Review Of
Use Me As You Will 
Minister Napoleon Williams &
True Friends True Praise
April, 2006 on BlackGospel.com,  Review by Jennifer Belot

It is said that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.  If this adage holds true, then Minister Williams will be remembered for some time to come as one of the music mentors and models of Hoosier Town.  Napoleon Williams & True Friends True Praise (TFTP) have been compared to some of the standout gospel choirs of recent memory including John P Kee and Lamar Campbell.  Their traditional chorale style tempered with contemporary instrumentation caresses the ear and gently ministers to the heart of the listener like few today.  Their “earnest desire to minister to the lost by sharing the message of God's unconditional and undying love through scripturally based, uplifting worship music” is apparent in their melodious incantations.

Choir director Napoleon Williams developed a love for music that was honed by his grandmother and aunt who respectively instilled in him the gifts for performance and playing music.  Having been versed in the art of music, Williams went on to make music his breadwinning talent, becoming the Minister of Music at Mt Olive Baptist Church as well as the celebrated gospel choir instructor at Cathedral High School in Indianapolis.

Borne of a desire to further use his talents in the advancement of the Good News, Minister Napoleon Williams inaugurated the twenty-voice True Friends True Praise Choir in April 2004.  Since then TFTP has grown to become one of the standout choirs assembled in the area, culminating in USE ME AS YOU WILL, their debut recording project now available locally and online at www.truefriendstruepraise.org.

The slightly jazzed up Are You Ready is a contemporized choir track that poses the question as to the readiness of the Saints of God for His imminent return on the clouds of glory.  Enthused chorale voices echo the biblical promise found in the pages of Matthew “Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.”

Also drawing inspiration from the Book of Life is Secret Place, based on the ninety-first Psalm; it is a song of steadfast assurance in the protection of God’s shadow.  Possibly the most well-known and most recited poem of the Bible, the twenty-third Psalm ‘s The Lord Is My Shepherd is presented in its purely classical form with the rich soprano of Gloria Bradford-Jones and Angelo Bridges on organ lending a rich texture to the symphonic arrangement. 

A very wise friend of mine once told me that a savvy choir director knows how to showcase the various talents of all its members, thus giving more color and vivacity to any chorale project.  In addition to writing credits on more than half of the songs on the album, Minister Williams also spotlights the members of TFTP by letting their vocal talents shine as featured soloists.  If I were to show any bias, I would choose as standout performances, Michele West on the title track, Use Me As You Will in beautiful balladry and the worshipful candor of Lawrence Gamble in The Anointing.

Calling not only on his choir members to manifest their talents, Minister Williams also solicited fellow independent artist William Rimson (of William Rimson & LPC) on Never Will I Give Up, a joyous, hand-clapping Sunday-morning church song and DaWayne Coleman as the featured soloist on The Only Living God. As a true admirer of the intricacies of piano, this song stood out for me as one of the most elegant pieces on this project.  Particularly impressive to me was the overall vocal restraint of the choir that elevated this song to a state of understated worshipful poignancy, almost graceful.

“I trust in God, I know He cares for me, on mountain bleak or on the rolling sea; Though billows roll, He keeps my soul, My Heavenly Father watches over me.” The familiar lyrics of the traditional hymn, My Father Watches Over Me (I Trust In God) is given new life with Caribbean undertones in the tradition of old-school John P Kee.  Another revamped traditional hymn was Oh How I Love Jesus, re-flavored into a modernized urban adaptation of the traditional version.

For lovers of traditional choir music, True Friends True Praise is a welcomed postscript to the tapestry of modern gospel music. Their uncomplicated style is a throwback to the heyday of the gospel chorale style that my generation grew up on.  And the emulations of vintage Tri-City Singers and New Life Community Choir, which can be heard in their musicianship shows an acute ear for superior arrangements.  These up and coming ministers embody the words of John 4 in their style and apparent zeal for the Word ”But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth…”  And in that, Napoleon Williams & TFTP are setting themselves up for God to use each of them as He will.