Summary: <p>New Jersey-born and Grammy Award-winning superstar singer Gloria Gaynor might be best-known for her disco-era hits, but she has deep gospel roots and with her 2019 release, <em>Testimony</em>, she gives powerful voice to these roots. She cites as influences Blind Boys of Alabama, the Five Blind Boys of Mississippi and Sam Cooke and the Soul Stirrers, and watching her brothers perform as a gospel quartet (<a href="http://www.crossrhythms.co.uk/articles/music/Gloria_Gaynor__The_disco_diva_steps_into_the_gospel_arena/66388/p1/" target="_blank">Cross Rhythms Radio</a>.)</p> <p>While she had recorded a Christian music record to go with her 2013 book, <em>We Will Survive: True Stories of Encouragement, Inspiration, and the Power of Song</em>, it is just now in 2019 with <em>Testimony</em>, which was just nominated for a Grammy, that she partnered with producer Chris Stevens (TobyMac, Mandisa) to create a roots-gospel collection of songs. Blues-drenched and spiritual, there are soulful and brass-augmented originals that rely on Gaynor's songwriting interspersed with re-imagined versions of the classic "Amazing Grace" and "Take My Hand, Precious Lord," along with a funk-infused cover of Bob Dylan's "Man Of Peace." Gloria Gaynor sings some of these uplifting songs in-studio. -<em> Caryn Havlik</em></p> <p><em>Watch the session here: </em></p>
