PROGRAM DESCRIPTION
Hopeville
is
a must-see concert event featuring three of the biggest
names in Gospel –
Kirk
Franklin, Yolanda Adams,
and
Donnie McClurkin.
Kirk Franklin
is a five time Grammy®
Award winning, platinum-selling musician who is known as
the leader of contemporary gospel choirs. His 10th album
The Fight of My Life was released December 18,
2007. Yolanda Adams is
one of the most successful gospel music artists of the
contemporary period and winner of four Grammy® Awards.
Donnie McClurkin
is also a Grammy®
Award winning American gospel singer and minister.
Hopeville
originally
toured the US in 2003 and was re-launched in 2004 due to
overwhelming fan demand.
The DVD will debut on July 29, 2008.
The
production is a dynamic story of friendship and
commitment between childhood friends, from the
make-believe remote town of “Hopeville.” Although
young, three friends were determined to make their big
dreams a reality. One aspired to be a preacher, another
was determined to change the world with her singing, and
one wanted to break out of his unorthodox nature. Years
later the three friends reunite for an unforgettable
evening of praise, worship, laughter, hand clapping and
foot-stomping. This two-hour compilation of fourteen
amazing, soul-stirring performances includes hits such
as “I’m Gonna Be Ready,” “We Fall Down,” and “Brighter
Day.”
PROGRAM
INFORMATION
Year of Production:
2007
Title Copyright:
2007 WDI Multimedia Inc. All Rights Reserved.
-
Type: Home
Entertainment Premiere
-
Rating: G
-
Genre:
Musical
-
Closed
Captioned: English Closed Captioned
-
Subtitles: English and
Spanish
-
Format: 16x9 1.78 Full
Frame - Widescreen
-
Feature Running Time:
122 minutes
-
DVD Audio Status: 5.1
and 2.0 Dolby Digital
Gospel Music Reviews and Commentary
ATTENTION:
In The
GreeneRoom
has expanded.
Click here to
go there now!
Also,
In the GreeneRoom: LIVE is stronger
than ever.
Ricky
Dillard & New G
The 7th
Episode: Live in Toronto
NuSpring /
EMI Gospel
2008 may be declared “The Year
of the Choir” in gospel music due to
Ricky Dillard & New G’s latest project
The 7th Episode: Live
in Toronto. If you haven’t caught the group’s
unforgettable recent performances on the 2008 Stellar
Awards or Bobby Jones Gospel, click on these
YouTube links:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zANRvzGt__Q&NR=1
and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUg8VjIEEv8.
(I
was at both tapings and what happened in the atmosphere
was indescribable. I don't EVER remember seeing a group
featured on Bobby Jones Gospel that had the audience
dancing and shouting all over that studio like Ricky
Dillard and New G did on "One More Chance"; and after
they performed "The Light" on the Stellars, the entire
audience was rendered speechless).
Everything about the music on
The 7th Episode: Live in Toronto
highlights what we love about music for choirs—namely,
it is Sunday morning worship inviting. The aggregation
of many voices (versus select voices of praise teams or
ensembles), the band you can see in the corner of the
church egging each other to be fierce while also driving
the songs, the notes that are just high enough that you
have make sure you have a good choir buddy next to you
just in case you can’t take that extra breath to hit it,
and the overall “let’s have good chu’ch and enjoy doing
it” feel of this project makes this a great addition for
those who have ever had a “gospel choir experience”.
On the single The Light
led by Dillard and LaJaunese Robinson, you will be taken
back to Sunday afternoon 4:00 services when “the
honorees” presented “the grand march” down the aisles of
the church. The song has funk, a driving beat, a great
message, a great lead and is Ricky Dillard and New G at
their best! Awesome God
is an energetic, praise-intensive song with
outstanding dynamics and a “freeing agent” that commands
your body to groove with all liberty.
Our Father You Are Holy
is strong without being forceful,
worship-inducing without someone having to verbally say
“Let us worship Him.” The song is simple and powerful
yet only has 14 words: Our Father, You are holy/ We give
You glory/ And we bless Your name.
One More Chance, led by Evangelist Lillian
Lloyd (who Ricky calls “The Coo-Coo Lady”. Listen to her
adlib to see why), is straight COGIC/Pentecostal/Fire-Baptized
Holiness in its flavor. If you literally can get your
sanctified step on for the full 4-plus minutes of the
song, you bad! (Smile.) Seeing the group perform this
song live is a treat because of the precision and
command with which its members minister.
Other notable tracks include
Search Me Lord, Grateful, and
Bless His Holy Name. The CCM final track
Thou Art My God is a
new addition to the CD as well.
The 7th Episode: Live In Toronto
has ushered us back to the future in some ways. Be
assured that the power of the gospel choir is
here…again, and we have Ricky Dillard & New G to thank
for it.
Thanks for your support and for signing the
Guestbook. I have tons of products to give away.
Leave a comment and you can be one of ten guests who
receive free CDs or DVDs.
Jonathan Nelson & Purpose
“Right Now Praise”
Integrity Music/Columbia
Records
Every once in a while an artist comes to the scene and
s/he so subtly revolutionizes a genre of music that
before we know it we are wondering how we ever existed
without their musical genius. Stellar Award-winning
songwriter and singer Jonathan Nelson is one of those
persons in gospel music for the 21st Century.
During my “Behind-The-Scenes In
The GreeneRoom: LIVE” interviews at the
recording for this project,
Stephen Hurd called Nelson “the
Andrae Crouch of our
time”. Because of Nelson’s extraordinary songwriting
gifting, I believe no truer words have been spoken.
With what is easily the most
anticipated gospel music project of 2008,
Jonathan Nelson & Purpose return to the musical
landscape with “Right Now Praise,” a collection
of 14 songs that empower listeners to take possession of
every promise God has spoken over their lives. On track
1 “Champions” and the first single of the project
“My Name Is Victory” the group declares the
believer’s position in Christ and reminds us that our
victorious and overcoming destinies have already been
Divinely-written by GOD. (To see both of these songs
ministered live, click here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFB58i7QP9k&feature=related)
With his twin brother and vocal powerhouse Jason Nelson
sharing lead, Nelson introduces “Right
Now Praise” which is sure to be a new
mainstay of Sunday morning worship services. Click here
to see it ministered live:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnoF8YtCNKY&feature=related.
Traditionalists are sure to have
“Yes Out There” (featuring
Sheri Jones-Moffit
on leads) on repeat on their iPods as will praisers
“Great and Mighty”
(featuring William Murphy)
on theirs.
You can literally feel the breath of God in the worship
that results from the flow the group creates on tracks 8
thru 11 (“Hymn Medley: Fill My
Cup Lord/I Need Thee Every Hour”/”Capacity,” “Only You,”
and “How Great Is Our God.” Another
notable track is “Drench My
Heart” which Purpose ministers with choral
precision.
I don’t know how to end this review but the ole Motown
philosophy Berry Gordy
used with his songwriters and producers comes to mind.
”If it was between you going out to lunch one day this
week and buying the CD which would I tell you do? Hands
down: Bring leftovers or make a sandwich and get the
CD! Right now is your time for
“Right Now Praise!” The sense of victory and
purpose, praise and surrender that results from the
ministry of this CD will stay with you longer than that
meal too!
Shirley Caesar CD
Review
If you would like to
respond to this article
click here
and sign our
Guestbook
to leave a public or private statement, comment or
reaction. You
can also send a message directly to Moses T.
Alexander Greene at
inthegreeneroom@blackmeninamerica.com.
Hunt’s Hunch with Veronica Hunt
-
Wess Morgan
-
Look at Me Now
Wess Morgan. Remember
the name and watch for his meteoric rise in the
gospel music arena because it’s coming. When I first
heard this CD I recognized that there was something
unique and very special about this project.
Look At Me Now
is a revealing musical testimony of Pastor Wess
Morgan’s deliverance from a life of sin, drugs and
poor life choices—all of which included the loss of
his family, home and dignity before God restored it
all back to him.
At a recent Hunt’s Hunch,
the majority of those gathered gave both the CD and
DVD high ratings. Listeners said they would
“definitely” buy both products of Morgan, a trained
musician whose soulful yet gentle musical styling
are reminiscent of seasoned African American R&B
artists of 60s, 70s and 80s. If you can’t tell from
the CD cover, Wess Morgan is a southern, white,
34-year-old, preacher’s kid and now associate pastor
who grew up on a musical diet of country music; yet,
his total package and experiences make him extremely
impacting for the gospel music landscape.
