Charles Davis & The Clouds CD Review

Charles Davis & The Clouds

Trust In Jesus

After a brief “vacation” away from the gospel music industry, Glen Stevenson is back in a mighty way. Mr. Stevenson is the CEO of the newly established Humility Music Group. Humility has released its first project. Mr. Stevenson has a long history in the gospel quartet music industry. He was instrumental in introducing Lee Williams & The Spiritual QC’s to the world. So it is no surprise that Humility’s first project would be traditional quartet.

It is the debut CD of Charles Davis & The Clouds, titled “Trust In Jesus.” Mr. Stevenson has found another jewel in Charles Davis & The Clouds. The project was recorded live at the Bama Theater, Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

According to Mr. Stevenson, Charles Davis & The Clouds has been singing for quite sometime. That is certainly reflected in this project. This group is indeed ready for national recognition.

Even before listening to the CD, just reading the liner notes let you know that this would be a good recording. Afterall, Timothy Moore played guitar and Billy Voss played the organ. These musicians know a great deal about live gospel quartet recordings and they certainly did not disappoint on this one. At the same time, however, this project is one that has to “grow” on you. In other words, the more you play the CD, the more you will appreciate the project. Each time we have played the CD, it seems that something else comes to our attention, whether it is the great quality of the vocal recording, or the tightness of the background singers, or the fact the bass guitar plays a very prominent role in the majority of the songs.

The project begins with the upbeat “Few More Days.” This song will probably get the most airplay. However, even though it is a good song, it is not the best song on the project. In our opinion, that distinction is left to “Walk On.” A song with a simple message, whatever you do, do it in Jesus name. This is the type of song that will cause you to pick up the CD years from now just to hear that one song.

“How I Love Him” is the second track on the CD. It is just a bit bluesy. At one point in the song you hear echoes of Jerry Butler’s “For Your Precious Love.” “Trust In Jesus,” the title track reverts back to traditional quartet.

“Broken Pieces” is the fourth track. It starts very slow and continues at the same tempo through out the song. It is more of a “talk” with the audience, with backup instrumental. This is definitely one of the songs, as well as “What Can I Do,” that you will have to play over and over to appreciate. But, once you do, you will realize that these are powerful songs with strong messages. These songs also showcase the storytelling ability of the lead singer.

The tempo picks back up with “Doing Fine” and “Wayside.” After “Wayside,” there is a 7 minutes testimony titled “Testimony (Hard Time).” Unlike the storytelling in “Broken Pieces” and “What Can I Do,” this track is close to being a sermonette. During this song, it is one of the few times during the recording that you actually hear audience participation. The sermonette leads into the song “Hard Time.” The song is over 7 minutes long. Because of the upbeat tempo to the song, you will not think it is that long.

“Down On My Knees” is the fourth song on the project that is over 7 minutes in length. The final track is “Can’t Hold Back.”

By the time you get it to the end of the CD, you will be asking yourself, where have these guys been? Because they are a good group and they have a good project with “Trust In Jesus.” If there are any drawbacks to the CD it would be the lack of crowd participation (afterall, it is a live recording) and the bass guitar, at times, is very pronounced.

On the whole this release from Charles Davis & The Clouds is a good project. We understand that a video of this live recording should be available this year. We give Charles Davis & The Clouds "Trust In Jesus" a very solid 8 out of 10. To order this project click “Trust In Jesus.” Click on the title to hear “Can't Hold Back.”

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