EARL THOMAS

“Part Soul Stirrers, part Ike and Tina Turner Revue, this hand clapping, foot stomping, get up and dance in the aisle southern gospel tent revival is not to be missed!” Celebrating the music he calls “the soundtrack to African American history,” his new album Church Songs showcases a top bluesman singing songs that are the roots of the blues and the foundation of American music. Earl Thomas makes his gospel debut with The Gospel Ambassadors, a tight quintet with guitar, bass, drums, piano, congas, and featuring powerhouse vocal trio Sister Leola, whose soprano, mezzo, and contralto encompass Thomas’s commanding vocals with equal scale and scope. His songs have recorded by Etta James, Solomon Burke, and Screamin Jay Hawkins (to name a few) and for over thirty years he has been recognized as one of the world's leading blues singer-songwriters. But it is his “third act,” singing the gospel, that is nearest and dearest to his heart and is, as the reviewer said, “not to be missed!”