Tag: Motown

“Rejoicing in Heaven” – Operation Faith feat. Rev. Harold Johnson

“Rejoicing in Heaven”
Operation Faith featuring Rev. Harold Johnson (2011)
Available on CD Baby

Scripture (Luke 15:10 KJV) says, “Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.”

Rev. Harold Johnson makes vivid the emotion of this passage in his uptempo single, “Rejoicing in Heaven.”  He is featured with Operation Faith, described as a “Christian/Gospel Music Experience that features various vocal artists, composed, produced and arranged by David Crawford.”

Johnson, a former member of the Motown group Devastating Affair, recreates the 1970’s Memphis soul sound, combining what some would call a couple of essential elements: an Al Green-esque vocal and spicy organ riffs.  His testimony is,  “Jesus claimed the deed to my life and laid His spirit on me,” which is definitely a cause for rejoicing in Heaven as well as on earth!

"Put It On the Altar" – Jessica Reedy

“Put It On the Altar”
Jessica Reedy
From the upcoming CD, From the Heart (Available Sept. 27, 2011)
http://www.lightrecords.com

I learned two things about Jessica Reedy while watching Sunday Best.  First and foremost, the girl can sing; after all, she snagged the runner-up spot amid hefty competition.  Secondly, the sister can arrange; surely, you remember her version of the Williams Brothers’ “I’m Still Here” and her infusion of neo-soul into both the lead and harmony vocals.

Hark!  Reedy has revealed another fact to her fans: she is a pretty good songwriter.  Along with Tony and Nakeia Homer, Reedy has penned “Put It On the Altar,” the second single from her forthcoming debut project, From the Heart.

“Put It On the Altar” is uplifting with a feel-good vibe that we haven’t heard a lot in Reedy’s musical selections so far. The music itself is both fun and nostalgic; crisp horns, a warm electric guitar, block piano chords, and the 2-5-1 turnaround channel Motown circa 1970.

Reedy’s syncopated delivery and signature low register, which magnetized thousands of Sunday Best viewers in season two, are sure to have “Put It On the Altar” heating up radio throughout the summer.

Sizzlin’ This Week (6/20/11) – “He Did It For Me”

“He Did It For Me”
Castro Coleman and Highly Favored
From the CD, Time Out!!! (2009)
http://catcolenation.com/

Castro Coleman is busy these days.  He and his group, Castro Coleman and Highly Favored, have a packed summer schedule; he is on the road (or more fittingly, in the air) with The Melvin Williams Group as a US music ambassador through The Rhythm Road: American Music Abroad; and the man owns his own label, Baby Boy Records.

He definitely has the means to release his creative energy, and that’s exactly what he’s done with “He Did It For Me” from his Time Out!!! project.

“He Did It For Me,” which he labels “New Motown,” resembles cuts by guy groups from the mid to late 1960’s and is rich with a horn section (sax and trombone) and Funk Brothers-like percussion (triangle, hand claps, and a tight crisp snare–where’s the tambourine?).  More noticeably, “He Did It For Me” is a mid-tempo feel-good ode of gratitude: “I can’t take the credit for what I have/Said my blessings keep coming through/And I realize that everything in my life–oh–is because You did it for me.”