Earnest Pugh delivers an impassioned message of strength and faith in the face of adversity on his new single, ‘Don’t Give Up,’ featured on the soundtrack of Love Mountain
Reviews by Bob Maravich
‘…akin to sacred skiffle…’
SOME GLAD MORNING
The Jake Leg Jug Band
Green Bullet Records
To categorize the Jake Leg Jug Band as simply a jug band leaves out the group’s traditional jazz, country, and bluegrass influences. All of these styles are on display on Some Glad Morning, a twelve-song collection of classic hymns, spirituals, and gospels.
Joining the U.K.-based American roots music trio of Duncan Wilcox, Liam Ward, and Warren James are a team of talented supporting musicians and singers. The vocalists sing with gut-busting gusto on selections such as “Just Got Over at Last” and “Meeting at the Building.” They are supported by a mélange of instruments that include jaw harp, washboard, banjo, musical saw, comb and paper and, of course, jug. In other words, something akin to sacred skiffle.
‘Just a Closer Walk With Thee,’ The Jake Leg Jug Band, from Some Glad Morning
‘Ezekiel Saw the Wheel,’ The Jake Leg Jug Band, from Some Glad Morning
‘My Life Will Be Sweeter Some Day,’ The Jake Leg Jug Band, from Some Glad Morning
The band’s chugging rhythm in that distinctively propulsive jug band rhythm as displayed on “Ezekiel Saw the Wheel” and “They Hung Him on the Cross” (aka “I Know It Was the Blood”) is what makes these two selections the album’s finest moments. On the other hand, “Just a Closer Walk with Thee” is rendered in old-time country style, with mournful dobro and fiddle juxtaposed against a jazzy clarinet to suggest the bittersweet reality of dying as the passage to glory. The group gives a similarly somber treatment to “I Want Jesus to Walk With Me.” “Light from the Lighthouse” (aka “Shine On Me”) demonstrates the group’s traditional jazz chops, which are substantial. In fact, the arrangement for “My Life Will Be Sweeter Someday” sounds plucked from the Yerba Buena Jazz Band songbook.
Some Glad Morning is joyous music performed with joyous abandon, a tent revival where jazz and country musicians lead the singing.
Picks: “Ezekiel Saw the Wheel,” “They Hung Him on the Cross”
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‘…a collective accomplishment…’
RESOUNDING PRAISE
Marcus Mason
Independent
Although technically Resounding Praise is Marcus Mason’s solo album, it’s a collective accomplishment. Mason surrounds himself with a passel of capable vocalists, musicians, and producers who contribute their respective talents to this skillfully crafted and thoroughly-enjoyable release. Mason, a descendant of Church of God in Christ founder Bishop C. H. Mason, shows himself to be a fine songwriter. He either wrote or co-wrote the songs with the album’s co-producer and Jennifer Hudson MD David Jackson, with additional assistance from others on a couple of tracks. A fondness for hymnody shines through a seamless interpolation of Fanny Crosby’s “Draw Me Nearer” on “Presence of Your Throne,” and a love of spirituals results in a snippet of “Standing in the Need of Prayer” embedded in the intimate “Heaven Hear Me Calling.”
‘Sweet Spirit,’ Marcus Mason, with Patricia Jackson, from Resounding Praise
‘Answer My Prayer,’ Marcus Mason, with Markita Knight, from Resounding Praise
“My Testimony,” featuring a vibrant Nikki Potts rousing the saints, is one of the album’s two traditional selections. The other, “Answer My Prayer,” moves to a relaxed rocking chair beat. Duetting with Yvette McClendon, Mason injects the Brooklyn bounce into his latest single, “Supernatural Season,” an ode of gratitude to God and to Pastor John P. Kee.
‘I Remember,’ Marcus Mason, with Chris Leonard, from Resounding Praise
‘My Testimony,’ Marcus Mason, with Nikki Potts, from Resounding Praise
Patricia Jackson is the brightest star in the album’s galaxy of accomplished vocalists. Her lovely, elastic, and church-honed soprano leads the title track as well as “Sweet Spirit,” one of the album’s most tenderhearted selections. Jackson and Bishop Norman Hutchins’ vocal director Tony Jones co-produce, and guitar hero Jonathan DuBose contributes his trademark licks. While none of the songs are necessarily service-stoppers, they are nevertheless quality compositions. Resounding Praise shows that excellent projects don’t only come from major record labels.
Picks: “Sweet Spirit,” “My Testimony”
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‘…spirituality bathed in sweet soul…’
FAITHFUL JOURNEY: LET IT BE SO
Mighty Men of Faith
Independent
For those who like sweet singing gospel quartets who minister in a Whispers/Spinners/Dramatics style, the Mighty Men of Faith deliver. Their new album, the eleven-track Faithful Journey: Let It Be So, is no different. It’s steeped in smooth and soulful harmonies, sweet falsetto lead singing, and electronic beats.
Not to be confused with the Mighty Power of Faith, a hard-singing (and long-gone) Chicago-based quartet, the Mighty Men of Faith has for years worked in a ‘70s/’80s soul vibe. Its members include Wendell Basey, Rev. Richard Hayes, Charles Johnson, and Rev. Ed Prothro-Harris. If other quartets run the aisles, Mighty Men of Faith slow swagger down them.
‘Celebrate,’ Mighty Men of Faith, from Faithful Journey: Let It Be So
‘Don’t Worry,’ Might Men of Faith, from Faithful Journey: Let It Be So
For example, the album’s opener “Celebrate” rejoices about the goodness of God within a funk-synth arrangement. The soothing “Don’t Worry” and equally reassuring “Taste and See” are cut straight from Spinners cloth, while “Let It Be So,” another testament of reassurance during life’s challenges, is disco-style gospel, complete with synthesized TSOP strings. On the other hand, the arrangement for “Thru the Fire” evokes Earth, Wind & Fire as the group sings that their personal testimonies are proof to others that they, too, can overcome what ails them.
“Don’t Worry,” “Taste and See,” “Let It Be So,” and “Thru the Fire” illustrate the album’s overarching theme of reliance on God to deal with life’s travails. As if to summarize, “Walk With the Lord” reiterates how belief in Christ is key to overcoming life’s dangers. While not all the songs pierce the heart with the same satisfying arrow as “Don’t Worry,” listeners who long for the days of spirituality bathed in sweet soul will find it with Mighty Men of Faith.
Pick: “Don’t Worry”
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‘…a litany of spiritual emotion channeled through a moody atmosphere…’
SEE ME THROUGH
Lawrence Hancock
Independent
Christian hip hop artist Bishop Lawrence Hancock’s tenth studio album, See Me Through, is a litany of spiritual emotion channeled through a moody atmosphere reminiscent of Phil Collins’s debut solo hit “In the Air Tonight.” Even Hancock’s spontaneous pleading evoke Collins’s own on the iconic song.
Consistent with his prior albums, Hancock’s musical ethos is stream-of-consciousness prayer closet lyricism set to repetitive and hypnotic but subdued electronica, the totality of which borders on performance art. Melodic similarities between the songs make the album feel like one continuous psychedelic spiritual composition rather than a series of distinct musical motives.
Most of the songs are so profoundly personal that it is as if Hancock doesn’t even acknowledge that listeners are sharing the sonic atmosphere with him. Hancock’s agonizing singing on such cuts on the title track, “Mercy Fall,” and “Take My Hand” (not Dorsey’s song) can’t help but soften the Lord’s heart. A second voice, Hancock’s own, lurks in the background on many tracks. It answers the calls of Hancock-as-lead with an incessantness that sounds like a personification of his conscience.
Exceptions to the overall vibe are the acoustically vigorous and polyrhythmic “You Commanded Yourself,” an expression of gratitude from Hancock to the Lord for loving him. “King Triumphant” is a rapped sermonette about preparing for the second coming. Compelling rhyming makes the worship piece “Let Me Put My Hand on It” the album’s best genuine Christian hip hop selection. Whines of steel guitar and banjo rolls peek out of “That’s My Desire,” a declaration of discipleship. “And Did (God Did)” does something similar but with Latin-flavored piano riffs and percussion.
The baker’s dozen of selections on See Me Through are radio-sized, with not one reaching the four-minute mark, though again, the album, like Hancock’s others, is best listened to—perhaps even designed to be listened to—in its entirety.
Pick: “I Appreciate the Love”
SINGLES PICKS
‘Don’t Give Up’
Earnest Pugh
Blacksmoke Worldwide Music
Earnest Pugh’s new single “Don’t Give Up” is a passionately sung and frenetically arranged but lyrically and melodically conventional canticle about strength and faith in the face of adversity. It will hit its mark among Pugh’s fan base but could be even more affecting if it was slower and more flexible so Pugh could play with the tempo like a preacher controls the pacing of a sermon, directing the rising and falling of emotion. Written by Pugh and produced by Aaron Carter, “Don’t Give Up” can also be found on the soundtrack of director Lee Shelton’s film Love Mountain.
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‘Agree’
James Johnson Jr.
From the Blacksmoke Music Worldwide EP You Made Me
There’s a lot to like about “Agree,” the new single by James Johnson Jr. First, it’s the singer-songwriter’s crystal-clear and flexible tenor, which injects the right amount of emotion in his prayer for the Lord’s intercession during such a time as this. By the song’s apex, Johnson pleads with an evangelist’s zeal while not overdoing it for the sake of overdoing it. Then there’s the lyric hook, “We agree on a miracle,” which sounds plucked from a sermon or at least is ready-made for a sermon title. Though “Agree” could use just as dramatic an ending as its beginning and middle, there’s no denying its powerful message and melodic beauty. James Johnson Jr. is a Stellar-nominated singer and songwriter and serves as a praise leader in his native Baltimore.
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‘All Is Well”
Troy Sneed feat. Trey Sneed
Emtro Gospel
Similar to Natalie Cole’s “unforgettable” recorded duet with her late father Nat, Trey Sneed collaborates with his late father, gospel artist and record company owner Troy Sneed, on “All Is Well.” This heartwarming remastering and overdubbing of Troy’s 2012 gospel ballad opens with the original verse and chorus: Troy shaking his head over financial problems and disappearing friends. Just as he is ready to throw in the towel, he gives his problems over to Jesus and “all is well.” The second half is given over to Trey’s testimony, which is direr. He shares how he suddenly became “the man of the family at twenty-two” after losing his brother and father (Troy passed away in April 2020 due to complications related to COVID). Like his dad, Trey can only overcome his despair by leaning and depending on Jesus. No longer crying or worried, he knows that things will work out. The song ends on an appropriately peaceful note.
