THE CENTER OF MY JOY” RICHARD SMALLWOOD OUT-OF-PRINT CD IS TO BE REISSUED:

gospel | Sep 10, 2007 | Comments 0

Grammy Award-winning Richard Smallwood has been one of the most important names in contemporary gospel, both as a recording artist and composer, since forming The Richard Smallwood Singers in 1977.

Shanachie Entertainment has reissued the Richard Smallwood Singers‘ long out-of-print Word Records recordings on CD for the first time in a decade. “The Center Of My Joy“ was released on August 28, 2007.

His melding of classical textures with gospel has won him a wide audience, numerous accolades and hits. The Richard Smallwood Singers created a distinct sound that eschewed the stereotypic histrionics of the black church service with a more refined, but no less emotional, style of worship.

“The Center Of My Joy” is a compilation of recordings drawn from three albums (Textures, Portrait and Visions) recorded by The Richard Smallwood Singers for Word Recordings from 1987 – 1991, all of which have long been out of print (and one of which has never been on CD!) The title track of The Center Of My Joy is one of Richard Smallwood’s most popular hits and is a song that is sung in churches across the country every week.

Richard Smallwood was born November 30, 1948 in Atlanta, GA. His father was a pastor and his mother worked for Columbia Records. “My mother would bring home all of the movie and Broadway soundtrack albums,” recalls Smallwood, who began to play piano by ear by the age of five (5). By seven (7), he was taking formal lessons and by eleven (11), had formed his own gospel group.

Richard Smallwood is a graduate of Howard University with a degree in music and he is currently working on his Master’s degree at Howard University Divinity School. Richard Smallwood is attributed with many gospel ‘firsts’. He was a member of the first gospel group on Howard’s campus, The Celestials. They were also the first gospel group to appear at Switzerland’s Montreux Jazz Festival. In addition, Richard Smallwood was one of the founding members of Howard’s first gospel choir, and The Richard Smallwood Singers were the first black gospel group to go to the Soviet Union.

In 2005, The Stellar Awards honored Richard Smallwood with a Lifetime Achievement Award. Aside from a who’s who list in the gospel world doing renditions of his songs, pop artists such as Whitney Houston, Kelly Price, Chaka Khan, and Destiny’s Child have also performed his material firmly solidifying his place as one of gospel music’s most gifted composers and as the center of our musical joy!

More… To listen to Richard Smallwood Singer “The Center Of My Joy” (click here)