My Greatest Romance
Coral Records (2011)

By Bob Marovich for The Black Gospel Blog.

For Trinidad and Tobago native Wintley Phipps, his greatest romance is with his God.

That statement sets the mood for his latest album, My Greatest Romance, which consists of love songs to God, or as he infers on the opening track, “Heart Songs” (interestingly, also a term Prof. Dorsey sometimes used in the 1930s to describe his new gospel songs).

For couples seeking inspirational music for their wedding, and there are many of them, the album’s selections are nuptials-ready.

What Phipps presents on My Greatest Romance is not a gospel album in the typical sense but rather a smooth jazz/easy listening worship project; for example, popular smooth jazz saxophonist Kirk Whalum contributes to three of the tracks. The result is a professional, polished, pleasant and balladic effort.

Although his university training is in ministry, Phipps is an accomplished singer who sounds as if his degrees are in vocal music. He employs his dense, bold baritone to croon softly like George Benson or belt out big notes like a Broadway vocalist. He also wrote all the songs on the album, and they are, for the most part, quite impressive. “A Love Like This,” in fact, is an extraordinary commercial composition, and it wouldn’t surprise me if smooth jazz vocalists snap this one up.

Arguably the strongest performances on the album are the two duets: Phipps with CeCe Winans on “I Promise to Love You” and with Jennifer Holliday on “Call Me." The two ladies are good choices, given the delicacy of the music, with the Winans/Phipps duet the stronger of the two.

The album would have been even better had there been less ballads and more uptempo pieces towards the end. Nevertheless, My Greatest Romance conjures a quiet inspirational storm that will appeal to those who like their sacred music on the softer side.

Four of Five Stars

Picks: “I Promise to Love You,” “A Love Like This.”READ MORE...