::ALBUM REVIEW::

After releasing a number of successful albums with the Kurt Carr Singers such as No One Else (1997) and Awesome Wonder (2000), Kurt Carr adopted a serious work ethic to help revive the careers of Byron Cage, Paul S. Morton and Tramaine Hawkins. All thanks to the scoring of the popular church anthem “In the Sanctuary” and the mega hit status of “The Presence of the Lord Is Here,” Carr has emerged to become one of the industry’s most watched trailblazers. But a big stumble from the adventurous and highly theatric One Church fell on deaf ears in 2004. Four years later, Kurt Carr returns with his first two-disc collection Just the Beginning; an ambitious project Carr calls “singer-friendly, very congregational” and a “return to my roots.” It’s not hard to imagine Carr writing congregational-friendly material (look at Awesome Wonder and No One Else) nor is it hard to grasp Carr returning to his roots. His enriched gospel training came from the late James Cleveland after a move to the West Coast. After joining Cleveland’s staff, Carr began to spread his wings by exposing his keen compositional style with the King of Gospel during the final years of his career. While he always possessed that theatric spice in his early material, Carr remained on course with merging his own unique style with the traditions of contemporary gospel music. On Just the Beginning, Carr remains invigorated with raising the barometer on his animated, pompous gospel style.

The first disc opens all wrong with a fancy childhood story narrated by Carr told with turn-offish nursery jingles and sweepingly enters into “Overture;” a fast five-minute medley of several Carr classics. Both tracks, especially the super indulgence of the medley, come off like a big ego trip rather than an innocent trip down memory-lane. But all isn’t bleak; fast forward to “Peace and Favor Rest on Us” is fast-tempo, highly-energized jam that works well when running in the repetitive laps of the bridge and vamp. The Tye Tribbett tricks and antics may be a bit of a burden, but the bright melody and final churchy moments become big benefactors for the track. With kudos from Lloyd Barry’s string arrangements, “God Is A Healer” is scribed with the warmth of Byron Cage’s “There Is A Name.” The big worshipful song later explodes into the type of gospel ballads that Donald Lawrence gets cool points on. The reprise, featuring Gene Moore, Jr. on lead vocals, sounds more like a prelude and is way too short of life; fading out like a one-minute Milton Biggham-produced track from the ‘90s. The title track, beautified with prophetic inspiration and careful metrical verses, comes off as an adult contemporary, pop-tinged ballad. Even clocking at seven minutes, the song bubbles with enough energy and encouragement that lasts the whole song. Closing out the second disc, “Right Place Right Time” opens with sassy harmonies and throttles into a down-home churchy groove. If Carr wanted to get back to the traditional memory-lane stuff, this is where Carr shines the most. Probably the biggest highlight of the first disc, the Kurt Carr Singers deliver soulful ad-libs and the song walks through several changing portals of fun and rocking excitement. Only flaw would be the multiple alternative vamps executed. Even the humorous “o-o-o-ohh-ahhs” aren’t a big disturbance to the track, but the overloaded vamps make it very hard to determine the next move. Perhaps the first disc struggles the most with songs that could have become some of Carr’s big winners. “I Believe God,” showcasing the beauty of Timiney Figueroa-Caton’s versatile vocals, is extended a bit too long and goes from sounding like a Dianne Warren ballad into a climaxing replica of Jennifer Hudson’s “And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going.” Another example of what could have been a highly memorable moment, “I Am the One” journeys into the story found in Luke 17 of the healed leper that came back with a grateful praise. But the lengthy verse and Pastor Destry Bell’s lack of powerhouse ad-libs inundates some of the girth of the song’s apparent possibilities.

The second disc isn’t as favorable as the first installment, especially since ten tracks only make the forty-nine minute set. Take out the two reprises offered and you have a sad attempt to expand a disc in order to sell double units. Opening with better results, “My Shepherd (Psalm 23)” mixes rock gospel with pop worship and carries a cute memorable melody that is sure to linger in the minds of listeners after the song fades. Contemporary Christian group Avalon journeys alongside the track and preps the song for crossover airplay. The last of the big moments, “Great Jesus” is sweetly and innocently penned. And tamed with less big key changes and modulations, the song is a worshipful breeze that would fit well in most church choir repertoires. But the second disc quickly loose steam thereafter. “Spiritual Makeover” slides away from its cool opening sounds way into the four-minute mark. The closing seconds, granting the band and singers a few moments to get funky, feels uninspired and unprepared. Even with 89-year old Narcissus Hinton-Brown pulling out a few congregational choruses, the following “Don’t Let Your Light Go Out” feels like a uptempo Hairspray-inspired arrangement that would work well during a finale’ of a Tony Awards presentation.

Even with two discs assembled, Just the Beginning is a scattered-out brisk adventure that reigns with likable moments but not sensible enough for a full listen. It’s still a bit too theatric and Broadway-ish for average gospel listeners; hurting the potential enjoyment of what could have been a good project. Like Richard Smallwood’s Journey and James Hall’s Live at Foxwoods, Carr would have benefitted in downsizing most of its extravagant pageantry to one full-length disc and would have earned favorable consideration. There’s like three unpredictable praise breaks throughout the collection, the lengthy ballads that could have been trimmed down a few minutes, and a few B-side tracks (“We Exist to Give You Praise,” “Blessed Be the Rock,” “Spiritual Makeover”) that could have been tossed aside for a future expansion package. As Carr expressed on one of the interludes, he “kinda stretched a little bit the last time [One Church].” On this round, Carr still stretches beyond the limits. He’s not experimenting with international sounds and over-the-top instrumentation this time, but he’s still too imprudent with showy presentations and Broadway sceneries. Carr has institutionalized into his brand of music a big display full of oversinging, narrative ad-libs and big sermonizing that gets overbearing after several listens. No longer is the emphasis on the music, but on the larger-than-life personalities presented. These grim choices, alongside the double-disc overload, trouble the replay value of Just the Beginning. Plus how many times can we run through tiresome reprises of the rap-like tag of“The Presence of the Lord Is Here” on each subsequent album release? Far better than One Church in terms of listening pleasure, but way too extravagant than Awesome Wonder and No One Else. If this is “just the beginning” for Carr and his career, the ending will need some serious ironing out to get the big climax it needs. So far, the best albums have already been done.