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| Berklee's Signature Concert Series Presents Richard Smallwood  The Berklee College of Music Signature Series, where world-renowned musicians share the stage with Berklee faculty and students, presents the Songs of Richard Smallwood, February 3, at the Berklee Performance Center. Smallwood is the creator of a unique and widely appealing style of gospel that blends r&b, pop, soul, and classical music. Performing songs from a nearly 30-year career, Smallwood will be backed by a faculty group led by associate voice professor Raymond Reader, and the Berklee Reverence Gospel Ensemble, directed by associate ensemble professor Dennis Montgomery, III. Dr. Teresa Hairston, publisher of Gospel Today magazine and a donor to Berklee's Africana Studies Archive, will be the guest MC. The Songs of Richard Smallwood is produced by the Africana Studies Department.Smallwood is a six-time Grammy Award–nominee and Gospel Music Hall of Fame inductee. The Smithsonian honored him as a gospel innovator and songwriter. Graduating cum laude from Howard University, the pianist, singer, composer, and arranger's first album, 1982's Richard Smallwood Singers, spent 87 weeks on Billboard's Gospel chart. Smallwood won a Grammy for production on the Quincy Jones's gospel project Handel's Messiah: A Soulful Celebration. Destiny's Child, Yolanda Adams, Whitney Houston, and Boyz II Men are just some of the artists who have recorded Smallwood's songs. The Songs of Richard Smallwood also commences the annual Africana Studies Concert Series, produced by Bill Banfield, director of Africana Studies, and students and faculty. The series includes performances and lectures by John Blake, Ernie Isley, Honeyboy Edwards, Bobby McFerrin, Patrice Rushen, and Nnenna Freelon, among others. write your comments about the article :: © 2011 Jazz News :: home page |