Is it just me, or is gospel the only genre that allows (maybe expects, and even demands) artists’ names to follow the format of “So-And-So” & “Such-And-Such”?

Think about it… Jonathan Nelson & Purpose, Myron Butler & Levi, DeWayne Woods & When Singers Meet…

But it didn’t just start happening… there was Israel & New Breed, Kirk Franklin & The Family, Fred Hammond & Radical For Christ…

And before them, Richard Smallwood & Vision, Walter Hawkins & The Hawkins Family, Andraé Crouch & The Disciples…

And let’s not forget the choirs– Hezekiah Walker & LFC, Ricky Dillard & New G, John P Kee & New Life, Milton Brunson & The Tommies, O’landa Draper & The Associates…

Understand this– my absolute ALL-TIME FAVORITE gospel artists are mentioned above, so I’m not mad at their names at all.  Love you guys and you KNOW it!

I definitely think the the name choices make sense– ours is the only genre with the artist format of frontmen backed by an ensemble or a choir.

But I’d be lying if I said it isn’t refreshing when I hear creative names like Mary Mary, Excelsior, 21:03 and Mali Music.

In short, it’s not a good or bad thing, just… a thing.  A gospel thing.

Anyone noticed???

Aside from the actual taping of the Stellar Awards, folks eagerly anticipate the BMI Trailblazers Awards each year.   In fact, people often say that the BMI event features greater and more memorable performances than the Stellar Awards taping, though, this year… that MIGHT not be the case… I’m gonna call it a TIE!

In any case, BMI annually honors folks in gospel who’ve made significant contributions to the genre.  This year, Donnie McClurkin and Andraé Crouch were honored.  The celebration consists of a great lunch and some incredible tribute performances.  It went a lil’ something like this…

Before the honoring went down, Dorinda Clark-Cole came to the stage to perform her hit single “Take It Back,” which received a BMI Song Of The Year award (songwriter, Derrick Starks).  You already know that Dorinda brings it like none other and I was on my feet before I could even finish my salad.

Following that, we got a surprise performance from Jessica Reedy, who sang “God Has Smiled On Me” like a seasoned professional.  She really holds her own in this game and it’s great to see how welcoming the industry is of her.

The vocal production for the afternoon came from the incomparable Donald Lawrence and DeWayne Woods.  In the background– Tobi Darks, Dawn Jordan, San Franklin, Latrice Pace, Blanche McAllister and Anita Wilson.  YES!  The band– Joe Wilson on keys, Stanley Brown on organ, Kevin Stancil on bass, Jonathan DuBose on guitar, Marvin McQuitty on drums and Lloyd Barry on horns.  GOOD LORD!

The formal program began with the tribute performances to Donnie McClurkin, hosted by Byron Cage.  The background vocalists did a snippet of “That’s What I Believe” before Latice Crawford came to deliver her rendition of “I Call You Faithful.”  After that, Micah Stampley sang his heart out on “Speak To My Heart.”  McClurkin’s best friend and pastor, Marvin Winans, set the room ablaze with his performance of “Stand” (for which he also brought up BeBe Winans) before Yolanda Adams came to the stage to perform “We Fall Down.”

The McClurkin tribute performances were great, but I wish they had done some more songs for him– they could’ve dug a little deeper into the New York Restoration Choir days, pulled some more tracks from the Live In London album, or even focused a little more on songs that he’s written for other artists (like, “This Is The Gospel Of Jesus Christ” for Hezekiah Walker or “It Is To You” by Byron Cage).  Still, awesome job and I’m glad he was honored for his great contributions to the game.

After McClurkin accepted his award, it was on to the Andraé Crouch tribute, which was hosted by Yolanda Adams.  First, Donald Lawrence led the singers in a mindblowing medley of classic Crouch tunes including “Right Now” (led by Blanche McAllister), “Quiet Time,” “Soon And Very Soon”… it was just incredible.

Up next was the one and only Táta Vega, a longtime friend of, and singer with, Andraé Crouch.  She did an intro of “Speak Lord,” (which she recorded for The Color Purple decades ago) before transitioning into a soul-stirring performance of “Oh It Is Jesus.”  It was at THAT moment that the atmosphere of the entire room shifted from tribute to worship, and the event wasn’t the same again.

After that, Yolanda Adams couldn’t even regain her composure to introduce the next performance– BeBe & CeCe Winans singing “The Blood Will Never Lose Its Power.”  They just came on stage and took us to new heights, followed by Mary Mary’s staggering performance of “We Are Not Ashamed.”

Finally, Marvin Winans returned to the stage and shared some great stories about how instrumental Crouch was to the career of The Winans, even down to changing their stage name from “The Testimonial Singers” to simply, “The Winans” (thank God!).  He wrapped his segment with a performance of “Jesus Is Lord,” for which he simply had to call the legendary Karen Clark Sheard to the stage!

Andraé Crouch accepted his award and shared how he had been recently diagnosed with diabetes.  His doctors wanted to amputate his toe after discovering a large hole in it, but he shared that he had been miraculously healed!  He asks for continued prayer from the industry… great speech.

Finally, Marvin Winans led an impromptu segment of EVERYONE singing some classic Crouch songs that weren’t even on the program.  He called up Shirley Caesar, J Moss, Marvin Sapp, Donnie McClurkin… there are no words!

That’s that, essentially.  Dunno how much of it will make the edited televised program, but look for it on February 21st on Gospel Music Channel.  I’ll remind you as the time comes closer!

Soooo… whatd’ya think?!

About a month ago, I blogged about the popular Urban Soul Cafe two-day event that is taking place during Stellar Awards weekend, ON January 14th and 16th.  Just wanted to throw out another reminder– if you’re going to be in the area, buy your tickets now!  They’re only $10 in advance.

The events (hosted by Lexi, Canton Jones, DeWayne Woods and Sheilah Belle) will feature performances from J Moss, Melinda Watts, Y’Anna Crawley, Myron Butler, Sean Simmonds, Lisa McClendon and many more.

Plus, it was recently announced that Dr. Bobby Jones will be honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award.

I think it’ll be a good time of great performances that you don’t wanna miss.  Anyone planning to go?  Anyone been to one before?

Got somethin’ to share with ya…

It’s “Living On The Top,” the newest single from DeWayne Woods, and I’ve just added it to the PunditPlayer for your listening pleasure.  Click here to listen!!!

Make sure you check it out QUICKLY cuz I’m not leaving it up for long.  Why?  Because the single is available on iTunes as of TODAY and we’ve gotta support one another.

The full album, My Life’s Lyric, is due in stores in early 2010, specific date TBD.

As for the single– I’m really enjoying it.  The song is cool, the production (Aaron Lindsey) is very well done, especially when that vamp hits… geeeeeeeez!  Plus, his vocal performance is solid, as always.  *applause*  Good job!

What do you folks think of the new track?

The Allstate Gospel Superfest is preparing to tape a new season of their successful program of live gospel performances.  Hosted by Flex Alexander and Vivica Fox, the concert will take place on Saturday, January 9, 2010 at the Cintas Center (Xavier University) in Cincinnati, OH.

The anticipated artist line-up is star-studded, as always, including Karen Clark-Sheard, Vickie Winans, Hezekiah Walker, DeWayne Woods, J Moss, Dorinda Clark-Cole, Ricky Dillard, Kierra Sheard and many others.  Should be good.

Last season, episodes of the program aired on Gospel Music Channel… hopefully, they’ll pick it up again.

Visit www.gospelsuperfest.com for more details.

Anyone planning to attend?  Anyone planning to watch the show?  Lemme know…

If you’ve ever attended the Stellar Awards weekend or GMA week, you’ve probably noticed (and perhaps attended) the highly popular performance event, Urban Soul Cafe.

Quickly becoming one of the largest and most successful grassroots performance opps in the industry, the event features performances from major and indie artists at reasonable prices in an intimate setting.

This year, Urban Soul Cafe presents its Stellar Awards weekend event, “Access Granted,” and it promises to be just as good as past events, with performances expected from J Moss, Melinda Watts, 21:03, Adrianne Archie and many more urban gospel artists.

There will be two events– one on Thursday, January 14th and one following the Stellars taping on Saturday, January 16th– and will be hosted by DeWayne Woods, Canton Jones, Lexi and Sheilah Belle.

Click here to view the full flyers for the event and to purchase tickets!

In the current music industry climate, it’s refreshing to see artists who have taken the time to actually develop, rather than simply throwing an album into the marketplace.  And, in the gospel industry, I tend to expect that level of commitment to one’s ministry.

With his debut project, Balance, Ted Winn enters the gospel marketplace as a solo artist with grace, purpose, and a sound that is certain– a reflection of his experience in this industry and a decided commitment to God’s timing.

The 11-track musical offering tends to present Winn as more of an ensemble leader than a solo artist (perhaps a la Hawkins or Crouch), but it’s clear that he is, at all times, the captain at the helm of this album’s sound.  Writing on all but one of the tracks (a remake of “Moving Forward” by Israel Houghton & Ricardo Sanchez), Winn demonstrates that he shines as brightly behind the scenes as on stage.

Standout tracks for me include the album opener, “Connected To The Kingdom” and “His Favor,” featuring Vanessa Bell Armstrong, both of which are high-energy tunes with a bit of a throwback vibe to them.  “Reap” and “Trust His Name” are both more mellow grooves that display the vocal agility for which Winn is well-known.

Other gems on the project include the worship track “Oh My Soul,” which is reminiscent of a beautifully penned Richard Smallwood ballad (the song is, in fact, inspired by Smallwood, Winn’s mentor) and “Great Is Our God.”  The latter tune is both catchy (it’s an instant Sunday-morning praise team or choir hit) and cleverly done, in that it features Winn in right company with three of the industry’s other new, premier male vocalists– DeWayne Woods, Jonathan Nelson and Myron Butler.

In short, Ted Winn’s Balance provides just that– a collection of great music able to both nourish and encourage the Body of Christ.  It’s an impressive debut project worth purchasing.

You can click here to check it out.

After Marvin Sapp’s recording on Friday, I caught up with the producer of the project– Aaron Lindsey.  He’s a really good guy.

He mentioned that he learned about James Fortune and Isaac Carree being robbed recently from my post at GospelPundit.com (glad that I’m helping to keep the people informed!).

He also shared that he wrote on several of the songs recorded that evening, including the already-a-hit “He Saw The Best In Me,” “Holding On,” and “I Came.”  In fact, they pre-recorded “I Came,” before the recording and there’s already a ringtone of it available for purchase!

In addition to leading the charge on Sapp’s upcoming album, Aaron Lindsey’s already finished work on the upcoming albums from Byron Cage and Rizen (both due at the end of this month), as well as the new project from DeWayne Woods (due in 2010).

Finally, you just might see him working on an upcoming project from Jonathan Nelson… more on that later!

And that’s THAT.

Word has it that DeWayne Woods is prepping for a new album, My Life’s Lyric, which is expected to hit stores in February of 2010. On tap to produce the album is hitmaker Aaron Lindsey.

As recently as yesterday, DeWayne was working on a track that will feature the legendary Dorinda Clark-Cole. Niiiiiiice!

I’m still lovin’ his first project, but I don’t mind adding a second fave to my collection.

I CALLED IT last week!  In my Vicki Yohe review, I joked that Shanachie was creepin’, scoopin’ up a bunch of gospel artists for their roster.  And now…

Word has it that Ted Winn has signed with Shanachie Entertainment.  His solo debut album, Balance, is expected to hit stores on September 29, 2009 and will feature guest appearances by Vanessa Bell Armstrong, Myron Butler, DeWayne Woods and Jonathan Nelson.  Well, excuuuuuuuse me!

Some trivia: You’ll note that Ted has chopped of his locks and now sports a short cut.  Also, note that his solo project debuts just a month and some change after the solo debut of Sheri Jones-Moffett, his singing counterpart in the gospel duo, Ted & Sheri.

I do believe I’m anxious to hear it.  What about you guys???