Nothing But Worship
Artist: The New Life Community Choir – featuring John P. Kee
Label: Zomba Label Group
Time: 13 tracks / 74:02
 
John P. Kee is one of those amazingly gifted people who seem to be able to do it all. He’s a multi-instrumentalist, a song writer, a choir director, and a powerful gospel singer in his own right. Kee seems to bridge the gap between old-school gospel and rock & roll, especially on his work as a solo artist. On Nothing But Worship, Key, with the New Life Community Choir, succeeds in blending those elements again, with plenty of funk and jazz to spice up the mix. I must admit that the album’s title had me worried that Kee had caved in to the ‘praise and worship’ machine, but that’s not the case. Key even addresses the issue in the press kit by saying, “These songs – this entire album – is not ‘Praise and Worship’ – in quotations …as a musical genre,” and we’re fortunate that he spoke the truth. The distinction of a genre versus a quality is a key issue (no pun intended) when it comes to music specifically designed for a ‘church experience,’ -and the line is drawn here effectively and at various moments on the recording, where a spirit of celebration seems to spontaneously erupt. If praise and worship is an expression of passion and joy, then there’s much of that on this often exciting and uplifting project. 
 
Clocking in at a generous 74 minutes (fully twice as long as the last two CDs I’ve listened to this week), Key and the Choir tear through thirteen high-energy tracks with amazing power, and a high-octane band that sounds like it can tear the roof off of any venue they play in. That being said, the project surprisingly starts off with a less than impressive track called “Right Now Praise,” followed by a ballad sung in duet, featuring Kee and Fred Hammond. If you’ve never heard John P. Kee, by the way, his voice is a thick, powerful instrument, a force of its own, capable of soaring and shouting, leaping and punctuating the air with verbal thrusts and jabs; not a pretty thing, but certainly a captivating and moving sound.  
 
The pace picks up on track three, “Glorious is Thy Name,” (where we get to hear some of that rock and funk I alluded to earlier), as a Stevie Wonder-esque riff, reminiscent of “Sir Duke,” emerges from nowhere, played by guitar, bass and keyboard, while Chris Kee gets a real workout on some powerful drum breaks. “It Shall Be,” follows with some old-school choir action and a deviation into some bluesy vamping to round out the verses: Sheila Lakin is the featured female soloist, but Pastor Kee himself almost steals the show with his whooping, hollering, and shoutin’ vocals. 
 
Kee and New Life bring a pop/rock edge to the sixth track, “Live For You,” complete with  fuzz guitar elements, including a stinging guitar solo (relatively rare in gospel music), and a strong post-disco pop beat. Some funky slap-bass, fuzz guitar and heavy drums introduce the next track, a contemporary choir number called “Sanctuary,” which gives the rhythm section a real workout. Kee gets old-school funky on the organ at the end, just to remind the choir of where all of that contemporary gospel-funk comes from.
 
The rest of the CD is rounded out by a variety of choir/soloist songs – mostly high-energy and funky, without many lyrical surprises, but certainly with words that are uplifting and, at times quite inspirational. Some of the songs start out well enough, but reach a point where the power of the band simply takes thing to another level: “No Greater Love/ Ain’t Nobody,” is a good example of this, as the song kicks into high gear a little past the half-way point.
 
Of course, there’s the obligatory remix at the end of the CD – this time it’s a remix of the first track (which – for me – still lacks the energy of the rest of the project). Over all, this is another good offering from Kee and The New Life Community Choir, with some real high points, mostly thanks to Kee’s powerful arrangements and the amazing work of the band, which is always tight, funky and capable of bringing just enough rock & roll into the gospel mix to keep things interesting. I have to admit, though, that if I hear one more contemporary gospel CD where someone shouts “let’s make some noise in this place!” I might just be the one you hear screaming…
 
 Although John P. Kee tends to be more interesting as a solo performer, this is a good contemporary gospel choir project that succeeds better than most at mixing old and new school sounds without compromise.
 
 By Bert Saraco 
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