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CHURCH:
Songs Of Soul & Inspiration
Classic R&B And Pop Favorites Produced With A Gospel Twist
PERFORMED BY PATTI LABELLE, CHAKA KHAN, EN VOGUE,
DIONNE WARWICK, JENNIFER HOLLIDAY, SHIRLEY CAESAR AND MORE!
Church isn’t
just a place, it’s a feeling, and that emotion and sound is
at the heart of soul music. Reaching far beyond pews and
pulpits, "the unique sound of America itself—its
cultural identity—is indelibly marked by gospel." So
writes Nobel Prize-winning author Toni Morrison in the liner
notes to CHURCH: Songs Of Soul & Inspiration
(UTV Records), to be released on June 2, 2003.
A new
collection of favorite R&B, pop, classical and gospel
songs produced with gospel choir arrangements and sung by some
of the leading ladies of music, CHURCH: Songs Of Soul
& Inspiration pays tribute to where they all
began--church. Also featured is an original spoken word
composition by esteemed poet Dr. Maya Angelou. The two-disc
set embraces one CD of audio tracks plus a CD-ROM with
performance footage and artist interviews comprising a
"making of" feature.
The
R&B and Pop Divas Starring on CHURCH Are:
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Patti
LaBelle with "Way Up There," an original heard
earlier this year across the country when she sang it at a
national memorial service for the Columbia shuttle victims
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Chaka
Khan reprising her own "Love Me Still"
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Jennifer
Holliday on "The Wonder Of You," an Elvis hit
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En
Vogue with the Bee Gees’ #1 "How Deep Is Your
Love"
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Stephanie
Mills covering the Diana Ross classic "Reach Out And
Touch (Somebody’s Hand)"
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Patti
Austin on "You Gotta Be," a ‘90s hit for Des’ree
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Dionne
Warwick with the Burt Bacharach-Hal David standard
"What The World Needs Now (Is Love Sweet Love)"
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Ann
Nesby, the former Sounds Of Blackness lead singer, singing
Leon Russell’s "A Song For You."
Also
headlining are gospel great Shirley Caesar with the vintage
"His Eye Is On The Sparrow," opera star (and
co-executive producer) Denyce Graves with the classic
"Ave Maria," jazz singer Nnenna Freelon with The
Five Stairsteps hit "O-o-h Child," and The Fire
Choir with Stevie Wonder’s "As." CHURCH:
Songs Of Soul & Inspiration was produced by
platinum-selling songwriter/producer Tena Clark, who also
penned "Way Up There."
As Morrison
writes: "The little girls in choir robes and pigtails who
sang on long ago Sunday mornings grew up to fill concert
halls, opera houses, cathedrals and arenas with clarion voices
that now enthrall millions. As they once again stand before
the choir to sing, it is obvious that, with all its grace,
Church claims ownership of their hearts of hearts."
Church:
Songs of Soul & Inspiration
is the first in a series of CDs that embrace the musical roots
and role of Church in the lives of today’s leading artists.
It is a joint venture between UTV Records (a division of
Universal Music Enterprises), Tena Clark’s DMI Records and
Denyce Grave’s Carmen Productions.
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