Gone Global: Gospel Guru Kurt Carr Readies New Recording

By Jawn Murray, BlackVoices.com

It may have been three years since gospel phenom Kurt Carr has released a CD of his own, but the Houston-based singer, songwriter and producer hasn't taken a moment off.

The multiple Stellar Award-winning talent has been busy behind the scenes crafting hits for the likes of Tramaine Hawkins, Bishop Paul S. Morton and Ami Rushes. "There's no joy like giving to others and I love giving to others," Carr told me via telephone from his home in Houston .

Carr's stock as a songwriter and producer soared after he produced Byron Cage's 'Live at New Birth Cathedral' in 2003. That set featured the smash hit 'The Presence of the Lord is Here,' which Carr wrote and earned numerous awards for.

In 2005, the self-contained talent released his critically acclaimed 'One Church' CD and established himself as an international superstar.

"Since that album came out, we've been to Brazil, Argentina, London, several islands, Africa and Japan," he shared. "My vision was just God speaking to me saying that 'your ministry is bigger than to just Black people.' I love my people, I'm proud of being Black and I love collard greens; but there's more to the world than just that. I believe that God has given my ministry the ability to transcend culture and race and that's exactly what happened."

His Japan jaunt was so impressive that he was even offered the position of honorary principle of a music school there. "This is all a manifestation of the 'One Church' project," he said proudly.

Now Carr is in preproduction on his next Kurt Carr Singers album, tentatively slated for a fourth quartet release.

The Grammy Award winner, whose 2000 release 'Awesome Wonder' was certified gold (500,000 units sold), spoke to me about his recent collaborations, future pairings and other forthcoming ventures.

You've delivered some great projects on other artists recently. Tell me about some of these collaborations beginning with Bishop Paul Morton.

We sang for event during the annual Congressional Black Caucus convention in Washington, DC that Congresswoman Sheila Jackson-Lee heads up. We were doing 'For Every Mountain' and I looked in the audience and saw Paul Morton sitting there. God said, 'This song is for him!' They also have a prayer breakfast with about 3,000 people there. We were singing and God told me that this song is for Bishop Morton. I went into the audience and gave him the mic. I told people, 'You might not know this man, but he lost everything in Katrina.' He sung 'For Every Mountain' and literally after we finished singing, they had to stop the program. They couldn't go on. It was like a move of God came in and ladies were throwing their hats and salads at each other. It was great and it launched the idea that we could do something together. Shortly afterwards, his office called and asked me to do the 'Still Standing' project. I went down to New Orleans and spent a week there and looked at the incredible damage that was done in the area where the levees broke. I just wept because you have to see it to believe it. God just began to give me songs of encouragement. I told a friend that I was watching 'Oprah' and how she built houses and did a lot of things to help the Katrina survivors. I couldn't do that, but what I could do is lend my voice and gifting to give them encouragement. That was probably the most spirit-filled and touching live recording I had ever done in my life. Out of everyone that was there, I would guess three-fourths of them survived the storm. It was just unbelievable. Bishop won Traditional CD of the Year at the Stellar Awards and we're proud of that. He told me that he feels it is his best project and I pushed him and the songs spoke sentiments of his heart. I guess that was mission accomplished.

And you helped re-launch Tramaine Hawkins, one of your favorite female vocalists.

I don't know if you know this, but I grew up in a house that had Christian principles, but we weren't every-Sunday-going-to-church kind of people. We moved to an area that was across the street from a church so when we did go to church, this is the church that my mother took me to. There were renowned for their singing and had a great choir. I got up and asked my mother if I could go. I went by myself at 13. I joined church on my own and started there. When my mother saw my interest there, she had gone to New York to see a play, 'Your Arms Are Too Short to Box with God' and she bought the record and the 'Jesus Christ is The Way' record. She probably thought 'Oh Happy Day' was on it because she saw Hawkins. The 'Jesus Christ is The Way' album changed my life. That's how I learned to play piano and do certain voicing and pick out parts, which is the beginning of songwriting. It really shaped my life and I fell in love with Tramaine Hawkins. Just to think that God used her to draw me to Christ and listening to those records day after day for about three years and then years later bring her back.

When did you all meet and decide to work together?

Tramaine had kind of gotten into a slump and she was still singing and doing her thing, but she had gotten beat up by the industry and disappointed as we all do. She even told me that she told her husband, 'I'm going to sing and do these dates and then I think it's over for me. I'm not going to do this anymore.' God put it on my heart that this was the thing to do and we went through a whole lot of record company red tape for over three years because someone else was slated to produce it. I knew God told me that I was supposed to do it. The turning point was when I was at Mega-Fest in Atlanta . We sung in the morning and I was signing autographs way at the top of the stadium and I heard 'Oh Happy Day.' I thought it was a record, but I could hear Tramaine's voice. I thought, 'You can't hear her voice like that on the record.' I went down and it was actually the Hawkins family rehearsing. I walked all the way from the top of the bleachers in a stadium that holds 80,000 people, so that's quite a walk. I walked all the way to the floor and God said, 'I told you to do her album.' At that point, she was probably leery of me because of three years of 'yeah, yeah, yeah.' I went to her and told her that God told me today that I have to do your project no matter what I have to do. I called the record company and within three weeks of that date, we were already working on songs and music. God just gave me songs that I feel were tailor made for her. It was literally the experience of my life to work with her. Almost every day that we were working, I was getting choked up because I couldn't believe that it was happening. I was working with this icon and also it was just overwhelming to see how God had preserved this gift and the anointing on her. Her voice is stronger than ever. It was really an incredible situation. We produced 'I Never Lost My Praise.' I woke up at 4 o'clock one morning and I got up, got a drink of water and it just came to me. I went back to bed and I couldn't sleep. I got up and went to the piano and wrote it. At the time, Tramaine was on a consecration at her church so I knew she was up. I called her at about 8 o'clock here and 6 o'clock there when I finished the song. I played the song for her over the phone and she just got silent. I was like, 'Oh my God, I think she hates it.' She just started speaking in tongues and she was like, "Kurt, that's the song I've been waiting on for 20 years." Literally, that song has changed her ministry. I just really thank God for that opportunity and it's been very rewarding.

Is it true that Natalie Cole may do her first gospel project and you're going to produce it?

I understand that Natalie Cole is one of your favorites and she's one of mine too. She is a great friend and she is a Christian and has been for a long time. Natalie was actually a member of my church, West Angeles Church of God in Christ in Los Angeles and she would come and I remember her shouting off of 'For Every Mountain' one of the first times that we did it. She's always been a strong Christian and she really has an interest that she should do an inspirational project. She's always telling people about God in her concerts and including Him in a way that reaches the people that she speaks to. We're talking about doing a gospel project and we actually had a soul food dinner at my house recently. She was here and we started talking about songs so I'm looking forward to it. She's one of the greatest musicians. She's a singer, but she is so musical with that voice and she can interpret different kinds of music. I'm looking forward to working with her.

In addition to songwriting and producing, you're a masterful arranger. Great song arrangements are imperative, particularly for mainstream recording artists who sing gospel.

Exactly. I just had a talk with Patti LaBelle about working on a Kurt Carr-style gospel project with her. I'm excited about that too.

And there's also buzz that you may be collaborating with Jennifer Holiday on a project as well.

Jennifer Holiday had been on my mind for an entire year. I was wondering where this incredible voice was and what she had been doing. I had never met her before. One day I was driving in my car and she called me and said, "Kurt Carr, this is Jennifer Holiday." We have just become really good friends and I'm hoping to do something with her as well. She's phenomenal. In addition, I happened to have met Fantasia and she wants to do some things.

Are going to launch your own record label soon?

I just believe that God is up to something and part of my quest after this Kurt Carr project is to really start working on some of these albums and building the careers of some of my singers. I'm a connoisseur of live voices. I'm so blessed to work with the Kurt Carr Singers. I can turn my back to any one of them and say: 'Sing this.' I have other people that I'm talking to about working on this new project and I'm excited about making this the best that it can be. I was talking to Vickie Winans recently and told her I wanted this to be the best. She said, 'Everything you do is the best thing you've ever done.' We try to delve into the work that God has given us and make it the best that it can be.

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VIDEO: Watch The Kurt Carr Singers perform their hit 'For Every Mountain'