JAIA
Just As I Am
JAIA 2010
www.jaia2.com

JAIA (signifying Just As I Am) is the gospel team of Lisa Davis and Lynda Knox. These songbirds from Oklahoma City are not sisters but they certainly could be, because they play off one another vocally as if they have been harmonizing together since preschool.

On Just As I Am, the duo’s soulful harmonies and brassy lead trading are given a soundtrack of alternately pulsating and easy-flowing gospel music infused with smooth jazz, soft rock and powerful R&B arrangements. For example, “I Wanna Know” has a bright, feel good, bouncy R&B vibe and possesses radio potential, though to be fair, “Lord, You’ve Been Good” and its slow building emotion sneaks into the subconscious after repeated plays.

During “Change Has Come” (which includes snippets of a speech by President Obama) and the lively “Not Ashamed,” JAIA morphs into a youthful and optimistic techno-dance duo praising unashamed. These two tracks are especially good examples of the plethora of musical influences that inform the duo’s style. Their press kit says the ladies are into so many kinds of music that they have a “CD collection that takes up an entire room.” Righteous!

JAIA performed alongside Little Cedric and the Hailey Singers in the days before Cedric and Joel became Grammy-winning superstars Jo-De-Ci and then K-Ci & Jo Jo. Cedric and Joel Hailey make a cameo appearance on the duo’s project, assisting the women on “He’ll Fix It for You.”

The final track, “F.A.T.E.” (Fighting Addiction Through Education), differs from the album's other offerings in theme and sound. Dedicated to the memory of Brandon Whitten and to the Whitten-Newman Foundation, “F.A.T.E.” is an acoustic CCM-style directive encouraging listeners battling substance abuse to remember three little words: “Just Say No.”

Just As I Am benefits from a tight production, courtesy of JAIA and Kenneth Springs, Jr. and makes for very pleasant listening front to back. Fans of female groups such as RiZen and Z’iel will especially enjoy this project.

Four of Five Stars

gPod Picks: “I Wanna Know,” “Lord You’ve Been Good,” “Not Ashamed.”

Review by Bob Marovich of The Black Gospel Blog