is The Future is Now different from his three previous albums?
“There are huge changes,” ASON responded. “It’s me saying, ‘Lord, I’m going to do my absolute best in every aspect of this album.’
“I recorded the album’s first song in February 2009. I would have loved to release an album in 2009 and 2010, but they wouldn’t have been at the quality of this album. I wasn’t willing to take any shortcuts with the production and engineering. So I saved money to hire the best production I could afford. I went into the best studios in my area, where major artists go. I got the most famous photographer in my state and the best graphic artist to do the artwork. I also have the best radio promoter and best PR company I can afford. It took me two years to finish but it’s my best sounding album.”
Is ASON seeing a change in people’s perceptions of Christian rappers and Christian hip hop artists?
“Absolutely not,” he stated without hesitation. “If you look at the sales numbers of the leading Christian rappers, they’re actually going down. Record sales are going down in general, but some of the Christian rap releases have under-performed, according to projections. Gospel rap, as it’s currently presented, is not what people are looking for."
He added, “That’s a tough subject, but people will find the money to buy what they want, all day, every day. I have been trying for eight years to put through hip hop as a method that is relevant to a lot of people. I don’t have all the answers, but I do try to make my melodies very catchy and have even experimented with hooks that can be taken as either gospel or secular, to draw you in to the rest of the content, which is Christian content. If you’re not heard and if it doesn’t catch on, what good is it?”
Meanwhile, ASON is planning a tour to be funded in part through grants for a documentary project on which he is working. It will tackle the subject of high school dropout rates. “Instead of focusing on the negative effects of the high school dropout rate,” he said, “we’re going to interview students around the country who are choosing to stay in school. We’ll be telling their stories. The opening acts for our tour will be primarily the gospel choirs at high schools where we will be interviewing students.”
The rapper is exploring other youth ministry opportunities, as well. He said that last April, as he and his wife were preparing to start their own ministry, “an opportunity was brought to my attention to serve as a youth pastor at another church. So we’re currently deciding whether to postpone starting our church and take this opportunity. I’m getting a little bit older, but I have a serious passion for young people.”
Learn more about ASON and The Future is Now at www.bigsonny.com. You can also check out the video below for information about ASON.
Boca Raton, FL, November 06, 2011 -- (PR.com) -- Newly founded Sonorous Entertainment has finalized its purchase of the seminal House of Beauty (HOB) gospel music catalog.
The catalog of recordings which includes performances by Shirley Caesar, Rev. James Cleveland, The Blind Boys of Alabama, The Mighty Clouds of Joy, The Swan Silvertones, and dozens of other gospel legends was on the brink of disappearing into total obscurity forever.
In 2008 the rights to the catalog had fallen into receivership and no buyer had come forth. When it became clear that this music would never see the light day again if no buyer was found, CEO Dwayne Bigelow, a philanthropist, minister, and venture capitalist stepped up to the plate.
In addition to over 3,000 sound recording copyrights, the catalog purchase also includes the publishing rights to over 200 songs. While most labels don’t own any publishing rights to their material, this unique scenario will position Sonorous to be a competitive force in the world of music retail. The ability to utilize songs owned by the label will mean they can better appeal to today’s price conscious consumer. Additionally, the ability to “pre-clear” (approve licenses without third party approval) content for film and television use means that next time you hear a 60s or 70s black gospel recording in a movie or TV show, it very well could be from Sonorous.
HOB Records was founded in 1958 by Carmen Murphy in the basement of her Beauty Salon for black women. Eventually ownership of the label changed hands 3 times before being rescued by Sonorous. Because the label was started and run for years as a bootstrap operation, and due to the fact that it changed hands a few times, much of the organization and history of the label has become very muddled. To help give these historically significant recordings the treatment they deserve, Sonorous Entertainment is now overseeing the digital transfer of all 5,000 tracks (about 3,000 unique recordings).
“It’s very important to us that this process be handled with the utmost care and integrity. Our job here is not only to preserve this rich history, but also to enhance the quality of these recordings,” said Sonorous Entertainment CEO, Dwayne Bigelow. Additionally, the label is investing considerable time and treasure into the unearthing and restoration of original HOB photos and packaging art that have not been seen in decades. The attention to detail displayed is sure to pay off down the road for Sonorous as it begins to release material from the HOB catalog.
Some people like to take short cuts, others trust that by taking the time to do things right you will find more success in life and in business. Sonorous Entertainment Inc. clearly falls into the latter.
“Act like the devil’s in between your hands and clap them,” Bishop Albert Jamison directs the live audience, as he launches into the joyous “Jesus I’ll Never Forget” on the second installment of the musical tribute to the late Bishop Gilbert Earl Patterson.
An all-star lineup of gospel artists gathered in Memphis to pay tribute to the former Presiding Bishop of the Church of God in Christ, whose dedication to singing “in the old time way” was the subject of his own multi-CD set. In retrospect, listening to the second part of this tribute, produced by organ whiz Moses Tyson, Jr. and Edwin Hawkins, is bittersweet, because two of its participants – Rev. Timothy Wright and Bishop Walter Hawkins – have since gone on to join Bishop Patterson in eternal rest. Still, it’s a second line type of bittersweet: celebratory, not cheerless.
As if to set the proper tone, COGIC style, Bishop Andrew Cheairs opens with the incendiary “Tell Somebody,” a call-and-response gospel on which Cheairs shouts so hard, he almost sends the service into early doxology. The late Rev. Wright and Michelle Prather offer up “Magnify Him,” the album’s tuneful single, and Patricia Jackson squalls over a hauntingly beautiful “Oh Jesus.”
“I Love You Lord” features the late Walter Hawkins singing his own composition in duet with firecracker vocalist Stefanie Bolton. The song is lovely, but the extended interplay between Hawkins and the audience is too long and should have been left off the final cut.
There are plenty of old-fashioned handclapping opportunities on the album, most especially the rollicking “Thank God for Saving Me,” led by Ruby Terry and Gwen Turner.
The conclusion, a reprise of the hit “I Feel Like Going On” from Part 1, brings together serious singing heft. Bishops Marvin Winans and Walter Hawkins, Beverly Crawford, Dottie Peoples, Rev. Timothy Wright, Bishop Darrell Hines and Ruby Terry take turns on the album’s singular poignant moment, a fitting farewell to Bishop Patterson and, in hindsight, Walter Hawkins and Timothy Wright.
The Gospel Music Celebration Part 2 is an outstanding album. It contains the unpretentiousness and soulfulness that makes the traditional sound timeless.
Five of Five Stars
Picks: “Tell Somebody,” “Magnify Him,” “Thank God for Saving Me.”
Tallie Rogers, the sister of Pastor Tim Rogers of the quartet Tim Rogers and the Fellas, evokes the rollicking style of Evelyn Turrentine Agee and Dottie Peoples on her new single, a traditional, sanctified performance called “Try Jesus.”
To a steady, handclapping rhythm, Tallie beseeches listeners in trouble to “try Jesus…he’ll never leave you alone.” The vamp, which Tallie weaves like a fiery evangelist (is there any other kind?), and her background vocalists intone like a quartet, is guaranteed to get congregants moving up and out of their seats.
Gospel music’s reigning queen Mahalia Jackson was sick and near death. Gospel’s grande dame Roberta Martin had passed away three years to the day. In a year, Clara Ward would be gone. A generation of gospel pioneers was passing from memory as a new troupe of contemporary stylists was reinventing the gospel sound.
Smack dab in the middle was Rev. C.L. Franklin's multi-talented daughter, Aretha.
Born into, and on intimate terms with, the first generation of gospel artists, Aretha Franklin started in gospel but was building a successful career singing soul music that was as up-to-date as her African-influencd outfits. Still, on January 13, 1972, Aretha began to record Amazing Grace, a two-disc album that paid tribute musically and stylistically to the passing pioneers of gospel while keeping its eyes focused squarely on a new era.
Aaron Cohen, music journalist and DownBeat Magazine associate editor captures this fascinating and important moment in music history in a thoughtful and informative book-length survey of Amazing Grace.
The book is part of Continuum’s "33 1/3" series, which focuses on individual record albums as works of art. To my knowledge, Cohen’s book is the first time a gospel album has been studied and written about with such singular depth. For the first such analysis to be about Aretha's Amazing Grace is appropriate. Arguments aside as to whether Aretha had left or had never left the church at the time of its production, Amazing Grace became the best-selling gospel album of all time.
The album was recorded in front of a congregation at New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Los Angeles with able assistance from Rev. James Cleveland, the Southern California Community Choir and a group of talented, experienced musicians. Thanks to this collective, the album is no victim of musical gangrene: it sounds as fresh and moving today as it did in 1972.
With the strategic pacing of a sermon or gospel song, Cohen's study moves from details about Aretha’s musical influences, the album’s genesis and the socio-political mood of the day to a colorful report of the actual recording session, made all the more vivid because the author's access to the long-lost film documentary of the session gave him as close to a firsthand witness’s account as possible. His song-by-song analysis is the narrative’s apex, providing further insight into Aretha’s overall vision for the album. The book rolls to a finish with reports of the critical acclaim the album received after its release.
Since Cohen interviewed a number of the musicians who worked on the album, Amazing Grace contains that often overlooked but nevertheless critical point of view: from the bandstand. As the book testifies, musicians are perfectly positioned to be indefatigable observers of the goings-on.
With a journalist’s gift of observation and language, Aaron Cohen provides us with a glimpse into how a work of musical art is created – those million minute details, the unpredictable group dynamics, the missteps and makeovers, the flashes of genius and the priceless moments of musical transfiguration when talent and preparation align to create enduring art.
Amazing Grace is as engaging and entertaining as it is thought-provoking, a pleasure to read.
CoCo Brother Presents Gospel Mix Volume V is the latest in Kerry Douglas’s mixtape series that is essentially his company's version of WOW Gospel. Two CDs containing a total of 28 tracks represent some of the best of Douglas’s Blacksmoke Music Worldwide label. And in the spirit of the other four volumes, Volume V introduces the listener to several emerging gospel artists.
Let’s talk about the headliners first. Blacksmoke has signed some of the top male vocalists of today. As of this writing, two tracks on Gospel Mix Volume V are in the top fifteen of Billboard’s Top Gospel Singles chart. Earnest Pugh’s “I Need Your Glory” holds the number one spot and “One More Time” by Zacardi Cortez featuring John P. Kee is number fourteen.
Former smashes on the set include James Fortune’s “I Believe” and “I Trust You,” and Earnest Pugh’s “Rain On Us.” Pugh is part of a crooning tradition that goes back to Robert Anderson while Cortez and Fortune are far grittier singers. Fortune’s emotionally-soaked deliveries in particular are so rough they leave the listener’s throat feeling raw.
I especially enjoyed the set’s quartet samplings, in particular Darrell McFadden and the Disciples’ “On My Journey.” The quartet sings about making Heaven their home to a steady beat propelled by a “soul clap” and a funky rhythm section. What better way to enter Heaven, I ask you, than with a funky rhythm section?
Most of the new artist spotlights are quite good, and special nods go to the women. Shea Taylor’s fiery “At the Altar” is a passionate hymn-like piece that interpolates “Pass Me Not, O Gentle Savior” for added authenticity. “More than Faithful” by the warm-voiced Tamika Patton is a lovingly-rendered contemporary ballad. The real firecrackers on the collection are the women of 4 Love, who tear into the traditional “I Got a Feeling” with church-wrecking intensity.
The volume's MC, gospel announcer Corey “CoCo Brother” Condrey, digs his teeth into the rocking call-and-response “What’cha Know about Jesus.” And Bryan Wilson’s voice is clearly maturing into a lovely instrument, as demonstrated on his “Expect You Now.”
With such talent collected in one place, CoCo Brother Presents Gospel Mix Volume V can’t go wrong. It is an electrifying ride through today’s gospel music landscape.
Opal Nations’ latest limited edition two-CD compilation Windy City Gospel Vol. 2 surveys the earliest gospel singles produced by Chicago's historic Vee Jay Records. As such, the set serves as an aural glimpse of the gospel scene, and particularly the Chicago scene, at mid-century.
Vee Jay Records went from a fledgling label whose first year's profit was minimal to one of the mightiest record companies in the country. The company built a sizable and impressive gospel roster, and not surprisingly. Gospel was one of the reasons Gary radio announcer and music shop owner Vivian Carter Bracken and her husband Jimmy went into the record business in the first place. Among Vee Jay’s first artists were the Maceo Woods Singers; their rhythmically bracing “Run to Jesus” (1954) opens the compilation.
Windy City Gospel Vol. 2 also demonstrates the profound influence that the Church of God in Christ had on gospel music. COGIC groups represented on the collection include the Argo Singers, Brother Isaiah Roberts’ Church of God in Christ Choir, and the Lockhart Singers; Little Esther Lockhart’s lead vocals are precociously charming, like a gospel Frankie Lymon.
Most of the songs on the two-disc collection are on commercial CD for the first time, and there are a few unreleased tracks here, as well. Most notable among the unreleased selections are the Newberry Singers’ stunning a cappella “What Kind of Man” (1956) and the Staple Singers’ original unissued version of 1955’s “Calling Me.”
Male quartets were well represented on Vee Jay and they are well represented on Windy City Gospel. Although Vee Jay’s big sellers in the 1950s were the Harmonizing Four, Swan Silvertones, Highway QCs and Original Five Blind Boys (of Mississippi), Nations focuses on the lesser-known quartets that recorded only a handful of sides for Vivian and Jimmy. Of special interest is the Four Internes’ 1958 “The Road Home.” They start the selection off with a sweet harmony, which had been their stock in trade, but by the end they are hard-shouting. It’s an example of the transition from sweet to shout that many quartets made during the 1950s. Still, Windy City Gospel offers some Swans and Original Five Blind Boys for their fans.
Nations cleans up a few longstanding errors made by previous commercial CD reissues of Vee Jay material. For example, he provides the actual version of “Time is Winding Up” by the Kingdom Bound Singers; the Collectables retrospective on Vee Jay gospel used the Helen Robinson Choir’s version by accident (although Robinson’s can be found on the set, too). Nations also gives the Silver Quintette appropriate attribution as the performers of “Sinner’s Crossroads,” not the Swan Silvertones, as was noted on a modern compilation.
The source material runs from sparkling to vinyl scrubbed of clicks and pops, but overall the sound is clear and resonant. The set comes with the photos and detailed liner notes that one expects from Opal Nations.
Windy City Gospel is a cornucopia of intense and urgent gospel singing from the soul of the Golden Era and the heart of gospel’s birthplace. It was a time when gospel artists sang and played as if they had nothing to lose – because they didn’t.
Gospel music historian and writer, record collector and host of WLUW's "Gospel Memories" since May 2001, Bob is at work on a comprehensive history of the first fifty years of gospel music in Chicago.
Bob Marovich on Rev. Harold Bailey's Television Program
November 2011
Book TBGB's Bob Marovich to do a multi-media presentation on the history of gospel music for your church or organization. Contact him at bob@gospelmemories.com for more details.
Bob Marovich on Tanya Dallas-Lewis's "The Music Box"
Joseph Middleton of the Golden Era Gospel Blog just informed TBGB that Minister Gene Viale died.
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