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Early Years
When did you first start playing the piano and what are some of your earliest musical memories?
I started playing when I as four years old. One day my parents caught me playing the piano, they said I couldn't even reach the pedals. Some of my early memories are playing at a music festival in Tobago in 1976. Those who did well go to the mainland and play in Trinidad at Queen's Hall. I remember playing this piece and winning and then going to play in Trinidad. So that was a big deal growing up. There was a time at church when a pianist didn't show up and someone was needed to play. So, I walked up, sat down, and played. Up until that point people at church didn't know I could play. At eight, my church, Scarborough SDA, put me into their piano rotation, let me play for choirs, etc. So I have plenty of musical memories from growing up.
What role did your parents play in helping you develop your musical gift?
I needed lessons, I knew that I needed more when I was eight, so even wile playing at church I was taking lessons. My first piano teacher was Mrs. Armstrong, I saw her last year when I went to Tobago and I was able to play her piano for her, it was awesome.
What role did music play in what you decided to study?
It played the ultimate role. Before I got to Oakwood, I went to college days during my 11th year in high school. They showed the science building and I thought it was cool. But then, we went to some chapel event at Moran Hall and this choir got up to sing. Mark Kibble and Mervyn Warren had a choir called "Blessed Peace", and when I heard those guys in the choir sing I knew I was going to go to Oakwood. I was going there to study science, but that music solified my desire to go there. As they say, 'college is more for your parents, graduate school is really for you'. Grad school really started to confirm that I was going to really do something in music. I attended the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, (since Mervyn Warren & Cedric Dent went there as well). My first year they had a Martin Luther King event and hired me to prepare music. Della Reese was singing and I wrote the orchestral arrangements. It was very cool to write for the orchestra and have things that were in my mind come to life. Out of graduate school I worked with Patti Austin and the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, it was a program called "O Freedom", featuring African American music from slavery until the 1990s. I was a part of the orchestral development team and met some other great contacts including Lloyd Barry who does the bulk of brass work on gospel recordings. I've been using him since then. It was incredible watching the orchestra and listening to Patti; I remember sitting there and just bawling my eyes out, it was a pretty incredible experience.
MUSICAL CAREER
After college you began to sing with the Heritage Singers, what are some of your favorite memories of touring worldwide?
Yes, I played for them. I was out on tour for three years, I visited every state in the country, we had a South pacific tour which was incredible, even visiting Tahiti. I fell in love with the place and I'm going there for my honeymoon. I'm not going back there alone, that's for sure!
Your career opportunities have blossomed over time, the list of artists you have worked with is extensive. One of them, CeCe Winans, had you as her musical producer. What are the basic responsibilities with this type of position?
Yes, I was CeCe's first musical director when she decided to go out as an artist. Music producers have to ensure that the recording is done at a high level, picking the right players, keys, tempos, microphones, engineers to mix, the right background singers, everything. It doesn't necessarily mean playing the piano, but it's really like a builder supervising a house being built and supervising each of the specialists being brought in to build the house. You have to delegate responsiblly, basically.
So you now have your own production company, AfterTouch Music. How fulfilling has it been to provide an avenue for artists trying to bring their music to life?
It's very fulfilling! For me, that's what it is about anyway, it's about serving and helping people realize their dream and give them a chance to tell their own story, and at a high level. To me producer means servant. I'm such a different kind of producer and that surprises people when they first meet me, the ego isn't there. Service is what being aproducer is all about. When someone gives you a demo and hears their track, I am very fulfilled. I keep the positive feedback from the artists nearby, close to me, in the kitchen, etc. When someone tells me that God sent me their way, it keeps me grounded in why I do the work. It's a priority for me to be there for artists in whatever way I can.
What are some lessons you can share that might inspire or instruct others who are following in your footsteps and trying to develop their musical gift?
Well, if I'm not being politically correct, forget about everybody around you and focus on what you've been given and give it to God. When I told my parents I wasn't going to medical school anymore they thought I was crazy. My church still doesn't get it about music, unfortunately, so I'd have to say in a way forget about people around you and cultivate your gift and work on your own relationship with God and don't even let the church tell you what to do with your gift. Because, if I had listened I probably wouldn't be interviewing with you right now. Then you decide how you want to use your gift in service for your church and community. Always remember that these gifts are like powers. In my workshops I tell people that 'we musicians' are like superheroes, they have to be innovative, people often don't know who they are, they disappear and are often in the background. They are ultimate servants. Having the power to take notes, manipulate them, change the way they sound, make harmony, alter peoples moods and change the way people feel. That is a power! It is a very serious power. You have to embrace it and respect it and understand why you were given that power. You could be angry and get into your car and pop in a CD and it can change your mood. You can be at church and not sure how you feel that day and then somebody sings. Way before the word is spoken, music really prepares hearts. It is really a power, sometimes even more powerful than the spoken word itself. There is a reason why God invented and created music.
the fUTURE
Are there any upcoming projects that you can share at this time?
I just finished working with a pair of sisters out of Atlanta, the Lamar Sisters, a contemporary gospel group. Leean Palmore, she was out with CeCe for about eight years, has a very fine project, I'm excited abou it as well. I'm working on Debbie Dixon, a very talented singer, song-writer, & worship leader out of Atlanta. I have a Spanish Artist that I work with, Paulis Sanchez, she has some really beautiful songs including a remake of a Walter Hawkins piece "Thank You", in English & Spanish. Jamie Keaton is one of the artists I've worked with the longest, we've done three records, we're almost on our fourth. She is involved in a right to life campaign featuring the song "My Chance", so just a variety of things.
When you get to heaven, what is something musical or otherwise that you would love to do?
Wow, well, I want to know what music really sounds like up in heaven. Is it going to sound the same? Are the harmonics, melodic stuff, everything that we know going to sound the same? If it does, then I want to know what that 'extra level' of stuff is. Are there any instruments there and what kind of instruments? What are voices and harmony going to sound like? What exactly is music going to sound like there? Then last and not least, I want to make music there too! What kind of music do angels sing, do they use two or three part harmony? It will be humbling, seeing how far behind will I be. What does music sound like that is out of this world?!
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