Kim Burrell - A Force of Nature

Goodness! You would think after all the hype about the Super Bowl that I'd be planted in front of the TV, but I had to get this post in about one of my favorite singers, Kim Burrell.

She hasn't actually released her own project since doing "Live In Concert" in 2002, but she has collaborated with several artists including Richard Smallwood & Vision, Missy Elliot & a trio with R. Kelly & Kelly Price. Several R&B and pop artists list her as being one of their influences, including Beyonce, Jessica Simpson, Mariah Carey & Chris Brown. From all accounts, she lives the message behind the music, so it would be safe to call her a minister instead of just a gospel artist.

I'm sharing a video where Kim is during a service where she's freestyling on one of her songs, "Have Faith" doing the runs she's known and loved for. Enjoy, and have a good evening!

Darryl Coley - Anointed Voice!

Hi everyone! A little earlier than usual, but still happy to be here!

Tonight's post is about one of the most anointed gospel singers out there, Darryl Coley. He is a East Bay native of the San Francisco area who has as much of a jazz influence in his music as gospel. He was born in 1955 and was brought up in church, though his mother also loved to listen to classical and jazz music during the week. He was a musical prodigy that learned the clarinet in high school and taught himself how to play the piano. He's sung with the legendary Hawkins family, and actually served as musical director for Tramaine Hawkins. He's also performed with Nancy Wilson, who he considers to be a mentor for him. The clip I'm sharing here is from a live recording session in Los Angeles called "He's Right On Time". The song is "You Are My Everything", and the female soloist is B.J. Crosby.

They've both had health issues in the past year, so remember to keep them in your prayers. And have a blessed evening!

Shekinah Glory Ministries - Praise & Worship

Good evening, all. I'm finding out I'm more of a night person than I realized since updating this blog on a regular basis.

Tonight I wanted to introduce you to a group called Shekinah Glory Ministries out of the midwestern part of the USA. They are part of a new wave of ministers within the traditionally black church that sing mostly praise & worship selections not during what is called 'devotion' time but as part of the main service. In the case of this group they have now released three CD/DVD sets that encompass a full fledged praise & worship session. Usually in the gospel field you won't see a group this large except if they're doing the more traditional choir selections like the _________ Mass Choir [fill in the blank with your favorite state name, and you'll have it]. But the focus of this group, as well as other groups like Tye Tribett & Greater Annointing, Fred Hammond & Radical for Christ, is to bring the whole congregation into the actual presence of God during the service. For many years persons would attend services with the expectation of being entertained by the choir, but they would take on a passive role and not participate in the service. Take a look at this video of the song "Yes", and see if you could stay in your seat.



With that, I wish you a good night's rest. See you tomorrow!

Ministry or Entertainment?

Good evening, all!

Tonight's post won't be that long, but it is on a subject that should make us think a little bit.

There's a debate in the Gospel music community about whether some artists have gone too far with their music. They're concerned that the artists are now being more influenced by the dollar and/or the hip-hop culture that surrounds them than being directed by God in the choices of songs, attire & music they do.

Usually the artists in question tend to be younger, and not at all polished singers that may have a true love for the Lord, but don't sing the traditional style of Gospel music that their parents [and critics] grew up with. Some artists that have had that 'performer' label pushed on them include folks like Kirk Franklin, Tonex, Mary Mary, Yolanda Adams, and others. Something like this video by VOU featuring Damita Haddon would be an example of what they would say is too "worldly".


However, something that reminds them of church service would be perfectly fine by them. Artists like Shirley Caesar, Albertina Walker, the Canton Spirituals, and any of the mass choirs [Georgia, Mississippi, Colorado, etc.] have more appeal for them. [By the way, I enjoy them, too!] Even a video by someone like Vickie Winans, who some of the same critics would say is too "forward", when she's singing something like "More Than Enough" is more "acceptable" to them.


The thing we have to remember is that while we may have certain preferences in the style of music we like to listen to, the main thing is this: do the lyrics of the songs being performed bring glory to God, or to the performer? We can't know what's going on in the minds of the artists/ministers - only God can do that. But we can listen to what's being said and make our own judgements on that. In the meantime, these artists can reach people for God that we can never imagine being able to touch. So just keep all of them in your prayers.

Have a blessed evening!

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!

Top Gospel CD's

Hi! It's Tuesday night, and I'm back from celebrating my Mom's birthday. After all that talking and catching up with my family, I just wanted to give you some ideas of some CD's you might want to check out.

I mentioned yesterday that Heather Headley was one of the featured soloists on Celebration of Gospel. Well, she also released a CD called "Audience of One" that is currently at the top spot on the Billboard Christian and Gospel chart, as well as being in the top 10 on the R&B/Hip Hop chart. Gospel sister/duo Mary Mary is at #2 with their current CD "The Sound", which is a departure for them as they incorporate more praise & worship and pop sound into their standard contemporary gospel sound. Sunday Best winner Crystal Aiken's self-titled CD is at #3, with Marvin Sapp's "Thirsty" holding down the #4 spot. The Sunday Best runner-up Shari Addison rounds out the top five gospel CD list. I would say any of these projects would be a good addition to your iPod/CD player list, but I'd be partial to Marvin Sapp's CD if you absolutely had to pick one.

I know "Never Would Have Made It" is the song everyone talks about from this CD, but the video I'm featuring is "Magnify", which is more uptempo and is more like the music followers of Commissioned would recognize from him. Hope you enjoy it, and have a great evening!

Celebration of Gospel - The Highlights

Good evening, all!

I hope you all got a chance to see the Celebration of Gospel 2009 on BET last night. This year's show was more grounded than last year, if only because while they did incorporate non-Gospel artists in it, this year there were much more Gospel singers participating and more songs than spoken word interludes. Even host Steve Harvey wasn't as prominent this year as last year. Maybe the comments he made about one of the artists' dresses last year put him in the semi-dog house.

This year's highlights included the following:

* A duet of "Jesus is Love" featuring Heather Headley and Smokie Norful. Heather just came out with her first Gospel CD this month, but the way she ministered the song with Smokie shows you that the girl grew up in the church! A pleasant surprise, indeed.

* A group song featuring Kirk Franklin, Rance Allen, and two of the four original members of Men of Standard, Issac Carree & Lowell Pye. They did a big band version of "Little Boy" from The Fight of My Life. That was just TOO smooth, and had lyrics that a LOT of the listeners needed to hear.

** Probably the highlight of the broadcast was the appearance of Hezekiah Walker and Love Fellowship, with special guests Marvin Sapp & DJ Rogers singing "God Favored Me" from Souled Out. After a year of constant accusations & rumors surrounding him, Hezekiah came out with this song as an answer to his critics & an encouragement to his followers. There were very few dry eyes in the audience when this song was done!

That's it for now. I'll probably have more to say on this tremendous show later on this week. Heck, this might take the entire week! Until tomorrow, be blessed!