‘I AM REDEEMED AND I’M GOING TO SAY SO’
A tribute to a bonafide gospel giant, DR. JESSY DIXON, who died on September 26 at his Chicago home at the age of 73. Though he achieved crossover success from gospel to pop after collaborating with Paul Simon on two album projects, Dr. Dixon always kept his eye on the sparrow. “The greatest joy of my life,” he said, “is to bask in the love of the one whom this gospel music is all about.”

*SHIRLEY MURDOCK STAYS ‘TOUCHABLE TO THE PEOPLE’
By Bob Marovich
'I always take time out for the people. God first, but without the people's support, I couldn't do what I do.’ So says Shirley Murdock, and her new album, Live: The Journey, bears out her the artist-audience kinship she leans on.As she tells Bob Marovich: ‘I call it the ‘triangular effect’: what I do, I give to God first. I believe God touches it and He sends it down to the people. And they send it back to me. It's a magical thing.’

*BOB MAROVICH’S GOSPEL PICKS

VARIOUS ARTISTS, Slingshot--‘We’re a new generation…we say it loud!’ So announces talented newcomer Bria Manaway on “Say it LOUD,” the initial single from the SlingShot 2011 Soundtrack. And she does, they do, and the result is impressive.

OAKLAND INTERFAITH GOSPEL CHOIR, Hear My Prayer--Hear My Prayer is a capably produced, superbly wrought work that captures the live spirit of the Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir with fidelity. But as meaty, polished and well trained as the Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir is, the CD belongs just as much to its talented lead singers.

MUYIWA AND RIVERSONGZ, Declaring His Name All Around The World-- Someone asked me recently what I thought gospel music would sound like in five years. Without missing a beat, I said it would incorporate more components of world music. The person looked at me as if I had seven eyes and a tail. Enter Muyiwa Olarewaju and Riversongz, a U.K.-based praise and worship ensemble who on Declaring His Name All Around the World take the listener on a global musical journey.

VICKI YOHE, I’m At Peace: A Praise And Worship Experience-- Stellar- and Dove-Award nominee Vicki Yohe is among a handful of blue-eyed gospel singers who have not only found an appreciable audience in the African American church, but whose work has also landed on Billboard's Top Gospel Singles and Albums charts. Her tenth and latest CD, I’m At Peace: A Praise and Worship Experience, was recorded live at Bethel World Outreach in Brentwood, Tennessee. The album demonstrates the praise and worship leader’s tuneful vocals and proclivity for pop-rock beats, evocative of fellow P&W artists Martha Munizzi and Mary Alessi. Smooth and pleasant, it is Ms. Yohe’s best work to date.