'Spreading The Word' various artist compilation of pre-war gospel released.

A FOUR CD box set 'Spreading The Word: Early Gospel Recordings' has just been released by JSP. Featuring 105 tracks from the 1920s and 30s, the CDs showcase such acts as Jessie May Hill, Bessie Johnson, Holy Ghost Sanctified Singers, Washington Phillips and The Texas Jubilee Singers. Red Lick direct sales magazine raved, "one of the most diverse and enlightening collection of gospel music you'll ever hear," singling out Arizona Dranes as "a piano-playing singer who had that tear-this-building-down approach with her blistering piano work and her raucous vocal style" and Sister Mary Nelson "who had a voice that could strip the varnish right off the pews."