Author: Libra Boyd

Libra Nicole Boyd, PhD is a musician, award-winning author, gospel music aficionado, and the founder and editor of Gospel Music Fever™. Her commitment to journalistic integrity includes bringing you reliable gospel music content that uplifts and advances the art form. Libra is presently working on several scholarly projects about gospel music in the media as well as gospel music in social movements.

North Carolina adds its name to roster of recording mass choirs

By Libra Boyd
Gospel Music Fever  

In a time when many choirs are taking a back seat to church praise teams and ensembles, North Carolina Community Mass Choir (NCCMC) is emerging as a fresh voice in its subgenre.   NCCMC (not to be confused with the North Carolina Mass Choir of the early 1990’s), may not be on your radar like Mississippi and Georgia Mass, but it certainly has an impressive team of singers and industry notables at its helm, starting with its visionary Dr. Thomas L. Walker. 

Walker is the pastor of Rocky Mount’s Ebenezer Baptist Church.  He is also a notable gospel singer, perhaps best known for his circa 1980 smash hit album One Day At A Time, which earned gold record status.  It was he who formed the choir in 2008 to sing for the National Black Caucus, at the request of Congressman G.K. Butterfield.  NCCMC was under the musical direction of James Bellamy and award-winning songwriter and super-producer Ray Braswell, Jr. (Keith “Wonderboy” Johnson & the Spiritual Voices, F.C. Barnes, Ministree, and others).  According to Braswell, who is the choir’s current president, NCCMC had a different moniker at that time.

“The choir was originally named The Promise Choir until leadership changed and I sought after reconstruction for the choir’s growth,” comments Braswell.  “Then I met with Malaco’s producer and artist, Darrell Luster of Durham, and great songwriter, Brian Foster of Henderson.”  

Darrell Luster, formerly of Charles Johnson & The Revivers and The Sensational Nightingales, is the choir’s CEO and primary lead vocalist.  Foster, who is also a musician and leader of the praise and worship group Josiah, is the vice president. Since its founding, NCCMC has performed on Bobby Jones Gospel, and has provided vocals on projects by The Sensational Nightingales (Live in Rocky Mount), Darrell Luster & F.C. Barnes (“He Won’t Change”), and Lil’ Blair & The Fantastic Heirs.  

More recently, the 30+ member choir completed its own debut recording, and according to Braswell, there is something on it for gospel music lovers of all kinds.

“We are taking choir music back to the roots to bring back the traditional sound,” he says.  “Our CD is full of traditional, praise & worship, and contemporary music, so it’s not just for the seasoned saints. It’s definitely for all listeners.”  

NCCMC is currently seeking additional voices as it preps for the upcoming CD release and a DVD recording. Braswell invites interested singers to choir auditions on Saturday, May 28, at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Rocky Mount.  Click the flyer above for details.

Sizzlin’ This Week (5/16/11) – “Say Yeah”

“Say Yeah”
Bobby Perry and RAIN
From the CD, Conquerors (2011)
www.bobbyperryonline.com

A lead guitar and its rock-like distortion effects kick off “Say Yeah” by Bobby Perry and RAIN (Royal Agents Influencing Nations).

Bobby Perry, pastor of The Kingdom Church in Massachusetts and a bishop in the Mount Calvary Holy Church of America, Inc., along with RAIN, a roster of talented and highly skilled singers (many of whom are Berklee alumni) reach across cultures with relevant lyrics and multi-genre musical elements to create this foot-stomper of a praise.

“Say Yeah” is from the group’s sophomore project, Conquerors, which was released Tuesday, May 10th.

“Something to Live For” – LaShun Pace

“Something to Live For”
LaShun Pace
From the upcoming CD, Reborn (Available June 28, 2011)
www.singlashun.com

LaShun Pace is coming off of a four-year hiatus to bring us Reborn, which drops Tuesday, June 28th.  Her single, “Something to Live For,” makes me not want to wait.

The tune, which has the Pace Sisters’ sound all over it, is Pace’s personal testimony, I suspect.  After all, the lyrics are telling: “I was ready to give up, throw in the towel. Sickness in the body made me so tired; even when I heard God’s word, I found it heavy to receive. I believed death was best for me, but the power of God arrested me and said I’ve got to live and declare His healing to the nations!”

After sharing from her personal experience, the powerhouse (whom Dr. Bobby Jones once compared to Mahalia Jackson) commands all who are faced with the temptation to call it quits to live and not die, for they have “something to live for!”

Gospel music documentary features legends, hits theaters June 3

Rejoice and Shout gospel music documentary

Rejoice and Shout is a new gospel music documentary that opens in theaters June 3rd.  The San Francisco International Film Festival calls it “the most thoroughly researched and exhaustive film about African-American gospel music ever committed to film.”

The documentary features interviews from Smokey Robinson, Ira Tucker, Anthony Heilbut and Mavis Staples among others, and a lot of footage from pioneers and legends including Rosetta Tharpe, The Dixie Hummingbirds, Mahalia Jackson, Rev. James Cleveland, The Blind Boys of Alabama, The Staples Singers, and Andrae Crouch.

If you are a gospel music enthusiast, the Rejoice and Shout trailer is sure to whet your appetite.

Sizzlin' This Week (5/9/11) – "We Cry Out"

“We Cry Out”
Wil E. Coleman
From the CD, The Necessity Project: A Night of Worship & Giving (2010)
 
I had the privilege of hearing Wil E. Coleman for the first time in 2009.  He was a featured guest at the live recording for a Pelham, NC ensemble called Visionz of Priase.  His was one of the memorable performances of the evening–for his sheer talent, sincere worship, and earnest delivery.
 
A year and a half later, toward the close of 2010, the youth pastor and minister of music at New Jerusalem Cathedral & Monument of Praise Ministries released The Necessity Project: A Night of Worship & Giving, a 15 track project that features “We Cry Out” (which is also available as a single).  Coleman invites us to come to God with an open heart and yielded spirit, crying out for more of Him: our Father, our Savior, our Healer, our Ruler. 
 
How deeply we rely on God as our Everything in times like these!

Sizzlin’ This Week is the GMF editor’s gospel music pick of the week from her personal playlist.  Every style. Every era.

“Holy is Our God” – James Fortune & FIYA featuring Tye Tribbett

“Holy is Our God”
James Fortune & FIYA ft. Tye Tribbett
www.twitter.com/mrjamesfortune

James Fortune recently told his Twitter followers that “Holy is Our God” was one of his favorites from his last album Encore.  Just prior to that tweet, the four-time ASCAP award-winning songwriter tweeted the link to a version of the worship anthem that features him with gospel sensation and ultra hyper performer Tye Tribbett.
This version of “Holy is Our God” offers us, as usual, Fortune’s passionately emotional delivery.  Enter Tye Tribbett about two minutes in to take the song to higher heights, exclaiming over FIYA’s escalating refrains that his worship belongs to the Father.  You can take a listen at Tweet My Song.
The beginning of this week, Fortune was working on music with his group for a CD that’s scheduled to drop January 15, 2012.

Raleigh-Durham radio personality uses voice to inspire on, off air

Carolyn Pettiford-Ryals

By Libra Boyd
Gospel Music Fever

Carolyn Pettiford-Ryals lights up the WNCU-90.7FM airwaves nearly every Sunday morning with traditional choir and quartet gospel music.  As co-host of “Hallelujah Praise,” the Raleigh-Durham radio personality believes in using her voice and popularity to encourage her listeners–a weekly audience of more than 40,000, not counting the online streamers.

Last year, when God spoke to her about inspiring and uplifting women in a personal and more intimate way, she heeded; the result was a retreat called “It’s You And Me.”  Following the first successful event, Pettiford-Ryals received testimonies from women whom she says were “released from emotional hurt and bondage.”  She sensed that the fellowship must continue, and that healing was to become its primary focus.

“[It’s for] healing souls and healing the broken-hearted,” says Pettiford-Ryals.  “Sometimes you’re in bondage emotionally and you can’t tell people what you feel.  In the retreats, there is freedom to share your experiences and how to get through them.”

The atmosphere is relaxed and supportive–it’s a safe haven.  In fact, one of the ground rules is that what is shared within the sessions is held in confidence among attendees.

“Some of the things [disclosed] are so personal, that in order for healing to take place, the people have to know this is a safe place to open up,” expresses Pettiford-Ryals.

Each topic of discussion is decided through prayer.  Grief, sickness, and betrayal are among the topics that have been covered so far.  Last year, a health segment was implemented to bring awareness to women’s health issues.

“With each retreat, I plan to implement a little more.”

Pettiford-Ryals adds, “The retreats are so powerful!  People don’t even want to leave the room to go to the restroom….the Spirit is so high and it rests so sweetly.”

The next “It’s You and Me” Women’s Retreat is set for this Saturday, May 7.

Place:  Millennium Hotel
Time:  9am – 4pm (breakfast bar is 9-10am)
Registration: $30 per person

Click the flyer for more details.

 
 

Live from Los Angeles – Vol. 2 – Beverly Crawford

Beverly Crawford
Live from Los Angeles – Vol. 2
JDI Records (2010)

By Libra Boyd
Gospel Music Fever

Recall Bobby Jones and New Life’s glory days and you will readily recall the voice that made the group a favorite throughout the early 90’s.  Several solo projects, a Grammy nomination, and a Stellar award win later, Beverly Crawford returned again in September with Live from Los Angeles – Vol. 2, and we can see she is still giving God the glory, ministering to His people, and singing us into frenzies.

The project’s opening number “It’s About Time for a Miracle,” set to what may as well be called “shouting music,” ignites the fire that burns throughout the album.  By the time “Miracle” graduates to its vamp, I can most certainly envision that Crawford and her audience are singing, praising, and pickin’ ’em up and puttin’ ’em down all at the same time.

Next up is “It’s So,” a tempo contrast to the preceding track.  Crawford, who serves as co-pastor at Gainesville Family Worship Center with her husband Todd, delivers the verses just like the singing preacher that she is.  By the song’s end, the preacher is in high gear, exhorting us in sermonette fashion to “name it, claim it, believe it, accept it–it is so!”

From there, she sprinkles a fair amount of quartet-flavored seasoning on the Doug Williams-penned “Born Again,” making the choir tune just right for down-home Sunday morning church.  She then reminds us that she not only can take us to church, but can also lead us into worship with the self-penned “For Who You Are”–easily the centerpiece of this project.

Another standout is “Everything Will Be Alright” (written by Shawn McLemore), the James Brown-esque groove with sassy, brassy horns for which Crawford and her friend and industry contemporary Shirley Murdock team up. As expected, the two make a great tag team, taking turns with the soaring lead vocals.  (You’ll likely be hearing them again on Murdock’s upcoming live CD/DVD.  See GMF’s related post here.)  “Serve You Well” is the beautiful ballad that follows.  Then Crawford is joined by her youngest daughter, Latrina Crawford, on “Radical Praise.”  It’s “I Need A Word” however, where Latrina’s vocality as a soloist shines.

Rounding out the project is “Marvelous,” written by Myron Butler and Ted Winn.  Crawford brings Murdock back in the reprise to riff over the climactic vamp, and the two have us headed straight into another frenzy.

With Michael Bereal and Professor James Roberson handling the production of this project, Live in Los Angeles – Vol. 2 encompasses all that we’ve come to enjoy about Beverly Crawford’s ministry through the years and affirms why she remains a force to be reckoned with among today’s female traditional gospel artists.

Favorites
“Born Again” – “For Who You Are” – “Everything Will Be Alright” – “Marvelous”

Fever Meter
SMOKIN’ (4 of 5 Stars)

Sizzlin’ This Week (5/2/11) – “Brand Nu Lyfe”

“Brand Nu Lyfe”
C. Lewis ft. E-quipped
Available free via email: cdotlewis79@gmail.com

If you’re old enough to remember 1980’s TV, then “Brand Nu Lyfe” will definitely sound familiar.  One reason (the obvious one) is because the hip-hop track opens with a sample of the theme song from popular sitcom Who’s the Boss?  The other reason is because C. Lewis is both creative and intentional enough to merge the familiar and the foreign, thereby creating a really relatable song with a broad appeal.

In “Brand Nu Lyfe,” which incorporates rap combined with melodic singing on the hooks, Lewis and Greensboro, NC based gospel artist E-quipped (who are also the track’s producers), rap about life’s ups and downs and the hope for better days ahead.  Lewis says that amid a backslidden state, he remained connected to music, but struggled with the right concept for the theme song idea.  Once he returned to Christ, however, he experienced a renewal that caused everything to come together.

“Sometime last winter I was making beats at home, and I came across that theme song again,” he says.  “It just came to me as clear as day in the last sentence: nights are long but you might awaken to a brand new life around the bend.  With all I was and am currently going through, it serves as a very fitting reminder that in Christ, there’s always hope for a new start.”

In addition to reconnecting with Christ, Lewis also hooked up again with his friend of 10 years, Emil Goergen III, better known as E-quipped.  The two were once part of a group called Remnant Flame.  Now they’re back together, ministering through their music and giving others hope for a “Brand Nu Lyfe.”

Sizzlin’ This Week is the GMF editor’s gospel music pick of the week from her personal playlist.  Every style. Every era.

“Be Still” – Yolanda Adams

“Be Still” 
Yolanda Adams
From the CD, Becoming (Available May 3, 2011)
After almost four years, Yolanda Adams is blessing us again with new music like only she can deliver. Adams’ eleventh studio album, Becoming, is scheduled to drop May 3rd (exclusively at Walmart), and her single, “Be Still,” is already growing on old and new fans alike.
 
Perhaps it seems paradoxical that Adams’ current single is “Be Still.”  With a rigorous performance schedule, a highly successful morning show, and the release of her first book, Points of Power, the multi award-winning songstress appears to have been everything but still during her recording hiatus. 
The lyrics, however, don’t refer to life’s business as much as life’s busyness.  Expressed in tandem with Adams’ characteristically flawless vocals is the loving appeal from Father to child to “sit in silence and to find out I’ve always been right here, waiting on you to come near me….Be still and know, just be still and know I will never leave your side.”
 
“Be Still” is available at www.yolandaadamslive.com.