Purpose by Design (CD - 2000)

Fred Hammond & Radical For Christ includes: Fred Hammond (vocals, horns, keyboards, bass, programming); Resa Bell, Tosha Brown, Miautra Dias, Tamika Lucas, Pamkenyon Donald, Marsha Johns, Yoshaundala Parker, Davey Hammond, David Ivey, Bryan J. Pratt, Frederick J. Purifoy II, Kevin Wilson, Lisa Scott Bailey, Korye Brisco, Keeva Rene, Joann Rosario (background vocals).

Additional personnel includes: Darryl Dixon (acoustic & electric guitars); Tim Bowman (acoustic guitar); Noel Hall (piano, Fender Rhodes piano, organ, keyboards); Eric Reed (organ); Tommie Walker (keyboards, programming); Terrance Palmer (bass); Marvin McQuitty (drums); Darius Fentress (percussion).

Engineers include: Fred Hammond, Ray Hammond, John Yaczc.

Principally recorded at Face To Face Studios, Southfield, Michigan and live at The Power Center, Houston, Texas.

PURPOSE BY DESIGN was nominated for the 2001 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Soul Gospel Album.

Personnel: Fred Hammond (vocals); Bricie Byars, LaShonda Lewis, Lisa Scott Bailey, Jerard Woods, JoAnn Rosario (vocals); Tosha Brown, Tamika Lucas, Resa Bell, Miautra Dias (soprano); Davey Hammond, David Ivey, Kevin Wilson (tenor).

Audio Mixers: Marcus Eason; Matt Wilson ; Ray Hammond.

Recording information: Face To Face Studios, Southfiel; Power Center, Houston TX.

Gospel with a slick pop hip-hop sheen. This album by the former Winans member is a dramatic snapshot of the genre as it enters the new millennium--which is to say that it appropriates a number of highly secular stylistic elements. If you weren't paying attention to the lyrics, you'd be excused for thinking you were hearing an En Vogue record.

In any case, Fred Hammond is a powerful singer and songwriter (and on several cuts, a monster bass player), and the album is eclectic in the best kind of way. There's a first-rate update of Sam Cooke's "Jesus Be a Fence Around Me" (originally a hit for the Soul Stirrers), while Hammond's "Press" is a sly piece of '70s funk (think the Ohio Players singing for the Lord). The album's best moments, however, are the slower ballads; "Give Me a Clean Heart" is a vocal showcase for Hammond, with a melody that could have been written by Christopher Cross (!), and "You Are the Living Word" is a dramatic choral workout that comes the closest to traditional gospel. minimize