Mary Mary and Fred Hammond have been named among a who’s-who list of artists slated to perform in the 2012 Essence Music Festival.

The annual music festival takes place each Summer in New Orleans. Other artists announced to perform include Aretha Franklin, Fantasia, Ledisi and Mary J Blige.

This year’s festival runs from July 6-8, 2012 in New Orleans, LA. For more info, and for tickets, visit www.essencemusicfestival.com.

Associate Editor Troy Lilly recaps the latest episode of Sunday Best…

It’s only been three weeks, but season 4 of Sunday Best is flying by. Blink and you might miss it! This past Sunday, the second half of the Top 20 performed, and we got a good glimpse at who’ll make the Top 10 after the judges revealed their cuts in the first round of eliminations.

But notice I said “glimpse of the Top 10.” There still a bit of shaking up before it’s finalized. More on that later, though.

This week’s episode was themed “The New Standard,” and appropriately, pastor and singer Smokie Norful opened the show with his recently medley of congregational favorites, “In The Army of the Lord,” and “God is a Good God,” among others. There’s not a whole bunch you can do with that song, but Smokie’s trademark is blending the contemporary and traditional, and that’s what he did.

Then it was on to the singing. After several underwhelming performances last week, I was hoping this episode would hit me with at least a few surprises. I got a couple – as in two.

Here’s how it played out:

Isaiah Freeman IV – “My Life is in Your Hands”
Isaiah is a crooner and not a growler. He’s more Marvin Gaye than James Brown, if I can make that analogy. And while his rendition of this Kirk Franklin song wasn’t perfect, he demonstrated that he could command the stage and remain composed even after hitting a rough spot or two in his performance. Out of all the new arrangements of old songs I’ve heard on the show so far, this is probably the first I wished would have gone on longer. Glad to have a guy like this the competition. Apparently, the judges agree; they said he reminded them of Fred Hammond.

Annalisha Robbins – “The Battle”
Annalisha sang before Mary Mary at a concert date when she 11 years old. Ironically, her voice as an adult still sounds a bit immature. She began the song almost in a whisper, but even when she opened up in the middle, her voice still lacked depth. At the very end, she finally delivered a balanced sound, but only after a series of uneven runs. Sometimes timid body language can undermine a good voice. Annalisha certainly can sing, but she barely opened her eyes. She seemed terrified. The judges noticed.

Roosevelt Griffin – “Total Praise”
A good singer is more than a good voice; they know when to do what. Roosevelt started the song at awkward place in the bridge, with an even more awkward high note. Ok, that note was just bad. Then he decided to redeem himself by showing off his incredible range, except he didn’t redeem so much as he crucified himself. There were more shaky notes and pitch problems. While far from boring, Roosevelt just seemed a bit jarred – and jarring. After three auditions in three cities, I can’t blame him for coming out with a bang.

Sue Roseberry – “The Lord Will Make a Way Somehow”
Mama Sue, as she was christened after her performance, has none of the issues other singers have struggled with this season. She’s got perfect pitch, tone, dynamics, a beautiful lower register AND the oil – also known as the anointing. And even after 15 grandchildren, Mama Sue still knows how to rock with the groove on stage. She’s aware of her gift, she mastered it, and she conveys it. I don’t what more I could ask for. What’s notable after mentioning all of that, however, is that she still seems humble. She was my first surprise of the evening, and a pleasant one at that.

Eric Drew – “The Presence of the Lord is Here”
Eric performed midway through the show, and that’s pretty much where his overall delivery fell: in the middle. His voice wasn’t shaky or signature, his energy wasn’t lacking or commanding. He moved around the stage some, made eye contact, and the audience seemed to be with him. But for some reason it just felt a bit safe for this kind of competition. Usually a singer channels what they feel to an audience; Eric conveyed composure, but he was singing about the presence of God, so more excitement would have been appropriate. He’s still a good singer, though, which is what the judges remarked. And there were far worse performances.

Felicia Russell – “Encourage Yourself”
This was my second big surprise of the night. Felicia absolutely killed in her audition. Her pitch-perfect voice was laced with a fiery, soulful tone akin to Aretha Franklin. I expected her to show more of what landed her in the competition. But when Felicia emerged on stage, I thought I was watching a different singer. Her first note was almost inaudible, and what I could hear didn’t sound good. She then moved through the song mimicking the flourishes that Sheri Moffett-Jones added in the original version. This made Felicia’s version completely unoriginal. Fortunately, she still has a passable voice, so the performance wasn’t a total train wreck. I was, however, highly disappointed. So were the judges.

Quinten Bethea – “Blessed Assurance”
I must admit I liked the very beginning of Quinten’s performance. He smiled and sounded good. But here’s another case of the remix gone awry. When the music and tempo changed in this contemporary arrangement, Quinten at first flowed with it, but it was long before he tiptoed off pitch, and later even off key. At one point, as judge Erica Campbell mentioned, Quinten was a full step below the key of the music. Sad thing is he never realized it. In the arena of professional singers, pitch and key are, well, key. While I didn’t a big problem with his presentation, Donnie McClurkin said Quinten never blended the spirit with his talent.

Timesha Sampson – “There is No Way”
Of all the contestants on the show this season, Timesha probably has the greatest potential for growth. Her stage presence is spot-on, and she’s visually convincing. Her voice – in its rawest form – is beautiful and captivating. What she lacks, very noticeably, is control of her instrument. And singers without control tend not only to sound bad, but also to abuse their voice. Timesha worked herself into a frenzy skating across a scale of notes, but she didn’t execute them as strongly as she felt them. In my opinion, she may need more growth than she can afford in this competition.

Brian Ezra Bates – “When We All Get to Heaven”
Honestly, I would have preferred to hear Brian sing something else. I imagine he felt his song was likely to be underwhelming, so he added an extra jolt of liveliness to his performance. Instead of injecting life into his voice, though, Brian translated the energy in his face and in his body. He sang in an extremely hurried manner, often moving through the lyrics without finishing his notes. The factor behind his excitable disposition was almost certainly his nerves. But, in the scheme of the competition, that’s the only thing that made him memorable.

Monica Smith – “Silver and Gold”
As the last performer of the night, Monica didn’t have much standing in her way. Almost everyone before her had managed to be forgettable. From the moment she opened her mouth to sing it was clear she wouldn’t have that problem. Monica’s throaty, Southern-churned voice is one of the most recognizable this season. At times she certainly sounded hoarse, and I was worried when Kirk asked her to reprise the song that her voice is suffering from abnormal wear. But as long as her chops are strong enough to endure the weight of her singing style, I’d be very excited to see her progress.

***

Outside of the individual singers on this week’s show, another thing that caught my attention was the exceptionally poor sound quality. At first, I thought it was just my ears, but watching with a few friends, we kept adjusting the volume on the television up and down, and so forth between performances. And after playing video back numerous times, I noticed a difference in the mixing of Kirk’s voice and several singers. The sound at times seemed to come directly from in-studio monitors. Whatever the case, bad sound on a singing competition is like cake without icing; it’s just not good.

Maybe if the singing were up to par it would be less of an issue, but at this point it’s working against the overall experience.

But most of you probably aren’t bothered much by that. There were also (supposed to be) ten eliminations on Sunday, sort of. Nine of the 20 singers moved on to the Top 10, but three singers have to compete for the tenth and final spot. Yeah, I know. This just makes it more interesting.

Your Top 9 consists of the following:
Amber Bullock
Michael Washington
Andrea Harris
Isaiah Freeman IV
Sue Roseberry
Monica Smith
Michael Pugh
Felicia Russell
Carlington Roberts

The following three will compete for the 10th spot:
Latrice Smith
Shanandolan Reynolds
Timesha Sampson

Needless to say, what did you think of the show AND the sound? Let me hear it!

Not too much has changed on Billboard’s Gospel Albums chart this– Kirk Franklin remains at #1 with Hello Fear, while Mary Mary’s Something Big rests at #2.

Lecrae Rehab has made a jump from #11 to #7, as has his Rehab: The Overdose, from #14 to #9.

The full top 10…

1 | Kirk Franklin – Hello Fear
2 | Mary Mary – Something Big
3 | WOW Gospel 2011
4 | Deitrick Haddon – Church On The Moon
5 | VaShawn Mitchell – Triumphant
6 | Marvin Sapp – Playlist: The Very Best of Marvin Sapp
7 | Lecrae – Rehab
8 | William McDowell – As We Worship: Live
9 | Lecrae – Rehab: The Overdose
10 | Aretha Franklin – More Gospel Hits

Excited to see how the new releases from Ricky Dillard and Martha Munizzi land next week!

Yolanda Adams will be among a group of singers who will perform in tribute to Aretha Franklin this Sunday at the 53rd Annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, CA.

Joining her will be Jennifer Hudson, Christina Aguilera, Martina McBride and Florence Welch.  They will be singing some of Aretha’s classic tunes.  It is unclear whether the 18-time Grammy winner & Queen of Soul will be in attendance.

The show takes place this Sunday, February 13th, at the Staples Center, and will be broadcast live on CBS from 8-11:30pm ET/PT.

Several years back, I watched VH1 Divas Live as Bishop Paul Morton joined Aretha Franklin on stage to kill “Precious Memories” before the masses.

I love this performance today as much as I did back then.  Check it out–

What’dya think???

Troy: How are you?

Y’Anna: I’m good. How are you?

Troy: Great! It’s really good to talk to you, and not just because we’re both from the DMV [DC, Maryland, Virginia], but you are DC’s rising star.

Y’Anna: Oh, yeah?

Troy: It’s kind of like first we had Wale and now… we have Y’Anna.

Y’Anna: Wow, that’s big!

Troy: So, it’s been a little while since you won season two of BET’s Sunday Best, which kind of introduced you to the nation. How has life been since you won the title?

Y’Anna: Everything is just so awesome. I’m still pinching myself – literally! It’s humbling, it’s exciting… just everything that I ever thought it would be. God showed me a long time ago that I would touch many hearts with my voice. And now it’s like, “Wow, God…” Everything that you told me and showed me is right here.

Troy: And now, the release of your debut album, which we’ve been waiting for eagerly. How exciting or terrifying is that?

Y’Anna: It’s really exciting. Just to have my own… like finally it’s my turn. I’ve been singing professionally since I was twelve, backing up people like Chrisette Michele, Raheem DeVaughn – even Aretha Franklin and Natalie Cole throughout high school – and just being in the background for so long, and now I’m in the forefront. I’m so blessed and it’s a wonderful feeling

Troy: The Promise is the title of your debut album.  What does that mean to you and what’s the message you’re trying to convey with your first project?

Y’Anna: The message I’m really trying to convey is that no matter how many times you get knocked down, if you have a passion for something God has given you and it doesn’t seem like it’s going to happen, remember to stand on His word. Remember to stand on God’s promises always, because He’ll never give it to you if He’s not going to make it come to fruition. God is a man of his word. He really is.

Troy: The first single from the album was “Grandma’s Hands,” which became a fan favorite from your Sunday Best performances. The current single is the title track, “The Promise,” so tell me, how is it different lyrically and stylistically from what we’re used to hearing you sing?

Y’Anna: Like you said “Grandma’s Hands” was kind of a fan favorite and, since it was so popular on the show, they decided to make that the first single. It’s more southern and soulful, but the lyrics of “The Promise” are more uplifting, telling you to persevere and hold on to God’s promises.

Musically, “The Promise” is a crossover, more pop and mainstream than southern soul. And it’s just so befitting, with my life story and everything I’ve gone through. It’s just perfect.

Troy: So “The Promise” has a pop or crossover appeal to it. But you’ve got a very dynamic voice – sometimes sounds like Aretha Franklin and other greats. What other styles did you experiment with on the album?

Y’Anna: I’m trying to give everybody a variety. I got a little hip hop on there, if you like Mary J. – well Mary J. Blige is hip hop I guess, huh?

Troy: Right!

Y’Anna: But I got a little dance tune on there.

Troy: Wow.

Y’Anna: Because there’s so many variations to my voice, I’m just trying to give everybody something so they can say “ok, she’s not just a down home church singer, like she can do everything.” And that’s really what I was trying to capture.

Troy: Did you try anything jazzy or bluesy?

Y’Anna: Well, I did! Actually I did “Sweet Love” over, but it didn’t make the album. But it’s cool ‘cause I’m gonna leak it out some type of way!

Troy: Please, please do! And you can forward me a copy as soon as you do because my parents tell me that I was conceived to Anita Baker!

Y’Anna: Uh oh! My mother played it every day, all day, so Anita Baker is one of my favorite artists.

Troy: Wow, yeah… she’s definitely on my top list as well.

Y’Anna: Yeah.

Troy: There’s one particular song on the album I want to ask you about called “Stronger.” On that song you talk about becoming pregnant at 17 and being an unwed mother. How was it to address such a personal and pivotal moment in your life?

Y’Anna: All songs are birthed out of experience, birthed out of pain, birthed out of joy, or whatever the songwriter has gone through. We were sitting down listening to the track, me and Buster Brown, and I wanted to talk about my life, how I became pregnant and thought the man was going to be husband, but I didn’t get the ring nor the man.

I still had to push through, and everything that happened at that moment made me sad, but now it has made me stronger.

Troy: Yes.

Y’Anna: So we just put all of that into a song. And I believe that’s going to be one of the songs that’s going to really cross over. I’m trying to get Drake to be on it… come on somebody, give me a remix!

Troy: Oh really?

Y’Anna: I believe it. Like really, get me a conscious rapper on the beginning because so many people can relate to it.

Troy: Ok!

Y’Anna: It may not be the same situation, but maybe somebody went through an abusive relationship or an abusive home situation. Whatever you go through only makes you stronger, so you can look back at it and say, “God, I got through that!”

Troy: The concept of “the promise” is not only the theme of your music, but it also expands to your other endeavors, particularly in the lives of young women. Tell me more about that.

Y’Anna: Yes. My [The] Promise Foundation is something that’s very dear to my heart. It’s a safe haven for women to come and talk, and discuss things. We’re going to uplift them and teach them ethics – like beauty ethics – teach them how to look good and dress so they won’t go on thinking that wearing less gets you more attention.

And we’re also going to do scholarships, especially for the young ones that have kids, so they can go back to school if they want to. I was once there so I just want to give back in all of the areas of my life that I grew.

Troy: Wow. That’s great.

Y’Anna: Yes, yes.

Troy: You also have two sons and you’re trying to help young men as well with Mama’s Boys.

Y’Anna: Well, I have my two sons and I’m a single mom. Their dads are in their lives, but I’m not married to them so they don’t see them every day, and it can be hard for a woman to raise boys into men. But there’s nothing like a man being in a young boy’s life.

So I want to bring in some mentors to kind of guide them, have candid talks with them, field trips. And we also want to provide some sort of scholarship for them as well, and I know that if God sees that I’m trying to give back, He’ll provide.

Troy: I’m sure He will as well, and I’m really excited about everything that you’re doing.

Y’Anna: Thank you!

Troy: I wish you the best. And you take care!

Y’Anna: You too!

*     *     *

What do you think, folks?  Did you guys grab Y’Anna’s new project, The Promise, this week?  What do you think of it?

Let us know!

Just one of those cool TV tributes– this one’s to Aretha Franklin a few years back. It features BeBe Winans, Karen Clark Sheard, Kierra Sheard, Micah Stampley, Twinkie Clark on one organ, Warryn Campbell on another, capped off by Mary Mary.

EVERY ONE OF ‘EM delivered great vocal performances. And all the while, the Queen of Soul bopped her head in approval.

Peep the video here–

Dope, right?!

[EDITOR'S NOTE: As of Thursday, April 8th, Jawn Murray reports that Aretha Franklin has clarified-- Karen Clark Sheard is not slated to star as Aretha; she will have another role].

According to a recent post by Jawn Murray at AOL BV Buzz, gospel legend Karen Clark Sheard may be steps away from solidifying her deal to star as her Aretha Franklin in the film, Aretha: From These Roots.

If selected, it will mean that Karen Clark Sheard was selected by the Queen Of Soul over other actresses rumored to be considered for the role, including Jennifer Hudson and Halle Berry.

As many know, Aretha Franklin is Karen Clark Sheard’s favorite vocalist… EVER.  This should be interesting… and the soundtrack??? A must-have.

Click here to read Jawn Murray’s full article.

Thoughts???

I interviewed Karen Clark-Sheard on Friday.  I’m telling you guys, but I’m partly reminding myself, because it was just a little incredible.

She had just shared advance music from her upcoming album (click here for that recap), so life was already feeling a little surreal.  But to realize that we now sat across from each other in a conference room, me with a BUNCH of questions and her with a willing heart to answer ‘em… FOR REAL?

I’ll admit that I kinda broke protocol and became the UBER-FAN for a minute before launching into the interview, telling her how I used to watch her when I was a kid and blah blah blah… whatever!  I have no regrets EXCEPT for the fact that I totally forgot to grab a photo with her.

So, what did we chat about?  LOTS.

The Clark Sisters were in Nashville on Thursday night for the taping of a TBN Christmas special.  It was actually historic for them because it was the first time that The Clark Sisters have ever had their own TBN program (she shared that they’ve always been invited by other hosts, but never had their own special).  The 30-minute musical program will PROBABLY air sometime next week– I’ll let you know details when I get ‘em.

We chatted briefly about her new album and its direction.  Karen went the studio route for her upcoming album, All In One, instead of doing a live album because, as she explained, “it was just time” to do it this way.  She’s been writing more and the studio afforded her the opportunity to really take her time and put her heart into her writing, a gift that she’s not always felt comfortable with.

Compared to Twinkie Clark, and more recently to Dorinda Clark-Cole, Karen shared that she often ”felt inadequate” as a songwriter.  She was encouraged, though, when God allowed her to win a GRAMMY for Gospel Song Of The Year in 2008 for her hit “Blessed And Highly Favored.”  “It was God’s way of saying ‘don’t question the gift’ that was placed inside of me,” she recounted.

In addition to her GRAMMY win, Karen has recently started her own label, Karew Records.  She’s incredibly proud of it because it’s truly a family affair– even her kids, J Drew II and Kierra, have positions in the company.  The first project on the label was the Clark Family Christmas album, which will be followed by her own project.  After that?  Expect to see a new album from The Clark Sisters.

Take note– despite all of the hard work and success, Karen really doesn’t see herself as a celebrity.  As hard as I tried to explain that she’s considered one of the greatest female vocalists alive, she kinda doesn’t get it.  LOL

Instead, she tries to remain as accessible as possible, especially because of her role as a pastor’s wife.  “The people of our church need to be able to reach me and have access to me,” she shares.  That attitude hasn’t been without its problems, though, as she has also had to change her mobile number in the past.  “People would call and just be breathing on the other end, or they’d call and play one of my songs and hang up,” she shared.

I asked Karen why she doesn’t have a Twitter account yet and she said she wasn’t sure about using technology much because she’s seen how negative it can be.  “I saw how some people had hurtful things to say about Kierra for doing the track ["God In Me"] with Mary Mary.”  Apparently, Karen even reached out to encourage Mary Mary after fans came down on them for not featuring Kierra on the BET Awards.  “We weren’t even thinking about that stuff.  Kierra was just so happy to have been included in the song, she didn’t care about all of that.  She’s just happy for them.”  Karen shared that it’s sad to see how nasty things can get on the internet.

Still, I tried to convince her that the web has some merits and, no promises, but we may see a Karen Clark-Sheard Twitter account soon… y’all can thank me later.

Before we wrapped up her chat, we talked a bit about the new track that she recorded with Aretha Franklin.  It was actually completed a while ago, but the opportunity was unreal to Karen because Aretha is her favorite singer.  I got the impression that the song, which will be on Aretha’s upcoming project, turned out very well.

Aaaaand that’s about it.  To say that I enjoyed interviewing Karen Clark-Sheard would be an understatement.  At its core, though, it was just a really great conversation.

Hopefully, you guys got some cool info out of it, too.  Whatd’ya think?

Word has it that a duet to rival ALL duets is in the making– it’s Karen Clark-Sheard and “the Queen of Soul,” Aretha Franklin.

In January 2010, Aretha Franklin will release her newest album, Aretha, A Woman Falling Out Of Love, produced by Aretha Franklin, BeBe Winans and Gordon Chambers.  One of the album’s 11 tracks will feature the duet with KCS.

The project will be available exclusively on the QVC network first, then released nationwide, exclusively at Wal-Mart.

Dunno the title of the duet yet, but it’s gonna HAVE to be quite the performance!