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COVER stORy
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By Ruth Adkins Robinson
Today’s economic climate makes the entire world eel uncertain. Seldomhas the music business seemed so ragile, and people in it eel like theyare standing on shiting sand. But or the Zomba Gospel Group, theonly shiting going on is into celebration’s high gear.
(lr) Marvin Sapp,Crystal Aikin,Kirk Franklin,Deitrick Haddon
—Photo by Jeff Grant
 
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The last 12 months have been historical.With Marvin Sapp’s
Thirsty
and highperorming releases rom gospel’s all timetop-selling artist Kirk Franklin as well asDeitrick Haddon, Dorinda Clark Cole,Dave Hollister and 21:03, there’s beenmuch to praise. There have been someserious shouts o Hallelujah in the oceswhere Jazzy Jordan is watching over theactivities as Senior Vice President andGeneral Manager o the Zomba GospelGroup.A roundup o Sapp’s triumphs isstaggering. His seventh solo CD
Thirsty
was certied Gold, with sales over 600,000units--a true benchmark or gospel productor any product these days. The single,“Never Would Have Made It,” hit the #1position on the Urban AC, spent threequarters o the year on the charts and wasamong the top selling gospel ringtones andringbacks. Sapp also camped out at thenumber one spot on Billboard’s gospel andChristian sales charts.Commenting on the success o thatCD, Jordan said, “The audience elt themessage in this CD prooundly becausewe all have at least one Never-Would-HaveMade-It moment in our lives and we allneed encouragement and inspiration.”This past year would have been great byany measure, but get ready or some “icingon the cake” says Jordan when talkingabout product in the pipeline. ZombaGospel’s got a heavy contingency o gospelsuperstars and some newcomers who’velit up the TV world recently. Kurt Carr,Hezekiah Walker, Donnie McClurkin andDonald Lawrence are the consistent heavyhitters.Carr’s album,
 Just the Beginning 
, shipsthis month. He is one o those stars whohave broken through denominationaland ethnic barriers while perorming,composing, arranging and producing thebiggest acts in this genre and beyond.
 Just the Beginning 
is on his newly minted Kurt Carr Gospelimprint in association with Zomba Gospel and the rstsince his chart-topping
One Church
project, but this timearound the multiple Stellar recipient has gone back tothe basics. Carr says. “These songs are very singer-riendly, very congregational. This time, I’m goingback to my roots—church music.”One o the very pleasant additions to the CDis the opening trip down memory lane. There’s amedley o Carr’s greatest hits revealing the scopeand breadth o his heritage in gospel music—aprimer o sorts or the music to come. The rstsingle “Peace and Favor Rest on Us
” 
is a call toworship.A avorite moment on the CD or Carr isdelivered by 89-year-old Narcissus Hinton-Brown,a traditional soloist rom Carr’s hometown o Hartord, Connecticut and one o his mentors. Sheis singing “This Little Light O My Mine” as aprequel to the arming “Don’t Let Your Light GoOut.” “I have riends rom all walks o lie,”says Carr, “and my whole purpose is to be alight to them…that’s how I live my lie andthat’s what I am encouraging and remindingothers to do on this song.”Nikita Clegg-Fox leads on the soaring“Spiritual Makeover Extreme,” an up-tempotrack with a captivating hook proclaiming,“I’m so glad I don’t look like what I’ve beenthrough.” The lively “Right Time, RightPlace” delivers a oot-stomping renzy.Carr, who has a love and passion orpreserving the gospel sounds o Arican-American heritage, includes “I Am The One”and “Blessed Be The Rock” that, in Kurt’sown words, are “Sunday morning, choir robe,march down the aisle, sit down i you cansongs!”Another Zomba Gospel heavy-hitter isHezekiah Walker, one o the most renownedvoices o Gospel music. Mindul o theworld’s conditions, he refects this in hisalbum
Souled Out,
scheduled or Novemberrelease. Walker says it promotes a messagethat is close to his heart and that the churchreally needs to hear. “In this day and agethat we’re living in—with high gas prices,the mortgage crisis, job problems, theeconomy—a lot o times that can really holdpeople back rom giving themselves to Godand to the church,” he says. “What I’m tryingto communicate to everyone is that we havereally made up in our minds that there’s noturning back. We’re going all the way withthis Jesus thing. We’re completely ‘
souled out’ 
.Our soul is completely given over to God.”The title track rst single lit up “GoodMorning America” as part o Gospel MusicHeritage Month. Produced by DonaldLawrence,
Souled Out 
uses up-temporhythms with Walker’s straight-to-the-heartworship style and traditional Gospel lyrics.Guests include Ricardo Sanchez on “MovingForward” and Shawn McLemore on thereprise o the classically rendered “It ShallCome To Pass.” One o Walker’s personalavorites is the melodic “God Favored Me,” eaturing DJ Rogersand Marvin Sapp. Walker says, “This is the story o my lie, andprobably the story o most people’s lives: that the avor o the Lordis on our side and because o God’s avor, we’ve reached heightsunknown and undreamed.”“O Give Thanks” is a traditional oering, a gem o a throwbackpiece; the waltz-like, “There’s No Way I Could Live Without You”is a song o thanksgiving and adoration that also works as a choralacknowledgment o the many blessings God has bestowed on thelie o this amed choir.Walker gets behind a microphone o a dierent sort with hisradio duties hosting a show on New York’s WLIB (1190), targetingthose outside the our walls o the church. He continues hisjudging duties on Verizon’s national choir competition “HowSweet the Sound,” which will conclude with the crowning o thewinners on November 8th at the “How Sweet The Sound” FinaleConcert in Atlanta (Philips Arena).Partly inspired by these new avenues or spreading the Word,
Souled Out 
is the next chapter in Walker’s music ministry. “I’ve
“Sundaymorning,choir robe,marchdown theaisle, sitdown if you cansongs!”
—Kurt Carr,describing several songson his new album
 
limited the world to the circle thatI’m accustomed to,” Walker says.“The Lord has been teaching methat the world is much bigger. Thereare a lot o people who have notyet heard Hezekiah Walker—thathaven’t even heard the Gospel. TheLord is putting me in places where Ican really bring the Gospel to thosewho haven’t heard it.”Pastor Donnie McClurkin, oneo the most recognizable namesand voices in gospel music inmainstream America, has earned atrophy case ull o awards includingtwo Grammys, recognition romthe NAACP, Trumpet Awards,Dove, Stellar and Soul TrainMusic Awards. He’s appeared allover television rom “The View”to “Extra” to “Good MorningAmerica” and in lms “TheGospel,” “Diary o a Mad BlackWoman,” “The Prince o Egypt,”“The Donnie McClurkin Story:From Darkness to Light,” “TheFighting Temptations,” and, happilyor me, on a show that I co-wrote in2004, “Apollo at 70: A Hot Night inHarlem,” where I stood in the wingsand watched it get “Holy” up inthat amed old theatre.He’s appeared in spreads inmost major publications, butthere is nothing quite like hearingMcClurkin’s relationship with Godin his church, Perecting Faith inLong Island, NY, or in concert. I that’s not possible, the next bestthing is coming. He recorded a Live set atthe Straight Gate InternationalChurch in Detroit this pastSeptember and is combiningthat event with songs cut inthe studio. The 12-CD setwill eature Karen ClarkSheard o The ClarkSisters and is his ourthrelease or ZombaGospel/Verity.
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Songs will include “Choose To Be Dancing,” “YouAre My God and King,” “You Are God,” “WhenYou Love,” “All We Ask,” “The Great I Am,” “WaitOn The Lord” (eaturing Karen Clark Sheard), “NoOne Else” and “Hallelujah Song.”Called
Live in Detroit 
, the new album is scheduledor release December 2 and will be accompanied bya DVD eaturing exclusive perormance ootage.McClurkin walks the walk that he preaches. “Ihope people will be able to say that I really had atrue relationship with God,” he says. “Not only didI sing it, but my very lie exemplied it…no açadeor hypocrisy. When I was wrong, I was wrong, but Itook blame rather than allow holiness to appear to besome abricated way o lie. I want that people willnot have seen me, but rather seen that this is whata relationship with Jesus is like and I would hope itcould be said that holiness was what I lived and whatI passed on to the next generation, and the next.”Grammy-winning producer and recordingartist Donald Lawrence is set or his sophomoreZomba/Verity Records solo CD project early in therst quarter o ‘09. Coming o o the success o producing the Clark Sisters’ best-selling comebackCD
Live One Last Time
and newcomer DeWayneWood’s breakthrough hit “Let Go” on Lawrence’sown QuietWater Entertainment imprint, Lawrence,his co-producer Daniel Weatherspoon and a10-member ensemble o session singers, The Co.,will stand on the platorm o Chicago’s The LivingWord Christian Center
 
and bring Lawrence’s latestmusical vision to lie.Inspired by the orthcoming book by The LivingWord Christian Center’s Pastor Bill Winston,Lawrence explains the title o the new album,
TheLaw of Confession
. “A law is simply a principle,based on the predictable consequence o an act.Conession in the Greek language is homo-logeo,which means to say what has been said. There is aspiritual law or conession: you just say what Godhas already said.” In other words,“Speak the Word.”Among the songson the project arethe title song“Kingdom,”“Back-2-
The Lord isputting mein placeswhere I canreally bringthe Gospelto those whohaven’theard it.”
—Hezekiah Walker
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