It's Not Over (When God Is In It) Israel & New Breed Featuring James Fortune & Jason Nelson

When you've cut your teeth cutting live albums -- and have single-handedly become a one-stop source for multicultural church music -- five years is a long time to be away from the game. In the case of gospel-praise supergroup Israel & New Breed, that's not really a problem. Its frontman, Israel Houghton, has kept busy all along, exploring the solo route with two albums, The Power of One and Love God. Love People, while continuing to resource churches for new material. Plus, it's not like the band was twiddling its thumbs: they accompanied the bandleader wherever he went -- on tour with Chris Tomlin, on-stage at the Grammys, or back home at Joel Osteen's Lakewood Church. It's at the Houston megachurch thatIsrael and the gang reassembled for Jesus at the Center, a double-disc recording in the spirit of the classics New Season and Live from Another Level -- the top-selling albums that made the group a household name in gospel.

Like efforts past, Jesus consists of two main movements. The first one is a praise-fest featuring a string of high-octane numbers, running the gamut from corporate choral praise ("Jesus the Same," "More Than Enough") and contemporary gospel ("No Turning Back") to Latin electro-pop (the Pitbull-esque "Te Amo"), and even a gospel-ska hybrid ("Rez Power"). The vibe isn't always congregational -- "Te Amo," in particular, is more a dance party than a praise party -- but that's merely Israel getting the audience primed for something a little deeper. The turning point is the pop ballad "Jesus at the Center," a rousing number giving way to the second movement, a stretch of worshipful, impassioned slow-burners that segue right into one another. This is familiar territory for the group, which makes it all the harder to pinpoint which songs from Jesus at the Center will join the ranks of "Friend of God" and "You Are Good" in the canon of cross-cultural praise. Aside from the title track -- which some churches have had in rotation since its inclusion in the collective's 2011 retrospective, Decade -- only time will tell how the new material will fare with churchgoers. After all, they're the gatekeepers who continue to give Israel & New Breed a reason to sing.

EDITOR RATING

RELEASE DATE

August 14, 2012

DURATION

138:34

GENRE

• Religious

STYLES

• CCM
• Contemporary Christian
• Praise & Worship
• Contemporary Gospel
• Gospel

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Take Me To The King - Tamela Mann

Tamela J. Mann (born June 9, 1966) is an American actress and gospel singer, known for her role as Cora in Tyler Perry's plays, including I Can Do Bad All By Myself, Diary of a Mad Black Woman, Madea's Family Reunion, Madea's Class Reunion, Meet the Browns, and What's Done in the Dark. Mann began her career as a singer with the gospel group Kirk Franklin and the Family. Mann was a featured soloist on several tracks while with Franklin's group, including "Don't Take Your Joy Away", "Now Behold the Lamb", and "Lean on Me", the latter of which also included Mary J. Blige,Crystal Lewis, R. Kelly, and Bono. She released her own album, the Master Plan, in 2009.

Mann has also made appearances in movies such as Kingdom Come and Diary of a Mad Black Woman. Mann recorded some songs on the soundtrack for Diary of a Mad Black Woman, including participating in the song "Father (Can You Hear Me)". Mann is the wife of David Mann, who is known for his role as "Deacon Leroy Brown" in several of Perry's plays.

RELEASE DATE

August 14, 2012

DURATION

58:02

GENRE

• Religious

STYLES

• Contemporary Gospel
• Gospel

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Break Every Chain - Tasha Cobbs Grace

Introduced -- and you don't often hear enthusiasm bursting with so much pride -- by her Pastor father on the opening "Get Up," Tasha Cobbs aims to re-create the live worship experience on her major-label debut, Grace. Besides the elegant title track, which is a stately, studio-pristine ballad and highlight, the album succeeds, coming on strong and huge like a Hillsong-associated release, while keeping both the R&B and traditional influences high, as if this was the season finale of Sunday Best. Another key track has to be "Break Every Chain," featuring guest vocalist Timiney Figueroa from Hezekiah Walker's Love Fellowship Crusade Choir, but it's easy to argue that Grace is best taken in as a whole, allowing Cobbs' goal of worship-experience-for-shut-ins or worship-experience-for-anytime-you-need-it to be accomplished, maybe even exceeded.

EDITOR RATING

RELEASE DATE

November 6, 2012

DURATION

49:53

GENRE

• Religious

STYLES

• Contemporary Christian
• Contemporary Gospel
• Praise & Worship
• Black Gospel
• Gospel

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Here In Our Praise - Fred Hammond-United Tenors

Kicking off with the tight and funky number "Unshakeable," United Tenors could be mistaken for one ofFred Hammond's Commissioned albums at first, but when the R&B harmonizing comes in on the hit single "Here in Our Praise," the difference is obvious. Here, multi-Grammy, multi-platinum leaderHammond is joined by well-known singers Dave Hollister, Eric Roberson, and Brian Courtney Wilson for the gospel quartet version of Blackstreet, the group which Hollister was a member of. The hip production touches that Hammond often employs on Commissioned releases are repeated here with scratching, sampling, and cool rhythms -- check "I'm Reminded," which is somewhere between a Drake song and something from the New Jack Swing era -- all figuring into the mix. Still, when reverence is required, the music is warm and comfortable, making this all-star combo's debut varied as well as verity. Perhaps they're too much of a group at this point, with only a few showcase opportunities given to the individual members, but anyone who's made the move from Guy or Gap Band to gospel is likely to embraceHammond's vision.

EDITOR RATING

RELEASE DATE

March 26, 2013

DURATION

76:49

GENRE

• Religious

STYLES

• CCM
• Contemporary Christian
• Contemporary Gospel
• Gospel

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Clean This House - Isaac Carree

Gospel singer Isaac Carree was born April 29, 1973 and grew up in North Carolina, where he began singing solos in church (his mother was a pastor at New Beginnings Community Outreach Church in Greensboro, North Carolina). Possessing a fine tenor voice, Carree later sang in John P. Kee's V.I.P. Choir before leaving to form the gospel quartet Men of Standard with Michael Bacon, Bryan Pierce, and Lowell Pye (the group later became a trio with the departure of Bacon). The group signed to the Malaco Records subsidiary Muscle Shoals and released four critically acclaimed albums on the imprint between 1996 and 2004 before releasing a fifth album on Columbia Records in 2006. During a Men of Standard hiatus, Carree recorded and released a solo album, Uncommon Me, late in the summer of 2011.

GENRES

• Religious
• Pop/Rock

STYLES

• Contemporary Gospel
• Gospel

ACTIVE

1990s - 2010s

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Hold On James Fortune & FIYA Featuring Monica & Fred Hammond Light Records Unplugged

This compilation of live acoustic performances spotlights modern gospel artists who record for Light Records. These unplugged performances include three tracks that debuted at number one on the Gospel and Christian charts: Jessica Reedy's "From the Heart," James Fortune & FIYA's "Identity," and J.J. Hairston & Youthful Praise's "After This."

EDITOR RATING

RELEASE DATE

January 15, 2013

DURATION

77:17

GENRE

• R&B
• Religious

STYLES

• Contemporary Gospel
• Contemporary Christian
• Contemporary R&B
• Gospel

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