Joe Pace comes good on his promise to provide the church with quality music to be sung in service and beyond. His first project to that end (Let There Be Praise!, see album review) was welcomed with open arms.

This, his quick return with the follow-up project, puts the focus squarely on contemporary-styled worship and groove. It’s Shaking the Foundation.

With Gospel’s finest instrumentalists in tow (Jonathan Dubose Jr., Marcus L. Dawson, Kevin Graves, Timothy Johnson, Terry Baker and Simon Baker), Pace writes, plays, arranges, produces and directs this choir project that features the unheralded but considerably talented church choir based out of the Guiding Light Church in Birmingham, Alabama.

Shaking the Foundation kicks things off with a traditionally-veiled brief intro of “I Was Glad" before morphing into a guitar-driven Pace original, “Let Us Go Into The House”. You could rightly say that this segment encapsulates the entire project, putting forth familiar themes and approaches into a contemporary church frame.

Throughout the album, Pace offers up material that is often familiar but at the same time bears a freshness and a brightness that puts it into a new light and opens up doors to experience the music anew. There’s also powerful new songs such as the pure choir beauty of “We Call Him Jesus”.

Cindy Cruse-Ratcliff, Israel Houghton and Aaron Lindsey come together in voice on “Highly Exalted”, a song pulled from Lakewood Church’s recent gem project, We Speak To Nations (see album review).

On “Great Is The Lord Medley”, Pace fuses his original composition “Great Is The Lord” to the incomparable classic, “How Great Thou Art”. Continuing with the medley theme, the “Remember Jesus” joins together songs from Andrae Crouch and The Gaithers.

The “Be Glorified Medley” brilliantly incorporates Billy Funk’s “Be Glorified” praise into Earth Wind and Fire’s softy funky masterpiece “That’s The Way of the World”, using the theme of that familiar song to bring new and true meaning into the audio picture. Pace and crew obviously delight in turning things around to Jesus as Jerard Woods intones his voice over organ and percussion.

Also notable is “Have Your Way” which moves along in unison choir voices with slow, reverent pacing and occasionally bursting into full harmony at emphasized lyrical points.

Contrasting in style is the title track, a raucous rouser that blends brassy effects with foundation-shaking full-throttle vocals that declare that ‘tonight, we got a right to shake the foundations with praise”.

Without taking away from his previous stellar previous efforts, we’ll boldly declare this to be Joe Pace’s strongest project to date. It’s bold when you consider the reams of popular recordings that Pace has had his hand in over the past decade. But it’s true.

Rattling the rafters, raising the roof or Shaking the Foundation, you get the idea and you’ll love the praise.