*Anita Wilson Gives Worship Soul
By Bob Marovich
On the occasion of her debut album Worship Soul being released and rising to the #15 spot on Billboard’s Top Gospel Albums chart, ANITA WILSON sat down for a chat about the long player and her gospel music journey thus far, which is as much a study in good singing as in good industry networking.
*Keeping Up with forever JONES
By Bob Marovich
On April 10, the GRAMMY-nominated and Stellar Award-winning forever JONES released their sophomore CD, Musical Revival (EMI Gospel). Four of the seven-member family band--Dewitt, Kim, Dominique' and Dewitt IV--recently chatted about the album and how they went from the Pacific Northwest to the Billboard charts.
*‘She Just Couldn’t Take Injustice’
Remembering the Life and Legacy of Rev. Addie Wyatt
In the Civil Rights Movement, REV. ADDIE WYATT was a leader, a force, the "power of one." She sang the gospel with Mahalia Jackson, marched from Selma to Montgomery with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and moved in the circles of power for decades. As the first black female international vice president of a major American labor union, she spent her life fighting gender and racial discrimination in the workplace
*Bob Marovich’s Gospel Picks
THE SOUTHERN SONS OF MEMPHIS, Another Dimension--Live--Anchored by lead vocalist Bob Holloway, the Southern Sons of Memphis, Tennessee have a traditional, funky southern soul sound that evokes the musical richness of their native city. Save for the final two selections, the Another Dimension--Live DVD captures the Memphis quartet in live performance at Brown Missionary Baptist Church in South Haven, Mississippi. What you witness is a serious, no-nonsense singing group that eschews fancy choreography and bench-walking for crisp harmonies and tight musicianship.
Forever JONES, Musical Revival-- On their second full-length CD, forever JONES--the multi-talented seven-member family band and the most attractive gospel group ever--lives life out loud. Literally. Musical Revival is just as tuneful and worship-driven as the group's debut CD, Get Ready, but more sonically explosive. The songs have an AC power pop drive that crackles with throbbing electronica and effusive spirit.
JOHN REDMON & FRIENDS, Faith, Love & Unity, Volume 1-- The compilation traverses gospel, CCM, R&B, and hip hop flavorings of the sacred but, more importantly, is dedicated to focusing more attention on the AIDS and HIV epidemics, especially among African Americans. Phill Wilson, CEO of the Black AIDS Institute, says that African Americans ‘represent half of all new HIV infections, including two-thirds of the new cases among women and 70% of the new cases among adolescents.’
TEREA', It’s Up 2 You-- On her debut CD, It's Up 2 You, singer-songwriter Terea'--known to her fans as the "songbird"--blends techno sounds with hip hop beats and neo-soul vocals. The songs on It's Up 2 You feel intensely personal.
VARIOUS ARTISTS, Out Of The Fire-- Out of the Fire is a compilation of a dozen independent artists whose sound, notes executive producer Drew Ferelle of FAAB Ink, is best categorized as ‘Kingdom Music.’ That is, the album traverses pop, hip hop, rock, soul and even spoken word ‘fused with gospel messages.’
VOICES OF PRAISE, I Give My All-- Organized in 2000 by Delmark Joseph out of the First Wesleyan Church of Brooklyn, Voices of Praise is now a sextette that represents several different churches and whose members write original songs. I Give My All is the group's new CD. What's immediately notable about Voices of Praise is its deliciously sweet harmonies. The blend is bright and fresh-faced, like forever JONES or the Irish pop group the Corrs. Old-schoolers like me hear something of the folk group the Seekers in the Voices of Praise's crisp tonality. Their harmonies are so tight a thin razor could not fit between the notes.
