Charles Martin | Mary’s Son | TheUrbanMusicScene.com

Charles Martin | Mary’s Son
By Peggy Oliver

Detroit
is an urban music hotbed; from the sweet soul of Motown to contemporary
gospel. The list of gospel pioneers is very impressive indeed
including: The Clark Sisters & Mattie Moss Clark, The Winans,
Reverend C.L. & Aretha Franklin, Vanessa Bell Armstrong, Thomas
Whitfield and Deitrick Haddon. Since the mid nineties, Haddon elevated
and reshaped contemporary gospel music with his classic soul, edgy
R&B and hard hitting praise and worship thru the vocal group Voices
of Unity (VOU). Taking many cues from Haddon, VOU member Charles Martin
weaves those same elements on his debut, Mary’s Son. Though he has spent more time in a background vocalist capacity (VOU, Radical for Christ) and in theatrical productions (Black Nativity), Martin won the hearts of audiences in solo appearances on Bobby Jones Gospel
TV show. His warm voice, certainly the antithesis of Haddon’s gritty
and charismatic style, holds his own for the most part by nicely
textured production from Rachard ‘Chardyroc’ Williams.

Martin’s inspiration for entitling Mary’s Son was
inspired not only for the mother of Jesus, but for his birth mother who
shares the same name. The rousing “This Joy” and “Thank You” has that
bouncy Haddon praise style. On the latter piece, Yolanda Harris-Stover’s
riveting voice injects a soulful punch. Martin also handles the
intimate worship moments with grace and strength including “Have Your
Way,” “Back to You,” the first single “Secret Place” and “Faithful (I
Believe).” “My Everything” should successfully cater to the urban and
pop gospel audiences.

If there were any setbacks on Mary’s Son, it would be the electronically enhanced background voices that cloud over Martin’s on various tracks. Otherwise, Mary’s Son is worthy of Martin’s testimony with Jesus and adds another legacy to Detroit’s already rich gospel history.

Peggy Oliver

The Urban Music Scene