Anyone who has seriously listened to any of Jon Gibson's albums over the years knows that the man has a story to tell. It's a very personal one, and is the epitome of testimony.

On Soulful Hymns, Gibson is on his own as far as record labels are concerned (the album was released by Imagery Records, Gibson's self-owned company). But musically he's far from alone, as he makes a crucial hookup with keyboardist and arranger Bernard Wright.

Wright, known for his pioneering work in the early 90's in which he went before his time with innovative, contemporary and progressive arrangements of Gospel standards and hymns. In 1991 he also worked with Commissioned on their ground-breaking Number 7 album, lending his production and keyboard prowess to the hard-hitting project.

Gibson told Gospelflava.com how Wright first entered into the picture, leading to his collaboration with him on Soulful Hymns. The connection began back in the early 1990s, when the two were both signed to Frontline Records.

"He just came to me one day, out of the blue, with a van full of incredible musicians. He said that he was on a mission to share the importance of praise music with me. Bernard, being street wise, could tell just by listening to my records over the years that I didn't have the privilege of growing up in the church."

Soulful Hymns

"Gibson starts off by slinging a reggae harness around the praise workhorse “Awesome God” and riding it till fade at four and half minutes. The interpretation works so well because it stays true to the power and the intent of the song while putting it into a completely different context..." See full album review.

"You see, I was led to Christ by my father in the front seat of his car after I had just cursed him for the mistakes he had made. He had found faith in Christ only months before after suffering a cocaine-induced heart attack at age 40."

"Bernard told me that he and I were alike in the sense that we were called from the world into service in the tradition of the "father of gospel music" Thomas A. Dorsey."

"He knew that I didn't know or understand praise music, and that was the reason why it was missing from my repertoire."

"During this time, Bernard did a gig with me at Magic Mountain doing my contemporary Christian thing with some of the baddest cats in the secular industry on my stage.

"Another keyboard player tried to battle it out musically with Bernard, but he wouldn't go there. Backstage after the 'show', Bernard asked me, "Why do you allow all this demonic friction on your stage when you're trying to minister, man?"

"I answered him, 'It's part of my ministry, I'm witnessing to them.' Then he asked me how many shows I had done with them and I said about 30. Then Bernard said 'When are they gonna get, man? When are they going to get it?'"

"A few days later he began to share some of his arrangements of some old hymns, and I was musically reborn on the spot."

At that point, Gibson says that he vowed to make a praise record inspired by Bernard Wright's arrangments. But it wasn't to happen for more than a decade later, as Wright nearly vanished from the Christian music scene, and Gibson went through a series of adjustments, contracts and record labels.

Amidst all this, Gibson has also found joy in being a family man, with his wife Lisa Rea at his side and his two young sons providing daily encouragement.

"They're my life and all I do is for them. They're so beautiful and gifted that they're going to make what I've accomplished seem trivial. Their existence has forced me to turn to God and ask him what I can do to prepare the way for them that they might be Godly men full of passion for Him, with gifts complete, and sons of thunder."

He's also found new independence and freedom as an artists on his own Imagery label, which has allowed him explore his heart's desires. Soulful Hymns is the first expression of that. The enthusiasm that Gibson has about the record, and the importance that Bernard Wright played in its making, is evident.

"Here's a little example of what Bernard is capable of. One day, Miles Davis was auditioning keyboard players, when in walked a 12-year-old boy who got the gig. That boy was Bernard Wright. Then we could always ask the people he has worked with, such as Parliament, The Funkadelics, Prince, Bobby Brown, Nile Rogers, Cameo, Chaka Khan, Roberta Flack, David Sanborn, Marcus Miller and so on."

"What separates Bernard from others is that he blends his incredible knowledge of jazz and technical skill with raw street funk and soul. When he's feeling it, nobody can do it like him."

Soulful Hymns is a step or two away from Gibson's The Man Inside album of 1999. It's still got that great intensity to it, but it seems to be more of a comfortable fit for him, in an indescribable way. Not a coincidence, he says.

"The last album was promoted throughout the Black Gospel marketplace. Prior to this, my success had been solely in the mainstream and CCM marketplace. However I feel that Soulful Hymns has such an anointing on it that it might just cross all boundaries, color lines and age groups."

"My calling is to stretch Gospel/CCM music to its earthly limits and certainly beyond the color line. My prayer is that God will allow this music to be heard by everyone so that it will minister to people of all ages and cultures."

"There's racial segregation in music today because the industry has separated music into categories that they can understand and control. Gospel, CCM, praise, contemporary praise, white Gospel, Black Gospel, Southern Gospel….it's all God's music if it's about Him."

"Just like Albertina Walker once said, "I don't know no white Gospel and I don't know no Black Gospel. I just know Gospel!".

The Man Inside Album

The Man Inside is a seamless flow of fifteen cuts (12 songs and 3 interludes) that makes its 57 minutes total length seem to take half that. The title track serves as the thematic backdrop for the project, presenting an appeal to “drop your pride, look at the man inside”, laid over a relentless..." See full album review.

"I think we must all seek God's wisdom so that we can see through the racial smoke screens that Satan puts up, and start searching for that person that God knew in the womb before we were born and before someone told us we were Black or we were white."

"Jesus taught that we should not be anxious for tomorrow, since tomorrow will take care of itself. Standing from this vantage point, I can say that it appears God is preparing us for a mighty thing. I can tell you that we [at Imagery Records] are looking at some possible new artists and have several theme projects on the table."

Gibson then goes on to express his desire and hope that the future will reveal brainstorming possibilities with several of the artists that he admires: Andrae Crouch, Fred Hammond, John P. Kee, Tommy Sims and The Winans. And Stevie Wonder too, with whom he has previously collaborated (on the Body and Soul album from 1989).

"The key lesson I've learned is to put away the childish quest of looking for that 'music industry savior' that's going to make it all happen. I've learned to stand and face my challenges like a man. My ministry is God's purpose for me, and I've got to put in the work. The good thing is that I am not alone."