Ref. Stef and Jubilation - Just Like Sunday Mornin'!

Rev. Stef and Jubilation
Just Like Sunday Mornin’!
http://www.jubilationinc.com/

By Bob Marovich for The Black Gospel Blog.

Rev. Stefanie Minatee and Jubilation have been around for a while but they earned national recognition in 2010 backing Queen Latifah on the title track of EMI Gospel’s Grammy-winning Oh Happy Day: All Star Music Celebration.

The ensemble is back with Just Like Sunday Mornin’! The CD highlights what Sunday Morning sounds like in the wooden churches on the hill, in the storefronts, and on the corner; and in the churches with stadium-like seating and foyers as big as a hotel’s.

While the style of songs varies, the constants are the group’s big, brassy sound, their commitment to push every performance to its limit, and the lyrical content of the selections, which favors the meaty and time-honored themes of encouragement, determination and redemption over vertical praise and worship.

“The Blood,” the current single and opening selection, is the familiar congregational song sung with gusto. It is followed by the hair-raising “Lord, You’re Worthy,” an old-school contemporary gospel ballad rendered soulfully by Rev. Stef.

Songs run the gamut of urban R&B (“Cover Me,” “He’s Alright” and “No Fear”) and the bluesy evangelistic and semi-autobiographical reading of A. Jeffrey LaValley's “Still Standing” (the album's first single) to the epic ‘80s choral sound of “Hold to His Hand.” “Keep On Believing” evokes the essence of Kirk Franklin’s “Why We Sing.” The lovely voice of Nancey Jackson-Johnson can be heard on “He’s Everything to Me.”

Just Like Sunday Mornin’! is crisply produced by Rev. Stef. A First Baptist Church of Nutley, New Jersey alumna, Rev. Stef follows in the footsteps of her famous producer uncle, the late Rev. Lawrence Roberts. The album is an indie release, but it belongs on a major label.

Four of Five Stars

Picks: “The Blood,” “Lord, You’re Worthy.”

Gospel Fest back in 2012 - Chicago Sun-Times

Chicago's storied Gospel Fest will return to normal size in 2012. See the story below.

Gospel Fest back in 2012 - Chicago Sun-Times

The story notes Pilgrim Baptist Church as the birthplace of gospel music in Chicago. That is a common misconception because Thomas A. Dorsey was the gospel chorus director and music minister at Pilgrim for decades. It was also the first church host of the National Convention of Gospel Choirs and Choruses.  Dorsey and Theodore Frye's first gospel choir was actually formed at Ebenezer Baptist Church at 45th and Vincennes in January 1932.

Of course, like any music genre, there is no one "ground zero" of development. Gospel music as we know it today was in gestation throughout the 1920s in the city's Pentecostal, Holiness and Spiritual churches.

Spring Into Praise Mass Choir - Under His Wings

Spring Into Praise Mass Choir

Under His Wings

Spring Into Praise Publishing (2010)

http://www.springintopraise.org/

By Bob Marovich for The Black Gospel Blog.

When you think of denominations that front big, robust gospel choirs, the Seventh-day Adventist Church isn't the first to come to mind.

But make no mistake: the SDAs show that they have as much gospel energy as their Baptist, Spiritual and Pentecostal counterparts on Under His Wings, the first national all SDA live audio and video recording.

The event took place in July 2010 during the 59th General Conference Session of Seventh-day Adventists. The special music conference at which this recording was made sounds like a National Convention of Gospel Choirs and Choruses for the SDA Church.

The first half of the CD features the 300-voice Spring Into Praise mass choir, comprised of members from five different states. The second half showcases individual SDA church choirs that any pastor would be happy to have seated behind him.

Under His Wings features compositions from the pens of a variety of writers and just as many lead vocalists to deliver them. While the strength of the lead vocalists vary, the choirs are uniformly thunderous, energetic, and spirited. Two notable lead vocalists are Stellar Award nominee Lamar Campbell, who drives the current single, “I Command My Soul;” and LoLo Harris on “Trust in the Lord.”

Spring Into Praise’s “Two Steps” is an old-fashioned handclapper, a style that the Lake Region Mass Choir replicates on its aisle-walker, “Coming Again.” One of the most interesting moments on the CD, however, is the title track. Written by Stephen Manders and sung by Grace Dorsey-Landy, this classically-based hymn finds Ms. Dorsey-Landy transitioning from chesty voiced vibrato to operatic soprano. The piece sounds rooted firmly in the SDA music tradition.

Regardless of the songs, the soloists, and the styles of music, one thing is certain: Under His Wings is buoyed by the energy and enthusiasm of the choristers and congregants who had the privilege of being part of this live recording.

Minister Bruce Seawood is Director and Executive Producer. He was assisted by producers Dr. Wayne Bucknor and Kelvin Wooten and Music Director Dr. G. Ian Fisher-Curley. Atlanta Berean Seventh-day Adventist Church and Senior Pastor Dr. Carlton P. Byrd hosted the Conference.

Four of Five Stars

Picks:  “I Command My Soul,” “Two Steps.”

New Group of Blind Boys Forming

Rev. Joe Williams (Sons of the Birds, Dixie Hummingbirds) informed TBGB today that legendary quartet lead singers Clarence Fountain and Roscoe Robinson are interested in forming a new group of Blind Boys.

They are specifically looking for two blind vocalists "who can really sing" to fill out the group. 

Know someone who fits the bill?  Are they interested in being part of history in the making?  Call Rev. Joe Williams at 215/848-2972 for more information.

TBGB Pick of the Week: December 26, 2011

“Journey to Salvation”

Operation Faith, feat. Rev. Harold and VANN Johnson

Rev. Harold and VANN Johnson make “Journey to Salvation,” a tender and understated contemporary praise ballad, sound like a lost recording by Rev. Al Green and Gladys Knight.

The couple’s lovely duet – complete with parenthetical moans candied in southern soul – is given an equally understated musical backdrop.

Both singers are accomplished artists. VANN Johnson may be best known for singing “Home” for the television mini-series The Jacksons: An American Dream. In addition to singing and ministering at Praise Assembly Christian Church, a church he founded, Rev. Harold T. Johnson, Sr. is a producer, writer, arranger and keyboardist, frequently contributing compositions to television and film projects.

Eleventh Annual "Gospel Memories" Christmas Gospel Caravan

Listen to the Eleventh Annual "Gospel Memories" Christmas Gospel Caravan that aired yesterday.  One hour of vintage gospel holiday classics from artists such as Mahalia Jackson, Angelic Gospel Singers, Harmonizing Four, Pilgrim Travelers, and many more!

Click here to stream the show: Gospel Memories.

Amber Bullock - Thank You

Amber Bullock
Thank You
Music World Gospel (2011)
www.musicworldgospel.com

By Bob Marovich for The Black Gospel Blog.

Amber Bullock is the latest gospel chanteuse to earn top accolades on BET’s popular Sunday Best, taking home the crown during Season Four.

Bullock's debut CD, Thank You, is a seven-track EP with a smart song selection and diverse arrangements to showcase her singing. The current single and title track is a spunky reworking of the Walter Hawkins classic and the album’s finest moment, although a close second is “For Every Mountain.” The Kurt Carr ode to thanksgiving teams Bullock with a small brush-on-snare jazz combo. Bullock sings with such intimacy that the song sounds quasi-autobiographical.

Another high point is Bullock’s rendering of Chris Tomlin’s iconic P&W anthem “How Great is Our God,” which she gives a far more gospel workover than most artists do.

The 80s-style beat supporting “If It Had Not Been for the Lord” seemed somewhat heavy-handed. Similarly, the Brazilian jazz accompaniment to “A City Called Heaven” is clever but mismatched. On the other hand, Richard Smallwood’s “Secret Place” and J. Moss’s “We Must Praise” are ideal binders for Bullock’s vocal arsenal of colorful and well-placed runs and trills.

Overall, Thank You declares that Amber Bullock is an artist with plenty of promise. My wish for her, and for her labelmate Le’Andria Johnson, is that they will be able to get beyond the initial novelty of being Sunday Best winners and go on to develop successful careers in their own right. They both have the chops for it.

Four of Five Stars

Picks: “Thank You,” “For Every Mountain.”

Sister Emily Harris of Bobby Jones and New Life Dies

Jordan K. Phillips informed TBGB that Sister Emily Harris, a member of Bobby Jones and New Life and of the Nashville Super Choir, died this morning.

Homegoing services will be held at Cathedral of Praise COGIC
4300 Clarksville Pike Nashville TN 37218

Wednesday, December 28th, 2011 7 PM
Industry Musical

Thursday, December 29th, 2011 11 AM
Homegoing Celebration

Officiated by her Pastor, Bishop Jerry Maynard

Broady Funeral Home

Cards and Condolences can be sent to the Church in care of her sister Marva Starks

Meanwhile, let us keep Sister Harris' family in prayer during what will undoubtedly be a difficult Holiday Season.

Read more here: Sister Emily Harris

Photo Credit: Tonya Osborne Photography

Genita Pugh - My Purpose

Genita Pugh
My Purpose
Eternity Records Company (2011)
www.genitapugh.com

By Bob Marovich for The Black Gospel Blog.

Pastor Genita Pugh of Laurel, Mississippi is making waves in the gospel community with her newest release, My Purpose. As of this writing, the album, released by Eternity Records Company, is gracing the top twenty of Billboard’s Top Gospel Albums.

Although I found Pugh’s 2010 single “Holy to the Lamb” more to my taste for its fiery, pulse-pounding intensity, My Purpose is an admittedly pleasant listen, a different kind of experience, more like pulling on a familiar pair of comfortable jeans than putting on shouting shoes. Pugh’s voice is warm and calming, a blend of pop, gospel and R&B. It washes over you with cleansing power, even on the album’s up-tempo churchy numbers such as “All the Ways of You.”

The current single, “Can’t Live,” is a gospelization of R. Kelly’s “Can’t Sleep.” As a simple, quiet worship ballad, “Can’t Live” sets the mood for the album, which has many simple and understated worship ballads to offer. “Open My Eyes,” for example, finds Pugh weaving her legato vocals in a similar manner to “Can’t Live.” A bonus instrumental track of “Open My Eyes” seems to telegraph that it is slated to be a single.

“All for Love” is a smooth R&B-style ballad that teams Pugh with the effective singer Tionne Williams, and “In the Presence of the Lord” has a slowly-simmering intensity that brings congregations to their feet, arms waving.

It would have been helpful to include in the CD booklet a listing of the musicians and their respective instruments, because the pianist on “I Love You” did an exceptionally marvelous job, but I have no idea who it is. Nevertheless, My Purpose is produced with panache by James Roberson (JDI Records). He establishes the proper mood for Pastor Pugh to express her gentle and direct emotions.

Four of Five Stars

Picks: “Can’t Live,” “In the Presence of the Lord.”

"Joy to the World" - Lenear Royalty (featuring LANISE)

“Joy to the World”
Lenear Royalty (Featuring LANISE)
From the CD It’s Christ Time
www.facebook.com/pages/Lenear-Royalty/115195695184211

Lenear Royalty’s daughter LANISE refashions the Christmas classic into a bouncy, rhythmic worship song that moves with the steady and urgent insistence of a television news program theme. The beat is at once airy and solid, like LANISE’s voice, and catchy in a shoulder-shaking way. A fine recorded debut for the young Chicagoan.

Check out the video:

Joyce Spencer - Sweet Dreams

Joyce Spencer
Sweet Dreams
HIM Records (2010)
www.HIMRP.com

By Bob Marovich for The Black Gospel Blog.

Joyce Spencer has sax appeal.

Undaunted by the insufficient music training available in the small town where she grew up, Spencer learned clarinet, flute, and tenor and alto sax, and emerged with a degree from McNeese State University in instrumental music education. Roughly twenty years later, Spencer recorded her first solo album, Sweet Dreams.

On Sweet Dreams, the sacred/gospel jazz saxophonist and flutist from Texas puts heart and soul into the mouthpiece. Throughout the project, she plays with fire and passion, at turns punchy (“Keep It Simple”), keening (“Sweet Dreams”), snarly (“Lion’s Den”) and sweetly lyrical (“Your Voice”).

Spencer sets her sax aside to sing on a few tracks, too, most notably “You Touched My Life (The Family Song),” on which she sees God in the memories of, and connections with, family and other loved ones. For “Thank You,” which concludes the album and is arguably its finest selection, Spencer offers a simple but memorable melody to accompany her prayer of simple gratitude for blessings received.

Her vocals aren’t as commanding on “Fall Afresh,” though this composition – she wrote all the material for the album – has loads of potential in its fine melody and traditional evocation of water/rain as a source for healing.

The musicians accompanying Spencer on Sweet Dreams are sufficiently skilled, especially the pianist H. Tyrone Walls, and the lady even plays the flute, but it’s her sax that captivates.

While the CD is grounded in smooth gospel jazz, Spencer’s aggressive and imaginative style will also please classic jazz enthusiasts.

Three of Five Stars

Pick: “Thank You”

Le'Andria Johnson - Christmas Best

Le’Andria Johnson
Christmas Best
Music World Gospel (2011)
www.musicworldgospel.com

By Bob Marovich for The Black Gospel Blog.

Capitalizing on the wave of interest in BET Sunday Best champ Le’Andria Johnson and the success of her debut EP, Music World Gospel has released her Christmas EP, Christmas Best.

While her debut, The Awakening of Le’Andria Johnson, is jaw-dropping extraordinary, Christmas Best only has its moments. Most of the six traditional holiday songs feel one iteration shy of a final take. Johnson seems still at the experimental stage, determining where to place the blue notes and where to inject flights of improvisation. Likely the pressure to have something ready for the holidays preempted the capable production team from tying down the loose ends.

For example, “Silent Night” sounds pitched two steps too high, pushing Johnson and her duet partner, Season 4 Sunday Best winner Amber Bullock, into the stratosphere to reach for the high notes. Ditto for “O Holy Night,” where some of the high notes are out of reach altogether, though overall Johnson does an admirable job on this carol. "Hark the Herald Angels Sing" shifts jarringly from a relaxed to a bouncy tempo when sticking with one speed would have been better.

The best put-together track is “God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman,” produced and arranged by Sounds of Blackness’ Jamecia Bennett. Johnson is at ease and so are the musicians as they tail off into a superb jazz jam session.

Despite its shortcomings, Christmas Best is further proof that with the right training and position, Le'Andria Johnson stands to become gospel’s next superstar.

Three of Five Stars

Picks: “God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman.”

"I Tried Jesus" - The Jackson Sisters

“I Tried Jesus”
The Jackson Sisters
From the Four Winds CD I Tried Jesus (2011)
http://www.malaco.com/

On “I Tried Jesus,” the Anointed Jackson Sisters of Goldsboro, North Carolina offer a hard-shouting, altar-pacing, floor-pounding traditional ode to the power of Jesus in their lives.

The live performance from a program in Rocky Mount, North Carolina features an extended vamp and several false endings during which the female quartet chants “Jesus” as the lead exhorts to breathlessness. Sweat-inducing.

The sisters, whose church home is Gospel Light Temple Apostolic Church, are Barbara, Carl, Maria, Pam, Catharina, Doris, and cousin Catrina. Those who enjoy the Anointed Pace Sisters will most certainly enjoy the Anointed Jackson Sisters.

The Nevels Sisters - It's My Time (New Traditional Thump)

The Nevels Sisters
It’s My Time (New Traditional Thump)
Squeekey Entertainment/MoLife Entertainment (2011)
www.thenevelssisters.com

By Bob Marovich for The Black Gospel Blog.

The Nevels Sisters – April, Debra, Gail and Veneice – have what it takes to be the new Clark Sisters. Individually and collectively talented and adorned with style, the sisters sparkle on their major label debut, It’s My Time.

They announce at the outset of the album that their particular brand of gospel music “is old school but new school,” and that the “new traditional thump” is, among other things, a rhythmic “kick.” Before the listener can become quizzical about what they mean exactly, here comes the kick: an electrified, sanctified backbeat that the Nevels introduce on the opening and title track. Crackling with Trin-i-tee 5:7 pulse-pounding energy and yet grounded in gospel-fied tight harmonies, “It’s My Time” is one of the album’s best selections.

What’s especially gratifying about the album is that the Nevels Sisters aren’t kidding. They skillfully blend the traditional and the contemporary to gratify both camps. For example, “God Please Do It Again” benefits not only from a traditional vibe but also thought-provoking lyrics about how blessings previously bestowed are needed once again to help a new generation of young women suffering from the same malady: low self-esteem. “Beautiful,” a Nevels Sisters single released a couple of years ago, traverses the same thematic territory. It's an updated, hipper version of God made me; God doesn't make junk.

Another fine selection is “Power in the Blood,” with J Moss as narrator James Cleveland to the Nevels’ antiphonal Caravans. It is a very lovely and lovingly arranged gospel hymn that demonstrates the Nevels Sisters and J Moss’ capacity to shift back and forth between contemporary and traditional without appearing as if they are doing so. Such flexibility bodes well for career longevity.

Of course, it doesn’t hurt to have Vicki Mack Lataillade as executive producer. She was the one who introduced the world to Kirk Franklin and she is now introducing the world to the Nevels Sisters. It's their time.

Five of Five Stars

Picks: “It’s My Time,” “Power in the Blood.”

A Life's Work Blog Features TBGB's Top Ten Gospel Recordings of All Time

Special thanks to documentarian and filmmaker David Licata of A Life's Work for featuring my top ten favorite gospel recordings of all time.

Check it out here: A Life's Work Blog

At right: TBGB's Bob Marovich hosting "Gospel Memories" at WLUW FM in Chicago.  Photo credit - Laurel Delaney.

"Thank You" - Amber Bullock

“Thank You”
Amber Bullock
From the Music World Gospel EP Thank You (2011)
http://www.musicworldgospel.com/

BET’s Sunday Best Season Four champ Amber Bullock "Amberizes" this Walter Hawkins selection, making it her first single and the title of her debut CD, released last week.

To a punchy arrangement with thumping bass and vigorous background vocalists, Bullock surveys the day's social problems from the “there but for the grace of God go I” point of view. She thanks the Lord “for all you’ve done for me,” and given what she's gone through this year, it’s a testimony-packed statement.

“Thank You” is a fine but not overdone showcase for Bullock’s gospel runs and trills.  The soulful musicians bathe the single in just the right combination of contemporary and R&B. Produced by Eric Dawkins for E Flat Entertainment.

TBGB's Bob Marovich on Tanya Dallas-Lewis's "The Music Box" Dec. 15

TBGB Founder and Editor-in-Chief Bob Marovich will be on The Music Box with Stellar Award-nominee Tanya Dallas-Lewis this Thursday, December 15 at 8:00 p.m. EST.

Check the program out at www.blogtalkradio.com/the-music-box or listen from your phone: 646-652-2106.

The Quebec Celebration Gospel Choir - Noel Divin

The Quebec Celebration Gospel Choir
Noel Divin (2011)
http://www.gospelcelebration.qc.ca/

By Bob Marovich for The Black Gospel Blog.

The inter-cultural Quebec Celebration Gospel Choir sounds ready-made to sing Christmas songs.

The group’s new album, Noel Divin, proves that it’s so.

If you have not heard the Quebec Celebration Gospel Choir (Le Choeur Gospel Celebration), it has a hall-filling energy and depth similar to the Oslo Gospel Choir or the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir, complete with Hawkins-style contemporary gospel arrangements delivered with delicately lush orchestration.

The dozen songs and carols on Noel Divin are sung in French and English. While the group’s harmonies and contrapuntal singing demonstrate tight discipline and sophistication, the brightness of their tone brings earthy comfort and joy. Michael McElroy, Buryl Red and the extraordinary Joseph Joubert arranged the selections, which include a subtly rhythmic pop treatment of the French version of “O Holy Night” (“Minuit, Chretiens”), full-bodied and acoustic gospelized versions of “Away in a Manger” (I prefer the acoustic), and a soulful “Joy to the World.” The classic “Go Tell it on the Mountain” gets a suitably boisterous reading.

“Noel, Noel” includes vocal crescendos akin to a Richard Smallwood work, though it just missed perfection by not including one hair-raising one at the conclusion. The passionately hushed “Venez Divin Messie” also demonstrates fealty to Smallwood in its dramatic flourishes.

The soloists are strong, with the group’s founder, soprano Fernande Angers, sounding brilliant on “Ave Maria.” The musicians are top-quality, and Marie-Josee Pelletier, the choir’s most able directress, makes the choir sound merry as Christmas.  Noel!

Four of Five Stars

Picks: “Joy to the World,” “Noel, Noel.”

TBGB Pick of the Week: December 12, 2011

“God is With Us”
Carrol Hall
From the CD Songs that Sing You to Silence (2011)
Email contact: hallc333@yahoo.com.au

South African-born singer-songwriter Carrol Hall immigrated with her family to Perth, Western Australia in the 1980s to escape the oppressive apartheid government. Since the fall of apartheid, Hall has returned time and again to minister in her native Durban, and that is where she records “God is With Us.”

Sung in English and Zulu, “God is With Us” is a subtle call to stop, listen and hear God in the surrounding silence. Eschewing the well-trodden formula of praise and worship for what sounds like the haunting balladry of Cesaria Evora, Hall plays acoustic guitar and sings with lovely understatement, the proverbial violet half hidden from view. The single is among the most distinctive sacred recordings TBGB has heard this year.

Carrol Hall is no stranger to recording. She, her sister Michelle Hall and friend Danellia Daniels collaborated in 1995 with the Perth-based NewSong Christian Community Choir on an independent project called He’ll Make a Way for You.

The new CD, Songs that Sing You to Silence, includes Carrol, Danellia and a host of other musicians, and the release event will take place Saturday, December 17.

Shree Newman-Isabell - Life of a Worshipper

Shree Newman-Isabell
Life of a Worshipper (2011)
http://www.shreeisabell.com/

By Bob Marovich for The Black Gospel Blog.

Recorded live at the Gallatin Campus of Long Hollow Baptist Church, Life of a Worshipper is the debut CD for singer-songwriter Shree Newman-Isabell, the Tennessee native known as Nashville’s “best kept secret.”

The first few songs on the album are decent and well-rendered but ultimately undistinguished. The album springs to life when Shree starts “I’ll Always Worship,” a contemporary gospel ballad with a lovely melody that becomes increasingly intense and emotional. Shree musters every ounce of her chesty alto to sing, “When your world is crumbling from the storm” and as she does, the floodgates open and her personal testimony pours out.

The singer’s trials, including divorce and home foreclosure, and her decision to look “past my pain,” raise the temperature of the recording and bleed into “Show Me Your Glory,” thus setting the tone for the remainder of the CD. It is now somewhat of a traditional revival as Shree assumes her pastoral role as Evangelist Isabell and delivers the messages behind the music. It’s also the first time the listener can hear the appreciative response from the live audience.

Shree moves on to sing “The Sweetest Sound” in that flatfooted gospel recitative style that has survived the decades, accompanied by the ornamentation of the B3, played with effervescence by Josh Thompson. The high spirit keeps on keeping on through “City Called Heaven,” an old-school bouncer and the album’s current single.

Shree Newman-Isabell’s mission to keep the churchy sound in gospel is successfully accomplished in the second half of Life of a Worshipper.

Three of Five Stars

Picks: “I’ll Always Worship,” “City Called Heaven.”

"Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" - Melinda Watts

“Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”
Melinda Watts
Available on iTunes.com

Here’s a lovely Christmas offering from Melinda Watts, the Stellar and Dove Award-nominated gospel singer and winner of Gospel Music Channel’s Gospel Dream talent search. It’s her first new recording in more than two years.

Watts delivers a cozy reading of the Holiday chestnut, written originally for the MGM Musical Meet Me in St. Louis. One hundred percent of the proceeds from sales of this single, downloadable from iTunes, will benefit the singer’s Dream Girlz Gathering Foundation. The Foundation sponsors empowerment conferences to uplift, inspire, and teach girls ranging in age from 8-18.

Jessie B. Swindell of Swindell Brothers Died December 8

Archie Swindell, Jr. informed TBGB today that Jessie B. Swindell of the famous Swindell Brothers quartet died of liver cancer December 8, 2011 in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

Bro. Jessie was the bass singer and manager of the Swindell Brothers from 1954 until the group disbanded in 1999.

We will post homegoing details as they become available.  In the meantime, please join TBGB in expressing our sympathies to the extended Swindell Family on their loss.

Tallie Rogers - Try Jesus

Tallie Rogers
Try Jesus
Overboard Records (2011)

By Bob Marovich for The Black Gospel Blog.

Tallie Rogers, sister of quartet singer Pastor Tim Rogers (of Tim Rogers and the Fellas), was recently introduced to a wider gospel audience on the power of her indie single, “Try Jesus.”

Try Jesus is the album from whence the single came and, like the namesake single, it packs a great deal of punch into a short period of time.

Try Jesus showcases Rogers’ raw-edged, no-holds-barred gospel singing and shouting. Her songs contain the simple messages, the balm for life’s scuffs and scrapes, that separate gospel from anthems and high-minded hymns. And as if Rogers needed any additional trad cred, the drummer on her album is Cleophus Robinson III.

Rogers and a few guest soloists hungrily tear the lids off most of the songs on the CD. "I'm Healed" is an emotion-drenched ballad that builds to such intensity that it nearly dissolves into a praise break at the end. A selection known simply as “Old School” is a medley of traditional gospel songs, namely “He’s Sweet I Know” and “Oh How I Love Jesus.” Appropriately, Rogers goes flatfoot on the medley, worrying the notes with plenty of melismatic drama to the accompaniment of music director Jesse Prather’s gospel blues piano.
"I Gotta Praise" is an uptempo church-wrecker in the same mode as "Try Jesus."

A soft spot on the CD is “Thank You for Your Love.” It features a trio of leads, Rogers included, but despite all the vocal power, the selection lacks the propulsive thrust of the album’s other selections. Also, Try Jesus would have been even stronger had it offered more than eight selections (one is an instrumental track).

Nevertheless, Try Jesus reminds us that churchy gospel singers are still out there, raising rafters. I hope Tallie Rogers does a live album. With her energy and voice behind it, the album would be a tent revival in a jewel case.

Four of Five Stars

Picks: “Try Jesus,” “I Gotta Praise.”

Hart Ramsey - My Next Heartbeat

Hart Ramsey
My Next Heartbeat
N-Coded Music (2011)
www.hartramseymusic.com

By Bob Marovich for The Black Gospel Blog.

The popularity of jazz keyboardist Hart Ramsey’s debut CD, Charge It to My Heart, surprised even the artist himself, and undoubtedly played no small role in encouraging him to release another album, the appropriately-titled My Next Heartbeat.

Pastor Ramsey’s sophomore project finds him exploring similar smooth jazz territory in company with vigorous and highly-polished, studio-quality musicians. Vocalist Robert Moe’s easy Jeffrey Osborne tenor brightens the songs he leads on the album.

The inside jacket of the CD provides “motivational notes” to describe the songs, which is especially helpful for the all-instrumental pieces. A review of these notes suggests that Pastor Ramsey and his band are out to inspire listeners to take control of their lives with God’s help.

High points on the album are the vocal selections, notably “Cover Me,” a prayer for shelter from the storm (led by the talented Daniel Johnson with assists from Ramsey); and "The Commitment," which leaves the listener to decide whether the protagonist is a person or the Lord.

Enthusiasts of gospel jazz or smooth jazz will enjoy My Next Heartbeat for its laid-back groove and tight musicianship. Traditional gospel enthusiasts, on the other hand, will be perplexed if they have never heard gospel jazz before because, except in spirit, the music bears no resemblance whatsoever to what is generally considered gospel.

Still, Pastor Hart Ramsey’s musical ruminations make for pleasant listening, a cool soundtrack when it’s time to take your ease.

Three of Five Stars

Picks: “Cover Me,” “The Commitment.”

"I Command My Soul" - Spring Into Praise Mass Choir

“I Command My Soul”
The Spring Into Praise Mass Choir
From the CD Under His Wings
http://www.springintopraise.org/

“Gospel music is alive and well in the Seventh-day Adventist Church,” exclaims National Gospel Announcers Guild chair Al “The Bishop” Hobbs.

He has a point. SDA is not a denomination well-known for gospel music, but the 300-voice Spring Into Praise Mass Choir is helping to change that.

“I Command My Soul” is the single from the group’s self-produced album, Under His Wings, recorded live at Morehouse College in Atlanta. The praise outing is a Lamar Campbell composition that Campbell himself leads with appropriate verve. The choir matches Campbell in vocal heft and is every bit as bouncy and energetic as any mass choir. It’s as if the group is summoning its collective force to blow down the walls of tradition.

The Spring Into Praise Mass Choir was organized by Bruce N. Seawood, minister of music at Atlanta Berean SDA Church, where Dr. Carlton P. Byrd is senior pastor.

TBGB Pick of the Week: December 5, 2011

“Sanctified Mabel”

Rickie Byars Beckwith

From the CD Let My Soul Surrender: Grace Notes of a Journey

www.letmysoulsurrender.com

What most intrigues me about Rickie Byars Beckwith’s “Sanctified Mabel” is its Memphis soul mojo, Beckwith’s raw-edged vocals and her characterization of Sister Mabel, a product of another day and age.  The singer describes Mabel and endeavors to live her life by What Would Mabel Do “because Mabel was sanctified.”  Implicitly, she’s suggesting you do, too.

A tribute you could easily hear Mavis Staples singing in the 1970s.  Rootsy as a rattlesnake moan.

Rickie Byars Beckwith is Music and Arts Director of the Agape International Spiritual Center in Culver City, California where she directs the world famous 200-voice Agape International Choir and House Band.  Rickie and her husband, Michael Bernard Beckwith, founder of Agape, form a prodigious and powerful partnership that has produced a dynamic catalogue of original songs that evoke and support transformational healing through the power of music.  “Sanctified Mabel” comes from Beckwith’s combination book and CD Let My Soul Surrender: Grace Notes of a Journey.


Here's the video:

Amber Bullock, Season Four Sunday Best Champ, is “Amberizing” Gospel

By Bob Marovich for The Black Gospel Blog.

They don’t call the gospel highway a rough road to travel for nothing.

Amber Bullock can attest to that. It hasn’t been an easy road for the Season Four champ of BET’s Sunday Best.

Originally from St. Louis, Bullock and her baby daughter Amya moved to Fort Worth, Texas in May 2010 to be with her mother. Then, this January, her mother, a government employee, received a promotion that required her to move to New Orleans.

Bullock didn’t want to follow her mother to the Crescent City because she had just started developing a network of music contacts in Texas and wanted to keep them going. She moved in with one of her mother’s friends and commuted 45 minutes to her job in Mesquite.

On January 10, on the way to work, Bullock was involved a car accident. She and Amya were not harmed but the car was totaled.

“Living in Texas, you have to have a car,” Bullock told TBGB last week via telephone from New York, where she was preparing to appear on television. “I went from being able to provide for my baby and getting her to the babysitter to not being able to do anything at all, because I couldn’t make that commute without a vehicle.”

Bullock left Amya with her daughter’s father and moved in with a co-worker so she could get to her job. “It was very, very hard,” Bullock recalled. “My co-worker has six children, so I had to sleep on the floor.”

For years, friends had been telling Bullock to audition for Sunday Best, but she never did. “I’m not a competition person,” she explained. “But when Sunday Best came around this time, I decided I didn’t have anything to lose. I asked God to change my way of thinking about it. Instead of a competition, I thought of it as a platform.”

Friends gave Bullock a ride to the audition, she participated and, in the end, became the winner.

TBGB asked Ms. Bullock about life since Sunday Best and about her new album, appropriately titled Thank You (Music World Gospel), available in stores December 6.

TBGB: Were you singing gospel before Sunday Best?

I have worked in gospel music as a background singer but never as a solo artist. Of course, I’ve sung solos before, but I never had to be out in front, doing the exhorting, doing the show, if you will. I never had to do that until Sunday Best.

I have always wanted to just sing. That’s all I have ever wanted to do. I’ve practiced my autograph so many times! I just couldn’t get my hands on that dream and make it work. Sunday Best is one of the best platforms for gospel music, and I’m very grateful for it.

TBGB: Kim Burrell was one of your musical mentors. How did she help you?

The greatest thing Miss Kim taught me while on the show was confidence. She has so much confidence and attitude when she sings. She gave me tips on how to show confidence when singing.

TBGB: Did you have a sense that you would win Sunday Best?

I never really had a sense that I would win. It was a huge surprise, because [runner-up] Andrea [Helms] is Sunday Best to me. She was excellent. I believe it could have gone either way. I said, ‘God, your will be done. Whether you kick me off the show right away or I stay on until the last, I will be satisfied.’ I had to give all of my problems and worries to God, and he fixed everything.

TBGB: What was it like recording Thank You?

It was great working with Eric Dawkins, who is a mastermind of all vocals. I’m not new to studio work at all, and it was fun, especially since it is ‘Amber Bullock’ now. It’s still amazing to me.

TBGB: What song on the new album resonates most with your spirit?

A song called “For Every Mountain.” It was written by Kurt Carr, and it’s anthem-style gospel, but we redid it. It’s totally jazz. While I’ve been out on Kirk Franklin’s Fearless Tour, which has been the most exciting month of my life, people are grabbing hold of that song and they love it.

TBGB: The album includes songs by Richard Smallwood and Walter Hawkins. Do you like traditional gospel, or are you drawn to more contemporary sounds?

The songs are traditional songs but they are 'Amberized!' There is a lot of gospel jazz infusion on there. I didn’t want to give people the same thing they heard on the show because they can go to YouTube or BET.com and listen to that for free.

TBGB: What does Amya think of her mother’s becoming a gospel singing star?

My two-year-old is one of the smartest kids breathing! She knows exactly what’s going on! When I leave to go out of town, she thinks I’m going to do Sunday Best. I actually got to bring her along on a couple of dates during the Fearless Tour, and she loved every moment of it. She really thinks it’s about her, not about me!

TBGB: If you could wish upon a star, what would you like to see happen in the coming years, as far as your singing career?

I want to be around in the next couple of years. So many gospel artists come out and then you don’t hear from them anymore. I want to have a career like Kirk Franklin, a career with longevity. I want to be effective. I want people to have something to look forward to when they put my CD in their CD player. I want to be in some movies, too!

TBGB: What should we know about Amber Bullock, the person, not the gospel singer?

I’m just a regular person and I’m one of the goofiest people alive! Coming from nothing to so much now, I don’t take anything for granted that’s come my way.

I’m still getting used to walking into a room and a hundred people know who you are...and you don’t know who any of them are! I always want to be reachable. So if you see me, come on up. Talk to me. I don’t mind taking pictures, either.

For more information on Amber Bullock, visit www.musicworldgospel.com.

"No Words" - Valerie Woodard

“No Words”
Valerie Woodard
Whole Armor Recordings (2011)
(available on iTunes, CD Baby & her website)
www.ValerieWoodard.com

She can’t put it in words, but she must.

To a mesmerizing Middle Eastern-meets-R&B-meets-African-percussion arrangement, Valerie Woodard sings about how she can’t describe how much she loves the Lord. To acknowledge the contradiction, she launches into lovely melodic runs of wordless moans.

Woodard has a robust yet elastic voice well suited for contemporary gospel, though I’m sure she can belt out a hymn on request. You can feel Woodard’s controlled energy throughout “No Words.” She plans to release her sophomore album, Relationship II: Closer, in the early part of 2012.

Spirit 2 Spirit - "Jesus is the Reason 4 the Season"

“Jesus is the Reason 4 the Season”
Spirit 2 Spirit
Tate Music Group (2011)
www.reverbnation.com/spirit2spirit

On their new Christmas song, Spirit 2 Spirit stays true to its mission of providing "message music" by reminding listeners that Jesus is not only the “reason 4 the season,” but is the reason for every day of the year.

The group delivers its message in its trademark part-funk, part-soul, all laid-back suavity, complete with a rap interlude.

Often dubbed “The Earth, Wind & Fire of Gospel,” Spirit 2 Spirit is led by two brothers, Michael and Denny Jenkins.  They released an album, You Better Get Ready, earlier this year.

TBGB's Bob Marovich on the PCC Network Community Forum

On the PCC Network Community Forum, Rev. Harold Bailey, formerly of the Harold Bailey Singers, talks with Bob Marovich of The Black Gospel Blog about Chicago gospel music history.  Marovich is currently working on a history of the birth of gospel music in Chicago.

Watch the broadcast here: PCC Network Community Forum

Puchi Colon - Vertical Praise Live

Puchi Colon
Vertical Praise Live
Jovi Music (2011)
www.puchicolon.com

By Bob Marovich for The Black Gospel Blog.

Gospel and praise and worship music are being embraced by more and more Latino churchgoers. Proof positive is the rising popularity of Latino artists such as Joann Rosario Condrey, Michelle Bonilla, Paulis Sanchez, Linda Agosto, and Puchi Colon.

Puchi Colon and his ensemble are the Miami Sound Machine of P&W. On their latest release, Vertical Praise Live, they demonstrate why. An aggressive brass section and a veritable orchestra of percussion instruments underlay Colon’s handsome baritone that, in its understatement, is ideal for the salsa style he makes his own.  The lyrics are soothing, but the musica urges listeners to get up and dance in the spirit.

Vertical Praise Live was recorded on April 2, 2011 at Living Water Fellowship in Kissimmee, Florida, near Walt Disney World.  But while people were riding the monorail in the Magic Kingdom, Colon was in the "casa del rey," singing songs in Spanish and English “con jubilo,” to borrow one of the song titles.

The musicians are studio-quality instrumentalists with plenty of passion in their playing. Especially effective is “Rey De Mi Vida” (“King of My Life”), on which the band turns up the intensity such that the conclusion becomes a praise jam session. This happens again on the closing piece, “Que No Pare,” which also benefits from a singable melody.

In between, Colon settles into a two-song acoustic “unplugged” section led by acoustic guitar a la Israel. Of the two unplugged songs, “All That I Need” is the finer of the two, although “We Wanna Worship” will likely be more familiar to Colon enthusiasts.

Vertical Praise Live is Puchi Colon’s best work to date because outside of being at the live performance, the best way to experience salsa P&W is a live recording. It is praise music that doesn’t just invite you to participate, it orders you to do so.

Four of Five Stars

Picks: “Rey de mi Vida,” “Que no Pare.”

"Depending on You" - Terry Frazier and the Tears of Joy

“Depending on You”
Terry Frazier and the Tears of Joy
From the self-titled Chit Chat Records EP
www.myspace.com/terryfrazierthetearsofjoy

Proudly old-school quartet Terry Frazier and the Tears of Joy from Hartsville, South Carolina is back with a new, self-titled EP.

The finest of the CD's four tracks, “Depending on You,” sounds like the group’s “B” selection: the singers fasten their seat belts and assume full drive tempo, propelled by a chugging backbeat, snarling guitar, whirling B3 and explosively sanctified lead singing.

A plea for divine assistance, “Depending on You” continues past the five minute mark and seems destined to keep on going until it is suddenly and surprisingly wrenched to a close, as if the plug was pulled.

Current personnel of the Tears of Joy are Terry Frazier, Wade Crowder, Kevin Poston, Darrick McClinton and James Tillm.

VaShawn Mitchell - Triumphant (Deluxe Edition)

VaShawn Mitchell

Triumphant – Deluxe Edition CD + DVD

EMI Gospel (2011)

http://www.emigospel.com/

By Bob Marovich for The Black Gospel Blog.

TBGB has already praised VaShawn Mitchell’s triumphant album Triumphant, but here comes the Deluxe Edition: the original CD in its entirety plus two new songs, accompanied by a DVD and new cover art.

The 45-minute Deluxe Edition DVD consists mostly of the Chicago singer-songwriter and his background vocalists and soloists performing songs from Triumphant before a live audience (is there any other kind of audience?).

The DVD also includes the concept video for the album’s current hit, “Nobody Greater,” shot in New York City (what? not Chicago?) and concludes with an interview of Mitchell and a video of the “Chasing After You” contest winners Trey McLaughlin and the Sounds of Zamar performing “Chasing” like a train without brakes.

Bishop Larry Trotter of Sweet Holy Spirit, where VaShawn served as minister of music, makes an appearance and provides a sermonette as preamble to the song, “His Blood Still Works.”

What you see on the DVD is that Mitchell, a multiple 27th Annual Stellar Award nominee, doesn’t oversell. He’s more of a flatfooted than a frenetic gospel singer, his pleasant, gentlemanly demeanor and voice allowing the songs to speak for themselves. Numbers such as “Be Fruitful” and “His Blood Still Works” have the melodic and lyrical depth that characterizes the artist’s songwriting.

Look for more good things to come from VaShawn Mitchell.

CD: Five of Five Stars
DVD: Four of Five Stars