Reviewed by Trevor Kirk

SOUL

Based in Indianapolis, The Anointed Women Of Praise (or AWP for short) are 12 righteous sistas under the direction of William J Lester III (talk about being outnumbered), and this album is the culmination of a musical mission that began in 1988 when Billy Lester and his producer friend Michael Houston formed a singing group called Prosperity. In 1999 they did an independent album, which caught the ear of the president of Aleho Records, Al Hobbs, who responded by offering Billy a record deal if he could come up with more material. Accepting the challenge, Prosperity became an all female group, changed its name to AWP, and this album is the end product. I must admit that I've heard better female ensembles, although one of this size is unusual; a plus for me are some live tracks recorded at the Trinity CME Church, Indianapolis, and composing credits go to Billy and Michael, Al Hobbs and the music director of Trinity CME, Tolan J Moran. Even so, competent if not particularly groundbreaking.

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