TotalPraise.net » PrayzeHymnOnline

Smokie Norful- Live

Keke — Sat, 23 May 2009 13:54:11 +0000

Since dominating adult contemporary and R&B radio with his bonafide crossover ballad hit “I Need You Now,”, Smokie Norful survived one-hit wonder status and even impressed the Academy by taking home a Grammy win for his 2004 album Nothing Without You in the Best Contemporary Soul Gospel category. Yet it is relevant to add that the coolness of Norful’s career and his relevance on the charts has simmered down some since his goldmine hit. On Live, Norful rediscovers the most popular trend in gospel music by using the live audience to once again build up his army of supporters. Taped at Memphis’ Canon Center, Norful isn’t a total stranger to the live atmosphere. In an effort to meet the surging demand of Norful’s quickly-growing fan base, he recorded the ten-track EP, Limited Edition, months after I Need You Now. Being a full-time pastor of Victory Cathedral Worship Center in Romeoville, IL also benefits him with interacting with his audiences. But the singer/songwriter isn’t as seasoned as a Donnie McClurkin or John P. Kee in a live audience. He stumbles over words and his thoughts during his introduction of “Justified” and he appears to be in rare form only when the music is going. Even his introduction of Heather Headley on the project lacks the oratorical emphasis it deserves.

Read entire review by J. Matt at PrayzeHymnOnline: http://prayzehymnonline.com

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Mike Farris- Shout! Live

Keke — Sat, 23 May 2009 13:49:54 +0000

A careful look at Mike Farris paints images of a young upcoming Johnny Cash with a cool rock edge. Hearing him sing anything conjures the great legends of soul and gospel with a grain of country-rooted rock like American Idol finalist Bo Bice. Last year, he proved to be a strong contender in the underground gospel community with his highly-praised gospel debut Salvation in Lights project, after jumping the broom from performing bluesy rock for the Screamin’ Cheetah Wheelies in the 1990s. The shift to gospel came after attending a funeral of his best friend and a near-death experience from an accidental drug overdose. With just little experience, he sings the gospel like an Old Testament prophet like he’s been singing it all his life. And the musical experience feels just like that when he takes on a parade of hymns or Rosetta Tharpe selections using his old-school style of arranging obscure oldies. And while it was a studio effort, Farris sung with such an intensity and conviction that amazingly gave the production a raw, live concert. On Shout! Live, Farris capitalizes on the strengths of his debut by putting them into an intimate lounge setting at the Station Inn without losing the savor of his accompanying horn section or the explosiveness of his revival-anchored music.

Read entire review by J. Matt at PrayzeHymnOnline: http://prayzehymnonline.com

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Ann Nesby- The Lula Lee Project

Keke — Sat, 23 May 2009 13:43:05 +0000

Whether she’s doing mainstream or gospel, Ann Nesby is a force to be reckoned with. Her voice, bubbling with the soulful connections of Aretha Franklin, is highly distinguishable and remains synonymous with the Sounds of Blackness’ glory years. Her tenure with the group, although quite short in the eye of mainstream pop music, is extremely relevant for her career; breaking her into big R&B hits and even placing her in the company of super tag-team producers Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis. After her two-album deal with Jam & Lewis’s Perspective label, she hit the independent scene and even made her mark on the dance world with blazing recordings with house mixer DJ Spen (Jasper Street Company) and her #1 club hit “Lovin’ Is Really My Game.” The tedious journey led her to a cameo appearance in the motion picture The Fighting Temptations, a successful gastric bypass surgery, a GRAMMY-nominated album (This Is Love) and a most-recent label signing with Tyscot Records. On her first Tyscot album, The Lula Lee Project, Nesby takes the high road into superfluous alter-egos learning from the likes of Beyonce’ (Sasha), Mariah Carey (Mimi) and Tonex’ (too many names to print) by introducing us to Lula Lee. But thankfully for a 54-year old grandmother and an established veteran singer in the gospel world, the backdrop of the story isn’t as shallow as it may appear. Lula is the first word of her birth name and Lee is the last name of her husband and manager, Timothy Lee. Still, the super move along with the glossy photos and the recent music video seems to stir up the idea that Nesby may be playing with the familiar tactics of most sophisticated and established diva personas.

Read entire review by J. Matt at PrayzeHymnOnline: http://prayzehymnonline.com

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Holy Boy- Out Of Time

Keke — Sat, 23 May 2009 13:36:15 +0000

At first glance, one might think Holy Boy was just a gospel experiment that surely had R&B superstar Usher in mind. He sure has the looks, the charming smile and the baby-face. But while gospel has always been one step behind the latest craze in pop culture, it’s still never too late to try something refreshing using kiddie-bop sensations and a smidgen of personality. The Mobile, Ala native, born Herbert Woods, is the latest in the gospel-meets-urban saga stepping into the familiar avenues of R&B heartthrobs Usher and Chris Brown hoping to make urban gospel sound more sensational than being an underground movement. And with a name that sounds as if it had leaped out of the pages of Marvel Comics, Holy Boy is sure to rally up a rousing set of kids interested in his urban-pop infused gospel message on his Fontana/Universal debut Out Of Time.

Read entire review by J. Matt at PrayzeHymnOnline: http://prayzehymnonline.com

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Kim Burrell- No Ways Tired

Keke — Sat, 23 May 2009 13:30:38 +0000

It’s been nine years since her last project, but she has been far from inactive. Kim Burrell has landed a great deal of guest appearances on albums with artists like Stevie Wonder, Harry Connick, Jr., Marvin Winans, American Idol judge Randy Jackson, Richard Smallwood, Kirk Whalum and Tye Tribbett. Having state that, solo albums are still an musical artist’s best representation and Burrell fans, even after countless appearances on TBN’s Praise the Lord, have been anxiously awaiting for something fresh from the jazzy riffer. Yet bad news after bad news, including tumultuous record deals going sour with Sony Urban and Tommy Boy, left her faithful followers with a great deal of doubt over a career resurgence. After receiving teasers on Gospelflava.com of an ambitious live recording, live concerts at New York’s Carnegie Hall and throwing out a few promotional singles along the way, Burrell responds with No Ways Tired; her latest studio effort on the Shanachie label. Project wise, this is her most forward leap into gospel jazz even though the album parades around a slew of hymn arrangements and gospel classics. But her remakes are sensibly altered to place strong focus on her jazz background rather than treading the paths of Burrell’s closest cohorts (Nikki Ross, Kierra Sheard, Beyonce’, Fantasia, Ledisi). Rather than putting out a flashy urban R&B-oriented record, she maintains her underground image of performing her unique style of “jazz gospel” without sacrificing much of what she is accredited for starting since her Tommy Boy debut in 1998.

Read entire review by J. Matt at PrayzeHymnOnline: http://prayzehymnonline.com

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Gospel News Around The Web

Keke — Sat, 23 May 2009 13:15:21 +0000

GospelPundit.com Exclusive Interview With Dontavies Boatwright (Sunday Best)- At GospelPundit.com

Tis Ain’t So Sweet- Bishop Larry Trotter- At PrayzeHymnOnline.com

Remebering The Spirit And Strength Of Wayman Tisdale- At 1800gospel.com

Kingdom Records Signs The Whispers- At GospelCity.com

Donnie McClurkin Is On Television- At EURWEB.com

The BlackGospel Blog Pick Of The Week- At BlackGospel.blogspot.com

Donald Lawrence- The Law Of Confession Part I

Keke — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 17:08:26 +0000

Riding high off a massive wave of success from the double-GRAMMY work on the Clark Sisters’ reunion effort Live: One Last Time and producing debut offerings for DeWayne Woods, Sunday Best finalist Shari Addison and the Murrills, Donald Lawrence remains gospel’s latest renaissance man with the knack of solidifying chart-topping albums and chorally-embellished material fixed up with a polished production. In the world of rich, colorful gospel interpretation, Lawrence has build an earnest reputation around his crafty work with the now-retired Tri-City Singers and continues to model his more recent projects in the contemporary gospel traditions of old but with a more flaring embrace towards more pop-injected melodies. Then there’s the ambiguous usage of “feel-good” messages over the years, loaded with lyrical content of prosperity and blessings, tucked in Lawrence’s parading line of radio hits. Track back to “The Blessing of Abraham” and beyond: “I Speak Life,” “Giants,” “Healed,” “The Best Is Yet To Come,” “Never Seen the Righteous.”. All, in which, have a thematic underlining that bears a course of repetitiveness. Figuratively, it’s almost easy to predict the nature of Lawrence’s next step. Not surprising, Lawrence gives recession-burdened audiences a jolt of the same type of rhetoric using popular teleevangelist Bill Winston’s latest “name it and claim it” scriptural theories on his second solo album and his second concept album, The Law of Confession, Part I (his first was with the Tri-City Singers’ Bible Stories). Backing him up again is the faceless Co., a group of well-trained, yet relatively unknown singers that include the likes of Blanche McAllister-Dykes, Jason Nelson, Floyd Wilkinson, DeWayne Woods, Latrice Pace and Kim McFarland-Anderson.

Read entire review by J. Matt at PrayzeHymnOnline: http://prayzehymnonline.com

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Stephen Hurd- Times Of Refreshing

Keke — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 17:01:02 +0000

Gospel songwriter and recently-turned worship pro Stephen Hurd has encountered moderate success but seems to have trouble breaking into the top tier of gospel’s scoreboard academy. His greatest triumph leans on the gospel-friendly remake of the Steven Ford-produced “Undignified (I Will Dance, I Will Sing).” The Matt Redman tune got lots of airplay on gospel radio and catapulted his Integrity Gospel debut to number 15 on the gospel charts in 2004. My Destiny followed in 2006, but failed to produce a big follow-up hit. With an abrupt change of producers (now leaning on Jonathan Nelson protege’ Justin Salvage) and a more intimate live recording setting arranged for worship leaders, pastors and other gospel artists, Hurd releases Times of Refreshing; his third project with Integrity. But this time around, there’s more trouble with the changes than meets the eye. Not that the production is all wrong: it’s structured differently and not as pristine as Ford’s contributions but it’s not overtly raw and local sounding. The problem mostly lies on a larger abandonment away from conventional album structures by inserting more talking segments, excessive interludes and album fillers. Even though he uses these gimmicks on previous releases, this one bites the bullet with twelve complete songs and twenty tracks in total! Talking and spoken word exhortations may be a friendly factor on worship albums (careful reminders of what authentic worship services should feel like), but Hurd comes off a bit indulgent and does his best in killing the insurmountable attention span listeners may have.

Read entire review by J. Matt at PrayzeHymnOnline: http://prayzehymnonline.com

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Demetrius West & Reflections of God Chorale- It Happened In Worship

Keke — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 16:54:57 +0000

From the flatbeds of Indianapolis, Indiana comes one of the burgeoning choral aggregations to step into the contemporary gospel mold. On their independent debut It Happened In Worship, Reflections of God Chorale, championed by choir leader Demetrius West, carries the neighboring traditions of Chicago choir gospel into a beefy set of infectious contemporary grooves and sophisticated worship choral ballads. Taped at the New Direction Christian Church, the nine-track offering (minus intros, reprises and interludes) may be a bit brief in performance but technically it’s not lacking substance.

Read entire review by J. Matt at PrayzeHymnOnline: http://prayzehymnonline.com

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Mary Mary- The Sound

Keke — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 16:14:59 +0000

The enormous contributions from gospel duo Mary Mary to the preface of 21st century urban contemporary gospel remains poignant as ever; years after their breakout debut album Thankful. Sisters Erica and Tina Campbell, along with their hit-making producer Warryn Campbell (Erica’s husband), have emerged to become important trendsetters for the ever-evolving genre. And while the girls are usually only celebrated for their gifted set of vocals, their incredible songwriting abilities, responsible for crossover inspirations like the R&B Top 50 hit “Yesterday,” the R&B Top 10 favorite “Shackles (Praise You” and “Heaven,” should be just as equally celebrated and acknowledged. And with three albums already under their belt (not including a well-received holiday album), the Inglewood duo continues their reign on the gospel charts with their street sounds and their uncanny, yet innovative approach to build a bridge for listeners to R&B’s and gospel’s glorified past. An obvious criticism most observers have noticed about Mary Mary’s music is that, sometimes, their sound tends to come off quite predictable; as if they aim to take the safest route around what is hot on the charts at that time. They pulled off a good refreshing single on Incredible and their 2005 self-titled project, but some questioned if Mary Mary had what it took to avoid being piegon-holed into a particular sound. On The Sound, the group’s fifth collection of music, the group creates their best effort yet to avoid their former Mary Mary formula and previous musical patterns. There’s no trace of obvious samples or simple melodies looping from start-to-finish aboard – a definite sign that Mary Mary put some hard work into making this project.

Read entire review by J. Matt at PrayzeHymnOnline: http://prayzehymnonline.com