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!

Gospel Jazz Podcast

I just wanted to let you know about another podcast for Gospel Lovers around the world. This one is called Gospel Jazz Podcast, and the website is http://gospeljazzsite.com. The creator, Norvell A. Molex Jr., created the podcast in November 2005, and it presents gospel music as played by jazz artists, both Christian and secular. It's a very nice way to experience smooth grooves of familiar hymns as well as new songs by up and coming artists. Enjoy!

Change in Format

Hi there!

I'm really starting to enjoy bringing folks up to date with some artists that I've enjoyed over the years. I've noticed that it seems that most of the artists I've featured here are in the genre of Gospel music. Taking note of that, plus the fact that I'm involved in the music ministry at my church [Hello, ALCFers!], I've decided to make the focus of this blog more geared towards showcasing all kinds of Gospel music.

Most people associate Gospel music with large choirs with a soloist singing their hearts out. While that's one type of Gospel music, there are others available. Did you know there was a style called holy hip-hop? How about gospel jazz?? And there's both traditional and contemporary Gospel, also. There's even Gospel house music!

All of these styles are different, but they carry the same message of the "good news". I hope that you'll enjoy learning about these artists & styles of music as much as I do. God bless!