   |
|
 This Is Who I Am  Price made her name several years ago with her soulful smoothness on albums from Mariah Carey, P. Diddy and the late The Notorious B.I.G., before embarking on an award-winning solo career.On her first Gospel project, she keeps to her familiar sound, but plies her vocals to a variety of styles, all of it lapped up by the 1500 crammed into her former home church in Long Island, NY. The album’s first single is "Healing", written and produced by Price. Tender orchestration and smooth backing vocals glide underneath Price’s prayer for healing for her soul. With a sticky melodic line, the song is sure to stay in personal rotations for some while. On “God Is Faithful”, Price joins up again with her former choir director, Donnie McClurkin (she was a member of his New York Restoration Choir in its early days). Traditional in approach, the song is a testimony of both artists and a tribute to God’s everlasting mercies. McClurkin and Price work together wonderfully as they trade lead lines. Other guest spots on the project come from Joe Ligon on “God Is Not Dead” and from Richard Smallwood (on piano) with his mid-tempo composition “What A Friend”. Then on “Nobody But Jesus”, Price welcomes Vanessa Bell Armstrong to the stage to help her tear it up. Two vocal powerhouses more intense would be hard to find. Price also reveals her heart and soul on “Just As I Am”, a softly rendered piece that demonstrates that restraint can be as effective as shoe-tossing acrobatics. This Is Who I Am will no doubt find a home with anyone with an ear for honest musical expression by an artist who knows where her hope lies.
Email This To A Friend EcclectiSounds / GospoCentric Records — reviewed by Stan North —
All content in GOSPELflava © copyright 2006. No information to be reprinted or re-broadcast from this site without the expressed written consent of GOSPELflava.com. All rights reserved. |
            
|