::ALBUM REVIEW::

Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, renowned producers in pop and R&B worlds, helped usher in a musical phenemenon that changed the contemporary gospel circuit sound of the nineties. They started their own music label, Perspective, after receiving major success with Janet Jackson and decided to make Sounds of Blackness their first and premier artist. Overjoyed by the fortune earned by their debut "Evolution of Gospel" in 1991, Sounds of Blackness returned in 1994 with the enjoyable and consistent album of their entire catalog, "Africa To America: The Journey of the Drum". Of course, nothing on "Africa To America..." is as strong as the two hit singles, "Testify" and "Optimistic", from "Evolution of Gospel", but this project is more complete than the two. There are a number of hit R&B and gospel singles that made its way to radio. And it should be stated that this is a gospel/inspirational project. Sounds has always experimented with other styles of music - ranging from blues to safe R&B, from Negro spirituals to jazz. But the bigger hits on "Africa To America" remains the gospel.

Opening up the festivities is the engaging "I'm Going All The Way", featuring the irresistable soulful vocals of Ann Nesby. She also assists in penning this spiritual jam. Already Nesby had become a popular lead singer within the group and so it was befitting for the producers to allow Nesby to breathe on most of the cuts. She appears on "I Believe", an affirming song of encouragement and godly empowerment. Her performance brings chills to the bone with her convincing deliveries and powerful belting. Even an athiest has to start rocking when they listen to this masterpiece. Nesby also delivers a moving vocal on her moving mother/daughter tribute, "A Place In My Heart". The song really touches the heart with its emotional lyrics and goregous melody.

But there are several delightful moments where Nesby is absent and Sounds still deliver the goods. "The Bigger They Are The Harder They Fall", penned by Jam & Lewis, finds Jimmy Wright on lead vocals delivering meaty expressions from soul music's past. You can hear his musical influences from James Brown and Ron Isley stretching across the boundaries of this dance-friendly cut. "Everything Is Gonna Be Alright", also featuring Jimmy Wright on lead, merges a groovy sample of Isaac Hayes' classic rendition of "Walk On By" and features that familiar Jam & Lewis award-winning sound. "Black Butterfly" is a milky R&B ballad featuring crystal-clear production and moving instrumentation and also was another popular single released for R&B radio. Other highlights include another Nesby delivery on "He Took Away All My Pain" (which borrows a few moments from the Staple Singers' "Let's Do It Again) and the Al Green-flavored "The Lord Will Make A Way" (which incorporates a sample of the familiar breakdown vamp of Green's "Love And Happiness").

This album superceeded the successes of most gospel projects during the year of 1994 and there should be no mystery as to why. The stellar production of Jam & Lewis elevated the hopes of gospel's future and the fresh vocals of Sounds of Blackness never sounded better. In just a few years, Sounds of Blackness became gospel ambassadors and became household names. That legacy by a gospel choir of this caliber has yet to be matched.