Deitrick Haddon, from his powerful message song, ‘One Day’
All reviews by Robert M. Maravich
“That’s My King”
CeCe Winans
Stream or download the song here: https://CeCe.lnk.to/TMK
From the forthcoming PureSprings Gospel/FairTrade Services CD, More Than This
Veteran singer CeCe Winans has the training, the talent, the experience, and the chops to put any song over. Her new single, “That’s My King,” is no exception. Her celebration of the King of Kings overflows with energy. It’s buoyed by a thumping rhythm section and rapid-fire lyric reading. Like other CeCe singles, “That’s My King” deftly straddles the CCM and gospel lanes. Kyle Lee produced this fresh and vibrant single.
CeCe Winans is gearing up to begin The Goodness Tour in Shreveport, Louisiana, this month.
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‘One Day’
Deitrick Haddon
Independent (released December 2023)
The song is available now on all platforms here: https://onerpm.link/oneday
Someone can correct me if I’m mistaken, but Deitrick Haddon’s “One Day” may well be the first appearance of the highland pipes in an African American gospel song. The pipes, and the perky Celtic rhythm to which it contributes, give Haddon’s single a military thrum. Haddon is an unpredictable artist, and he proves it by setting lyrics about the end of days to the sound of pipes and a megachurch-sized arrangement. On that day, war, hunger, homelessness, and children dying will be over. It’s the message of “Move on up a Little Higher” for the 21st century worshipper.
Haddon and his wife Dominique are the founders and senior pastors of Hill City Church in Los Angeles, where Haddon is founder/senior pastor and Dominique is executive pastor.
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“We Lift You Up”
EJ
Independent
Opening with an audio montage of news clips about gun violence, homelessness, substance abuse and other social evils, EJ’s “We Lift You Up” is a prayer for God to give us the strength to fight for justice. The song uses propulsive rhythms and a dynamic vocal interplay between the lead and background singers to make its case. Like a Kirk Franklin arrangement, “We Lift You Up” has the easy swagger that facilitates the call to join the movement.
EJ (Ed Jones) currently resides in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. In addition to performing his own music, he records demos for songwriters.
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‘At the Center of Grace’
Lillian Lilly
Xpress Music Group, Inc.
What’s particularly gratifying about Lillian Lilly’s new single “At the Center of Grace” is that it evokes in lyric and arrangement an older gospel music tradition while planting itself firmly in a contemporary style. A veteran vocalist with the Mississippi Mass Choir and an award-winning solo singer in her own right, Lilly expresses her gratitude for God’s salvation with a pocketful of blues notes and subtle church coloration that will resonate with saints young and old. She does not need, nor does she use, any hyperbolic special effects to inject this song, written by James C. Birdsong, Jr., and Shonda English, with an unmistakable faith born of wisdom and experience. It’s restful but righteous.
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‘Have Mercy O Grace’
Armstead Ford ft. God’s Harvesters
Independent (released October 2023)
Although “Have Mercy O Grace” is a newly written gospel song, it’s sung in the traditional quartet style by Belleville, Illinois’ Armstead Ford, featuring God’s Harvesters. God’s Harvesters, a gospel quartet with a bass singer (a rarity nowadays), delivers this song about deliverance in smooth and resonant harmonies reminiscent of the Blind Boys of Alabama. Indeed, among Ford’s inspirations are other classic quartets like the Five Blind Boys of Mississippi, the Dixie Hummingbirds, and the Soul Stirrers. The antiphonal work between lead and group is probably even more compelling live.
Born and raised in St. Louis, Armstead Ford moved a little east to Belleville, where in addition to writing songs like “Have Mercy O Grace,” that come to him in dreams, he enjoys working on his farm with his wife and two sons.
