::ALBUM REVIEW::

The name says it all. A powerful living legend, Andrae' Crouch is one of those icons that doesn't need to find a style to build from, he is a creator of style. He is celebrated for being an important figure in Christian music and for being a trailblazer during the Jesus Movement (1969-1979) while exploring various contemporary sounds unlike any other during that time. His songs have become beacons of light in multiple hymnals and songbooks that crosses cultural and racial lines. And even though he hasn't been on the recording platform since his 1998 holiday album, "Gift of Christmas", the legend surely has no desire to find a style years later to make an impressive return. Most of what we hear today in modern gospel music such as Israel Houghton, Fred Hammond and John P. Kee are products and developments of Andrae' Crouch's dynamic inventory. And he doesn't stray from those creations on his latest full-length collection, "Mighty Wind"; almost eight years since his last project. The mode and posture here is a reflection of Crouch delivering soulful, contemporary tunes set to a lengthy package of friendly praise-and-worship lyrics and elaborate musical arrangements. And helping to support the listing of songs are a number of favorable guest vocalists along with the Mighty Wind Choir with a membership that includes Nicole "Nikki" Potts, Melanie Daniels, Markita Knight, Christ Memorial Church Choir and the San Diego Mass Choir.

Charging things up is the spicy contemporary jam, "I Was Glad", which features the dynamic skills of Luther "Mano" Hanes on keyboards and LaDell Abrams' on-point drum work. With longtime ACS member Tata Vega jumping in and delivering a mind-blowing, gritty solo, the song flows with infectious spirit and goes through several changes towards the latter part of the song. Written by Crouch and Rickey Grundy, the song is definitely a reminder of perky choir openers during the hey-days of the 1990s. Crouch's ability to pen a colorful tune is still evident as he portrays such trademarks on "All Because Of Jesus"; a midtempo number featuring the mature, commanding vocals of Pastor Marvin L. Winans. The song bears a catchy melody and contains enough strength to stand mightily with a chunkful of Crouch's legendary numbers. "Jesus Is Lord", first heard on the 1979 "I'll Be Thinking Of You" LP, gets a salsa-tango makeover and a killer vocal performance from Karen Clark-Sheard. While Clark-Sheard sounds off her brilliant, fast-paced vocal runs on top of the memorable lyrics, Crouch occasionally drops in with a few ad-libs and narrative declarations. Of course, Crouch's voice has diminished in texture over the years and almost feels hoarse or weakened, but his husky vocals and lively charisma that seems too reminiscent to the likes of James Cleveland is full of emotion and helps to give the sound that extra gospel charge. Towards the vamp, the song reverts back to the rhythm foundation from the original version while mixing fresher waves of dirty funk. Another heatseeker to focus on is "O Give Thanks" which finds Fred Hammond singing a tune that best suits him. Definitely a radio spotlight, the song contains familiar glances of Crouch's uptempo light-funk and a down home quartet drive. And with Mo' Horns on board delivering one of their most extravagant horn arrangements ever, the song is overjoyed with success.

Of course there are strong cuts here, but most of the other cuts have lovable features and deserve a just share of attention. "Come Home" is nicely produced - with Pedro Eustache punctuating the soft melody with his flute and Commissioned's Marcus Cole sounding a little bit like a youthful Andrae' Crouch but with more vocal aerobics. "Holy" is a beautiful worship piece and bears a dominant musical excellence with big names like Greg Phillinganes on piano, Rickey Grundy on keyboards, Paul Jackson, Jr. on guitar and Gerald Albright on the tenor/alto sax. But it is the entire flow of the song that baffles, with its curvaceous string arrangements and nicely-pieced horn arrangements. It almost feels like a modern selection for a big symphony but with emphasis on worship music movements. Another song dipped in the salsa and picante', "Thank You For Everything" has to be one of those tracks that prove Crouch's passion for international culture and spicy musical works. With a Latin drive, the song bears a singable melody (known in Crouch's material regardless of how big the music arrangements are) and even includes a chorus sung in Spanish. "We Give You Glory" finds Crystal Lewis singing a worship number styled in the fashion of a classic Broadway number with traces of big symphony arrangements. Just to hear the colossal music alone on this number is mind-blowing. "Mighty Wind", a song he first introduced on a TBN Praise The Lord program, closes out the project clocking at a lengthy eight minutes. Meditative worship is the heart of the song, which may be an apparent sign in the song title.

Even with all of the guest stars on "Mighty Wind", Andrae' Crouch is the designer and the chief moderator of things. Plus let the idea be excused that Crouch needed big names to make this project an enjoyable listen - this project celebrates his 40th anniversary and is grounded for being a landmark release. Of course the supporting cast helps out with the replay value of the disc, but the songs are very enjoyable and are well put together. There are some diminishing characteristics in the lyrical content compared to Crouch's highly-praised early works. Seems like he takes too much time on worship music and not enough emphasis on other topics and subjects. Worship music is considered safe material and it is the most popular and well-accepted gem in Christian music today, so that is probably why Crouch didn't dwell on other subject matters for this album. This is probably the only hurtful quality here, but musically and artistically Crouch has assembled one of his better, enjoyable projects in years.