Gospel News & Notes – May 2013
A star-studded lineup led by SMOKEY NORFUL and VICKIE WINANS heads the 28th Chicago Gospel Music Festival on June 20-23. This year's theme: 'The Year of the Choir.'
David McGee
Troy Sneed Keeps It Simple
Gospel singer, producer, choir leader and executive TROY SNEED may wear many hats in his world, but his watchword, as he explains to BOB MAROVICH, is to 'keep it simple.'
‘Had I Met You’
From her 100 videos in 100 days project, Christine Santelli performs ‘Had I Met You.’ Ms. Santelli’s 2012 album, Dragonfly, was a Deep Roots Album of the Year honoree.
Sun Unleashes Spectacular Solar Eruption
Documenting a spectacular solar eruption and the Hubble Telescope's sighting of the remains of a star gone supernova. There's life out there.
Chopin a National Poet
FRÉDÉRIC CHOPIN a National Poet? FRANZ LISZT thought so, and explained why in an 1852 essay that begat a biography of the great Romantic composer.
Two Worlds Under One Sun
On THE SUN OF BOTH WORLDS: TRADITIONAL TURKISH SUFI MUSIC, Turkey's DÜ-ŞEMS ENSEMBLE demonstrates the musical interaction between its homeland and its neighbors. A review and band profile ensue.
Pushing the Boundaries
South Africa's FRESHLYGROUND enlisted Los Lobos's STEVE BERLIN as its producer and came up with a border crossing Afropop gem in TAKE ME TO THE DANCE
The Romantic
WILLIE NELSON returns at his best on LET'S FACE THE MUSIC AND DANCE, a torch album chronicling a bruised but not broken romantic's tumultuous journey of the heart.
Stone Cold Country
STONE COLD COUNTRY: Remembering the music and the life of GEORGE JONES, 1931-2013
A Final Communiqué, Tough and Tender
The late Cesaria Evora, the 'barefoot diva' who put Cape Verde's morna music on the global map, is fully present on Mãe Carinhosa, a newly released collection of her final recordings.