Ward, Elder Jack

***Memphis gospel singer Elder Jack Ward’s spirit took flight on April 11, 2023 after a remarkable life of spreading God’s word through example, message and most especially, song. His latest album, The Storm, had just been released by Bible and Tire Records at the time of his passing and has now become the final word and work of a life well lived. Like its 2021 predecessor, Already Made, The Storm captured an element of Ward that producer Bruce Watson found truly rare in the world of gospel music: song writing. “When we connected with him and heard him, his voice was still amazing,” Watson recounted to Bob Mehr of the Memphis Commercial Appeal. “He can still really hit those high notes. He has hundreds of songs...he would start singing all these different songs to us and we were pretty blown away. The fact that he writes his own songs is fairly unique. Most gospel artists, they’re doing traditional numbers. But he actually writes. So it really brings a different element to what he’s expressing.”