Reviewed by Tony Cummings

Even though Los Angelese-based Elaine Norwood has performed with such high profile artists as Edwin Hawkins, Nancy Wilson and Mariah Carey (to name a few), she remains close to her Christian roots. It's refreshing to see a reluctance to move away from increasing God's fame for the sake of gaining secular respect. Elaine's voice is quite simply stunning and her delivery quintessentially soulful. The songs here aren't quite of the same standard (as is the case with many of the great vocalists), though producer and one time R&B star Leon Haywood doesn't allow too many clichés to slip through. There is absolutely no shying away from the focus of the music: this is gospel music that isn't afraid to say "give him your all, your heart, your soul, your mind" and "greater is he who is within me than he who is in the world". The album opens strongly with Alicia Keys' "If I Ain't Got You (Jesus)" and travels through classic gospel to modern-day R&B (particularly in Leon Haywood's contributions) with ease. The album's highlight is Martha Munizzi's "God Has A Way of Working It Out", which suggests that Elaine particularly excels at gospel praise. There is certainly more for Elaine to achieve, but don't overlook this storming debut.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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