The unique musical style, striking harmonies and infectious praise that are the hallmark of acclaimed Brooklyn-based men’s ensemble Manifest will be on full display at the group’s upcoming concert, “An Evening of Praise With Manifest and Friends.”
The concert, hosted by New York’s famed music personality and producer Ron Grant, will take place Friday, Sept. 28, at 7:30 p.m. at Emmanuel Baptist Church, 279 Lafayette Ave. in Brooklyn. The event is free and open to the public.
Manifest will perform songs from their debut album, “Highest Praise” (2011), as well as contemporary gospel favorites and new material–including the debut of a new song from renowned keyboardist, songwriter and producer Shedrick Mitchell. The concert will also feature recording artist and Broadway/television actor Chaz Shepherd and singer/songwriter Nedelka Prescod.
Manifest is a men’s ensemble with a repertoire that includes a range of original songs that span a number of musical genres from traditional gospel, to contemporary gospel, to jazz-infusedinspirational songs, to holy hip-hop.
“Highest Praise” debuted at No. 32 on Billboard’s Gospel Albums chart, and was produced by Mitchell, who has toured with and produced for artists ranging from Stevie Wonder and Whitney Houston to Maxwell and Jay-Z. The song “One God,” from the CD, is also featured on “Maranatha! Gospel’s Top 25 Songs,” 2012 edition.
Under the direction of Jonathan P. Hicks, the group made its performance debut at the Triad Theater in New York City on Feb. 4, 2011. Since then, Manifest has performed on Sirius XM’s Praise station and at Interactive One. They have been featured in four television specials aired by Trinity Broadcasting’s JCTV’s “15th Street Live.”
In addition, Manifest was among the featured artists participating in the nationally televised Global Day of Worship, along with Andrae Crouch, Le’Andria Johnson and other top Christian and inspirational artists. They also were featured performers on a new show that will be aired on the Word Network.
The group has ministered at churches, homeless shelters, community activities and other events in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Pennsylvania. The group is currently in the studio working on a Christmas project.
Manifest, whom gospel chart-topping musician J.J. Hairston has called “an amazing group,” was featured in the April 30 issue of Jet magazine in “Gospel Gold: The Acts You Should Know.” Jet described its picks as “spiritual singers who are taking their careers to new highs” and headed for “superstardom.”
