Stellar Award-winning singer Phillip Carter and his Sounds of Victory (SOV) choir just released “Christmas with Phillip Carter & SOV.”
“Our ministry has been around for many years,” he said of SOV, which was founded 20 years ago. “We always sung Christmas songs. I decided to make it a project to release.”
Carter’s resume include serving as assistant director for Howard University’s gospel choir, director of Georgetown University’s choir and director of Bowie State University’s gospel choir.
A native of White Plains, Maryland, Carter started playing the piano at 18 months old. By the age of 9 he was directing choirs.
“My style? I made a point to cater around songs that choirs can sing and directors can teach,” Carter said.
He admitted when asked about the music ministry’s effect that he noticed SOV’s music has affected the hearts of women.
“Joy in the midst of pain. In my personal ministry, I see that happen, but not as often as I hope. I remember deciding to follow Jesus and nobody else. I have never been off the music ministry path.”
“Christmas with Phillip Carter & SOV” will also be a 30-minute special on the WORD Network. Go to www.PhillipCarterMusic.com for more information about the “Christmas with Phillip Carter & SOV” project and holiday special.
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Jazz saxophonist Justin Young recently released his fourth album, “Blue Soul,” featuring Jackiem Joyner (sax) and Matt Godina (keyboard).
The first single, “Always There,” was co-written by Joyner, followed by “Jazz Along The 101,” co-written by Noel Hall (Kirk Franklin), and the latest single, “High Definition,” a pop/R&B-flavored selection.
“I’m from Detroit, so I grew up listening to Motown … artists like the Gap Band, Kool and the Gang, Cameo, Rick James and Michael Jackson,” Young said of his influences. “Those were the songs my dad’s band played.”
Young also liked Dr. Dre, and between his father’s Motown influence and his own, he came up with something fresh.
“I was 3 or 4 years old practicing [drums] in my room,” Young explained when asked how he went from the drums to the sax. “As a kid, I wanted to be a drummer. My grandparents are ministers, so I started playing in church. Four years later, my dad said, ‘how open are you to playing the sax?’”
His father explained to him that all boys want to be drummers, but few wanted to play sax. So he encouraged his son to switch instruments so he can get more jobs as a musician. Young said his father was right, after learning the sax he was always with a job and playing the sax also paid for his college degree from Michigan State University. Later on Justin Young secured a year long residency at Spaghettini’s Jazz Club in Southern California, where he relocated.
“That groove thing,” he said. “Like Blues Brothers — the tambourine part, that is music.”
Young said he took this album “back to the basics.”
“I think that the song has to tell a story,” he said.
Also featured on “Blue Soul” are Alex Al (bass), Hussain Liffry (bass), Ricky Lawson (drummer) and Sheldon Reynolds (guitarist).
The album is released on Young’s own label JustinTime Records. Learn more about the “Blue Soul” release at JustinYoungSax.com.
Eunice Moseley has an estimated weekly readership of over ¼ million with her The Pulse of Entertainment column (www.ThePulseofEntertainment.com). She is also a public relations strategist and business management consultant at Freelance Associates, and is promotions director (at-large) for The Baltimore Times.
