Lucinda Moore, winner of this year’s Stellar Award in the ‘Traditional Female Vocalist of the Year’ category, will be honored for her first Stellar win this Friday, March 4th at a celebration in Durham, NC.

Vickie Winans and radio personality Melissa Wade will co-host this concert celebration, which will feature guest performances by JJ Hairston & Youthful Praise, James Hall, Zebulon Ellis and more!

Event Location:
Greater Joy International Ministries
2000 Chapel Hill Road | Durham, NC
919-294-8123 | http://www.greaterjoyim.org

Tickets:
General Admission: $10
Advance Seating: $20
VIP Seating: $30 (includes reserved seating & a reception)

To purchase tix, or for more info, visit http://www.lucindamoore.eventbrite.com.

Anyone planning to attend?

The 26th Annual Stellar Awards were held in Nashville, TN this past Saturday.

Special awards went to Donald Lawrence (Lifetime Achievement), Kirk Franklin (Notable Achievement) and Vanessa Bell Armstrong (Living Legend).

Here’s a full list of the night’s winners…

Artist of the Year
BeBe & CeCe Winans
Fred Hammond
James Fortune & FIYA
Marvin Sapp

Song of the Year
BeBe Winans, “Close to You”
Fred Hammond, Calvin Rodgers, Phillip Feaster, Ericka Warren, Michael Bethany and Dynna Wells, “They That Wait”
James Fortune, C. Fortune and T. Vaughn, “Encore”
Marvin Sapp, “Best In Me”

Male Vocalist of the Year
Byron Cage
Fred Hammond
J. Moss
Marvin Sapp

Female Vocalist of the Year
CeCe Winans
Karen Clark Sheard
Lucinda Moore
Tamela Mann

Group/Duo of the Year
BeBe & CeCe Winans
Forever Jones
James Fortune & FIYA
The Anointed Pace Sisters

New Artist of the Year
Forever Jones
Kristina Halloway
Travis Greene
Victory Cathedral Choir

CD of the Year
Fred Hammond, Love Unstoppable
J. Moss, Just James
James Fortune & FIYA, Encore
Marvin Sapp, Here I Am

Choir of the Year
Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir
James Hall & Voices of Citadel
Victory Cathedral Choir
Wilmington Chester Mass Choir

Producer of the Year
Aaron Lindsey, Here I Am
Donald Lawrence, The Experience
Fred Hammond, Love Unstoppable
James Fortune, Terrance Vaughn and Ayron Lewis, Encore

Contemporary Group/ Duo of the Year
BeBe & CeCe Winans
Forever Jones
James Fortune and FIYA
Trin-i-tee 5:7

Traditional Group/Duo of the Year
James Greer & Company
The Anointed Pace Sisters
The Christian Angels
The Mighty Clouds of Joy

Contemporary Male Vocalist of the Year
Byron Cage
Fred Hammond
J. Moss
James Fortune

Traditional Male Vocalist of the Year
Alvin Darling
Darrell Hines
Marvin Sapp
Marvin Winans

Contemporary Female Vocalist of the Year
CeCe Winans
Karen Clark Sheard
Lisa Page Brooks
Tamela Mann

Traditional Female Vocalist of the Year
Fredericka Faison
Lucinda Moore
Shirley Caesar
Vanessa Bell Armstrong

Contemporary CD of the Year
BeBe and CeCe Winans, Still
Fred Hammond, Love Unstoppable
J.Moss, Just James
James Fortune and FIYA, Encore

Traditional CD of the Year
James Hall & Voices of Citadel, Won’t It Be Wonderful
Marvin Sapp, Here I Am
Shirley Caesar, A City Called Heaven
Vanessa Bell Armstrong, The Experience

Urban/ Inspirational Single / Performance of the Year
BeBe & CeCe Winans, “Still”
Forever Jones, “Get Ready”
James Fortune & FIYA, “Encore”
Marvin Sapp, “Here I Am”

Music Video of the Year
BeBe and CeCe Winans, “Close to You”
Kirk Whalum, “Make Me a Believer”
Shirley Caesar, “Playground In Heaven”
The Anointed Pace Sisters, “If I Be Lifted Up”

Contemporary Choir of the Year
God’s Little Soldiers International
Myron Butler & Levi
Youth for Christ
Youthful Praise featuring JJ Hairston

Traditional Choir of the Year
Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir
James Hall & Voices of Citadel
Victory Cathedral Choir
Wilmington Chester Mass Choir

Special Event CD of the Year
BeBe and CeCe Winans, Still
Kirk Franklin, Are You Listening
Various Artists, CoCo Brother Live Presents Stand 2010
Various Artists, WOW Gospel 2010

Rap/Hip Hop Gospel CD of the Year
DJ Official, Entermission
Everyday Process, Outtadisworld
Sho Baraka, Lions and Liars
Trip Lee, Between Two Worlds

Children’s Project of the Year
God’s Little Soldiers International, Soldier Story
Kingdom Kids Worldwide, Kingdom Kids Worldwide Volume 1
The Velasquez Family Singers, While We Still Have Time
Youth for Christ, Thanks In Advance

Quartet of the Year
Reverend F.C. Barnes & Company
The Christian Angels
The Golden Wings Quartet
The Mighty Clouds of Joy

Recorded Music Package of the Year
Cameron Hilson and Mark Neubauer, Get Ready (forever Jones)
Denise Trotman, Here I Am (Marvin Sapp)
Derek Blanks and Ken Barboza, Still (BeBe & CeCe Winans)
Jeff Gilligan, Love Unstoppable (Fred Hammond)

Praise and Worship CD of the Year
Darwin Hobbs, Darwin Hobbs Live: Champion
James Fortune & FIYA, Encore
Phil Tarver, Place of Worship
The Anointed Pace Sisters, Access Granted

The awards show will air on gmc on March 5 at 8pm ET. Before that, however, you can catch it in most major markets (check your local listings) between January 22 and March 13.

The nominees for the 26th annual Stellar Awards were announced on Saturday in Nashville, TN during a live telecast on gmc, hosted by Donnie McClurkin and featuring performances by Jessica Reedy, VaShawn Mitchell, Lucinda Moore, Joe Pace and more.

The show takes place on Saturday, January 15, 2011 in Nashville, TN. It will be hosted by Donnie McClurkin, alone, serving as the first time that the show has been hosted by only one person. Also, in honor of Albertina Walker, the “Female Vocalist of the Year” category will be forever named the “Albertina Walker Female Vocalist of the Year” award.

The following are the recipients of the special awards:

Donald Lawrence will receive the James Cleveland Lifetime Achievement Award
Kirk Franklin will receive the Thomas Dorsey Most Notable Achievement Award
Vanessa Bell Armstrong will receive the Dr. Bobby Jones Legend Award

And the nominees are…

Artist of the Year
BeBe & CeCe Winans
Fred Hammond
James Fortune & FIYA
Marvin Sapp

Song of the Year
“Close to You” | BeBe Winans
“They That Wait” | Fred Hammond, Calvin Rodgers, Phillip Feaster, Ericka Warren, Michael Bethany and Dynna Wells
“Encore” | James Fortune, C. Fortune and T. Vaughn
“Best In Me” | Marvin Sapp

Choir of the Year
Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir
James Hall & Voices of Citadel
Victory Cathedral Choir
Wilmington Chester Mass Choir

New Artist of the Year
Forever Jones
Kristina Halloway
Travis Greene
Victory Cathedral Choir

CD of the Year
Fred Hammond | Love Unstoppable
J. Moss | Just James
James Fortune & FIYA | Encore
Marvin Sapp | Here I Am

Producer of the Year
Aaron Lindsey for Here I Am
Donald Lawrence for The Experience
Fred Hammond for Love Unstoppable
James Fortune, Terrance Vaughn and Ayron Lewis for Encore

Female Vocalist of the Year
CeCe Winans
Karen Clark Sheard
Lucinda Moore
Tamela Mann

Male Vocalist of the Year
Byron Cage
Fred Hammond
J. Moss
Marvin Sapp

Group/Duo of the Year
BeBe & CeCe Winans
Forever Jones
James Fortune & FIYA
The Anointed Pace Sisters

Contemporary Male Vocalist of the Year
Byron Cage
Fred Hammond
J. Moss
James Fortune

Traditional Male Vocalist of the Year
Alvin Darling
Darrell Hines
Marvin Sapp
Marvin Winans

Contemporary Female Vocalist of the Year
CeCe Winans
Karen Clark Sheard
Lisa Page Brooks
Tamela Mann

Traditional Female Vocalist of the Year
Fredericka Faison
Lucinda Moore
Shirley Caesar
Vanessa Bell Armstrong

Traditional CD of the Year
James Hall & Voices of Citadel | Won’t It Be Wonderful
Marvin Sapp | Here I Am
Shirley Caesar | A City Called Heaven
Vanessa Bell Armstrong | The Experience

Contemporary CD of the Year
BeBe and CeCe Winans | Still
Fred Hammond | Love Unstoppable
J.Moss | Just James
James Fortune and FIYA | Encore

Contemporary Choir of the Year
God’s Little Soldiers International
Myron Butler & Levi
Youth for Christ
Youthful Praise featuring J.J. Hairston

Traditional Choir of the Year
Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir
James Hall & Voices of Citadel
Victory Cathedral Choir
Wilmington Chester Mass Choir

Contemporary Group/Duo of the Year
BeBe & CeCe Winans
Forever Jones
James Fortune and FIYA
Trin-i-tee 5:7

Traditional Group/Duo of the Year
James Greer & Company
The Anointed Pace Sisters
The Christian Angels
The Mighty Clouds of Joy

Quartet of the Year
Reverend F.C. Barnes & Company
The Christian Angels
The Golden Wings Quartet
The Mighty Clouds of Joy

Rap, Hip Hop Gospel CD of the Year
DJ Official | Entermission
Everyday Process | Outtadisworld
Sho Baraka | Lions and Liars
Trip Lee | Between Two Worlds

Music Video of the Year
BeBe and CeCe Winans | “Close to You”
Kirk Whalum | “Make Me a Believer”
Shirley Caesar | “Playground In Heaven”
The Anointed Pace Sisters | “If I Be Lifted Up”

Urban Inspirational Performance of the Year
BeBe & CeCe Winans | “Still”
Forever Jones | “Get Ready”
James Fortune & FIYA | “Encore”
Marvin Sapp | “Here I Am”

Recorded Music Packaging of the Year
Cameron Hilson and Mark Neubauer for Get Ready
Denise Trotman for Here I Am
Derek Blanks and Ken Barboza for Still
Jeff Gilligan for Love Unstoppable

Praise and Worship CD of the Year
Darwin Hobbs | Darwin Hobbs Live: Champion
James Fortune & FIYA | Encore
Phil Tarver | Place of Worship
The Anointed Pace Sisters | Access Granted

Children’s Project of the Year
God’s Little Soldiers International | Soldier Story
Kingdom Kids Worldwide | Kingdom Kids Worldwide Volume 1
The Velasquez Family Singers | While We Still Have Time
Youth for Christ | Thanks In Advance

Special Event CD of the Year
BeBe and CeCe Winans | Still
Kirk Franklin | Are You Listening
Various Artists | CoCo Brother Live Presents Stand 2010
Various Artists | WOW Gospel 2010

What do you guys think of the nominees???

MAJOR props to EMI Gospel family band Forever Jones for debuting at #3 with their first major project, Get Ready, on Billboard’s Gospel Albums chart!  The single from their album, “He Wants It All,” continues to make headway at gospel radio.

Also, shout-out to James Hall, whose choir project made some SIGNIFICANT gains at retail this week, leaping from #16 to #5 on the chart.

The full gospel bizzzzness for the week…

#1 | Marvin Sapp - Here I Am
#2 | WOW Gospel 2010
#3 | Forever Jones – Get Ready
#4 | Hezekiah Walker & LFC – Souled Out
#5 | James Hall & VOC – Won’t It Be Wonderful
#6 | Fred Hammond – Love Unstoppable
#7 | Brian Courtney Wilson – Just Love
#8 | Tamela Mann - The Master Plan
#9 | BeBe & CeCe Winans – Still
#10 | Juanita Bynum – More Passion

Which of the above projects do you NOT have yet?  And what are you waiting for???

Songs of Emotional Healing, the latest compilation album from CeCe Winans, debuted at #5 on Billboard’s Gospel Albums chart this week.  According to Winans, the 8-track album contains songs “for encouragement, comfort, healing and love.”

(Sidebar: I found it for less than $8 online.  Click here to check it out and buy it.)

Additionally, James Hall’s Voices of Citadel project, Won’t It Be Wonderful, climbed from #50 to #9.  That’s kinda hard to do, so a big “alright, I see you!” to you guys.

Everything else is pretty much the same cast of characters…

Yesterday, I introduced two great new writers who have joined the GospelPundit.com team.  One of ‘em, EaZy, is a choir head through and through, so his review of the latest album from James Hall’s church choir, Voices of Citadel, can be trusted to the utmost.

Without delay, here’s EaZy to tell you what he thought of James Hall Presents Voices Of Citadel– Won’t It Be Wonderful.

*     *     *

Some may argue that good choir music is a thing of the past.  However, those same Gospel music lovers who’ve been looking for churchy material will be excited about the release of James Hall presents the Voices of Citadel Won’t It Be Wonderful.  VOC is the church choir of Brooklyn’s Citadel of Praise & Worship, where Dr. Kevin Bond is Pastor.  This is their second release on James Hall’s Musicblend Records.

Although the album is “presented” by James Hall, it’s churchier than anything that Worship and Praise has done.  It still has the signature mysterious, gothic sound most of us have learned to expect and love from Hall without being dark or depressing.  What is most noteworthy about this project is that the sound is TREMENDOUSLY better than the last Voices of Citadel CD…as well as Worship and Praise’s Live at Foxwoods.

The album opens up with the upbeat first single, Butch Heyward’s “Hallelujah to the Lamb” and “Count On Me,” then goes into the more traditional sounding “I’ve Learned To Trust” with Deborah Pritchard Stevenson on lead vocals, reminiscent of “God Wants A Yes.”

Dr. Bond and his vocabulary (does anyone else break into a wide-mouthed grin whenever he speaks?) introduce “Release Your Power” which is more of a praise and worship/reflective song that clocks in at an exhausting 8:33.  The album then goes into what I feel are the two highlights of the entire project– “Saved” a bouncy, throwback to the mid-late nineties era with a beat that may be more Friday Night musical than Sunday morning service (that’s a good thing).

“Living to Live Again” is probably my favorite song on the album.  It starts out somewhat laid-back but turns into something wonderful once the alto lead takes over.  Next, Professor Hall gives us an “avant garde” intro to “How Great Thou Art” the way that only he can.  You either love it or you hate it.

The title track “Won’t It Be Wonderful” is a fast-paced, hand-clapping number that starts off sounding a bit “showtune-ish” but ends with a repetitive, classic church vamp.  Once again, James Hall provides an interesting lead… energetic, but feels like a bit much by the end.  If you’ve been anywhere near YouTube recently, then you’ve already seen the equally energetic performances.

The album ends with what is unfortunately the low point – a remake of the Tommies’ “Jesus, I Won’t Forget.”  It’s labeled as a bonus track but feels more like an afterthought.  It’s over-synthesized, over-produced and just out of place.  I could have done without it.

As a Chicago native, I love warbling vibrato as much as anyone else.  While VOC’s (at times) excessive vibrato sounds good, it is often very difficult to understand the lyrics.  I also asked myself, does this album seem pretty long with an overwhelming fourteen tracks, or is it that we’ve become accustomed to having only nine to ten tracks on an album?

Simple lyrics and modulation should make these songs easily accessible for brave Sunday morning church choirs.  Won’t It Be Wonderful definitely has its strengths, along with a few weaknesses.  Considering the lack of available choir music recently, I believe it to be a good investment.

*     *     *

If THAT ain’t a thorough evaluation, I don’t know what is!

Folks, PLEASE thank EaZy for that write-up.

And, lemme know what you think of it– if you have the album, do you agree?  If you don’t have the album, are you thinking of picking it up now?

Talk to me!

Not too many changes in the top 10 spots on the Gospel Albums chart at Billboard.

#1 | Marvin Sapp – Here I Am
#2 | WOW Gospel 2010
#3 | BeBe & CeCe Winans – Still
#4 |Karen Clark Sheard - All In One
#5 | Fred Hammond – Love Unstoppable
#6 | James Fortune & FIYA – Encore
#7 | Earnest Pugh – Live: Rain On Us
#8 | Hezekiah Walker & LFC – Souled Out
#9| Tamela Mann - The Master Plan
#10 | Mary Mary – The Sound

Outside of the top 10, Lucinda Moore’s Blessed Broken & Given has debuted at #13, and Vickie Winans jumped from #44 to #18, and James Hall’s church choir, Voices of Citadel, jumped from #33 to #19 with their newest release– Won’t It Be Wonderful (full review of that one coming TODAY).

I’m assuming the top 10 will stay pretty much like this for a while– I don’t know of any major releases that could cause an upset and the numbers are fairly solid.

Talk to me– which of these albums do you not have, but are considering pickin’ up???

Remember a few weeks ago when I reported that a bunch of artists were in NYC recording another relief song for Haiti?

Well, vocalist Kim Burrell, the Executive Producer of the track, recently posted a link to some behind-the-scenes footage of their process.  In it, she speaks with several of the participants about the significance of the project, including Tye Tribbett, Michelle Williams, Nikki Ross, Anaysha Figueroa, James Hall, Nancey Jackson, Anwar Robinson and more.

Check it out:

Whatd’ya think???

Got a group out of Atlanta that I want you guys to know about… Kevin Lemons & Higher Calling have compiled a nice project with solid production and tight vocals.

The vibe is like a good ol’ church service or midnight musical someplace.  And that’s refreshing to me.  In this musical season, where so much music seems almost created for the sake of crossover or mainstream appeal, it’s cool that artists are still filling the need for a choir that is gonna KILL the vocals and leave folks slain in the aisles.

The choir’s got a little wobble (a la Ricky Dillard’s New G or James Hall’s Worship And Praise) but I love their blend more than anything else.

And the musical help enlisted by Kevin Lemons & Higher Calling is impressive, to say the least– guest leads vocals from Charmaine Swimpson (one of Kirk Franklin’s singers for several years now), rising favorite San Franklin, Sunday Best finalist Zebulon Ellis and background vocalist/developing artist Josiah Martin.

Destined For Greatness (produced by Justin Gilbert and Daniel Moore) is available at most internet retailers, including Amazon.com.  You can listen to the single, “Destined For Greatness,” on the PunditPlayer NOW by clicking here.

Let me know what you think!