We’re Gonna Make It After All

MARTY BROWN emerges boldly and brilliantly on his first new studio album in 25 years, AMERICAN HIGHWAY, aided and abetted by the sure-handed production and musicality of JON TIVEN
by David McGee
 

 
 

‘A Smoking-Hot Sanctified-Meets-Steel Workout’

According to gospel editor BOB MAROVICH, the LEE BOYS' new album, LIVE ON THE EAST COAST, 'doesn't blur the line between sacred and secular--it erases it altogether.'
by David McGee
 

 

 

The Visible Invisible

Honoring LEONARDO DA VINCI on the 500th anniversary of his death, British music ensemble I FAGLIONI offers an eclectic recital evoking not so much the music of Leonardo's world but the emotional response to his work
by David McGee
 

 
 

On a Higher Plane

With songs by Dylan, Chuck Berry, Arthur Alexander, Goffin-King, Ronnie Self, Allen Toussaint and others, THE DUKE ROBILLARD BAND's EAR WORMS seeks, and attains, transcendence.
by David McGee
 

 

 

A Gift of Transcendence

LOWLAND HUM returns with its fifth album, GLYPHONIC, and our JOSEPH MCSPADDEN finds it to be ;a song cycle that challenges the artist and listener alike to resist the gravitational pull of the material world and to choose to li...
by David McGee
 

 
 

Where Day is A-Breakin’ in The Soul

The ST CHARLES SINGERS' AMERICAN REFLECTIONS imbues the listener with a sense of being on hallowed, holy ground, closer to the essence. Texts by RAINER MARIA RILKE, OCTAVIO PAZ, AARON COPLAND and others.
by David McGee
 

 

 

Leaving the Stillness of Peace in Its Wake

The first essential reissue of 2019, the French import ROBERTA MARTIN SINGERS: 1947-1962 charts the gold standard early years of this most influential African American mixed-voice gospel ensemble.
by David McGee
 

 
 

Being About the Persistence of Love

At long last, 83-year-old MARY LANE asserts herself at the forefront of contemporary blues with TRAVELIN' WOMAN, her record of a lifetime and of hanging in and hanging on to love, body, soul and heart intact.
by David McGee
 

 

 

Chronicling a Spiritual Exodus from Modern-Day Anxieties

One of the first great albums of 2019, GOSHEN, by DONALD LAWRENCE PRESENTS THE TRI-CITY SINGERS, is a concept album ranging from worship songs to topical numbers to rages against the machine--and the power of faith.
by David McGee
 

 
 

Enter, And Feel the Spirit

Soaring emotions and exquisite quartet harmonizing abound on TRAVELIN' SHOES, a foray into southern gospel (with a stop along the way at western gospel!) by the redoubtable MARLEY'S GHOST
by David McGee
 

 

 

‘Voices Raised in Determination and Triumph’

On this, its fifth CD, The Ebony Hillbillies' old-timey sound evokes, on the one hand, bygone eras in the jubilant bones- and fiddle-fired title track and horrific modern-day tragedies rooted in racial animus...
by David McGee
 

 
 

A Paean to Living, Remembering, Carrying On, Moving Forward

The pieces on this expertly produced Open G Records disc ask the listener not only to absorb the complexities of the sonic layers but also to consider their meaning.
by David McGee