Looking Back - Love Camp

Good evening, everyone!

I was just looking at a video featuring one of my all time favorite gospel artists, Richard Smallwood. He was teaching at a music and arts workshop teaching the choir the song "Holy, Holy". The kicker is this. Instead of the workshop & concert happening in the US, this was actually held in Japan! Here's the actual video of the finished product.



It took me back to a time where my husband & I were really into trying to participate in as many workshops as possible, and we heard about a workshop called "Love Camp" that was happening in the East Bay Area of California. The first year the featured artist was Darryl Coley, and the second year was Richard Smallwood. This is a good way to find out things about the background behind Gospel music as well as getting a chance to learn some new songs and performing them at the end of the week. After you get over the awe of seeing some well-known artists, you find out real quickly that they're regular folks with God-given gifts that they choose to share with others, and that you have your own gift that you can learn to hone and share with others too. The big thing I remember about the second year was that even though I took part in the rehearsals, because of a previous commitment I couldn't take part in the concert on that Saturday. I was mad, even though I knew my hubby would be part of the choir and would represent us well. I got the surprise of a lifetime when I got to talk to Mr. Smallwood that Friday night and shared how much of a blessing it was to be in his workshop. He encouraged me to keep on ministering in music, and to keep praying for him as he ministered around the world. That's a promise I've been happy to keep!

Since I mentioned Darryl, I had to include this video with Wes Morgan from West Coast Prayze. Enjoy both of them, and have a blessed evening!

Gospel - In Toronto??

Good evening, friends! Glad to see you made it through another day, and are taking time to read this post. I do appreciate it!

The title of this post is a little tongue-in-cheek, because I know that wherever someone is willing to lift their voice in song to God, that Gospel music is right there! However, I just recently came across a website that is dedicated not only to exposing us to gospel artists from Toronto, Canada, but features gospel music that spans across most genres. The website is TorontoGospel.CA, and it's based in Canada! Like the tag line on the home page says, "Hear It...Sing It...Live It!" The site provides a top 25 list of the most popular songs as listened to by their visitors, but what you want to do is click on the link that says "Music".

This takes you to another page where their current selection of music is available to listen to. The categories are diverse, and have something for almost everyone. Here's the list:

* Toronto Gospel Artists
* Church Hymns
* Instrumental Praise
* Gospel Jazz [what I'm currently listening to, BTW]
* New Gospel Music [where the latest songs are featured]
* Caribbean Praise [Gospel from the islands, ya'll!]
* Accapella Gospel Music [for those who say "we don't need no music!"]
* Choir Central [Actually my favorite category - if you can think of the choir, they're here!]
* Bill Gaither's Homecoming Classics [Bill Gaither is one of the godfathers of southern gospel, but also co-wrote one of the biggest black gospel songs, "Center of My Joy" with Richard Smallwood.]
* Classic Gospel [For songs over a few years old]
* Classical Praise [This section actually features some of the best known praise & worship songs done with the harp. It's a nice change of pace!]

When you click onto one of the song titles, you'll actually have another window open with a graphic of an iPod player showing your selection. But the treat is that they will add another four songs that you might like based on your selection. How cool is that?

This is one of those hidden gems that you may want to bookmark so you can come back to it again and again. And let your friends know about it so they can enjoy the variety of music.

Have a good evening, and a blessed day!

Georgia Mass Choir & Whitney Houston

Hi everyone! It's Friday night, and hopefully you're in the mood to get your praise on!

The group that I'm featuring tonight is the Georgia Mass Choir. You might know them best as the choir that backed up Whitney Houston in the movie "The Preacher's Wife". They've actually been around since 1983 when founder Milton Biggham auditioned over 600 people to form the group, which currently stands at around 150 voices.

They are still recording, and had a CD in 2007 called "Tell It" that reached #4 on the gospel charts in the US. Some of their best known songs include "Joy" [featuring Kirk Franklin], "Come On In the Room" [classic old-school traditional gospel!], "Help is on the Way" and a remake of one of my favorite Richard Smallwood songs, "I Love the Lord", which features a lead by Whitney Houston from the soundtrack of "The Preacher's Wife".

I'll post the clip for the song "Joy" so you can get an idea of the powerful sound of the choir. And since I brought the movie up, I'll also load a clip of Whitney and the choir singing "I Love the Lord". They're only recordings of the songs with no video, but the impact when you hear them will bless you tremendously.

Have a blessed evening!