Robert E. Person is a gifted and talented singer. He is one of the most popular artists in the metro DC area and rightly so.The singer has tapped into a variety of musical genres and developed his own signature style infused with jazz. In fact, as you listen to Person’s performance it is easy to believe that he and the music have become one. His vocal stylings are richly displayed on his latest CD, Soul Sanctuary.
According to Person, “music has become just that for me. It has become a refuge, a safe place”. Thus, the title for Soul Sanctuary was born. Person wants to offer that same experience to the listener “to just go somewhere for a while and put on some music and have a safe place, and with it being mostly sacred, that safe place is through Christ.” In fact the title track is a jazz vocalese featuring Nova Tate and Person says, “I just wanted to take the listener on a musical journey.”
Surprisingly, Person didn’t plan to “sing on purpose” he says. However, when someone failed to show up for a performance, his gift as soloist became quite evident. Very shortly thereafter Leon Roberts, Kenneth Louis and Roderick Bell, his professors at the University of the District of Columbia began mentoring Person as he pursued his musical career. But Person still wasn’t sure it was his call:
RP: I went to a liturgical minister’s conference and I asked the question, “how do you know when you’re called?", and the response was "you know you’re called when God equips you with the tools necessary to walk into your calling". That was pretty much my answer and that’s when I did my first project and the tools were Allyn Johnson and Kenneth Louis who is the minister of music at my church Holy Comforter - Saint Cyprian and the pastor is Reverend Monsignor Charles Pope. Those were the tools I needed to really walk into this calling. I just needed to know from God that this is what I’m supposed to do.
He added the title Recording Artist to his many accomplishments in December 2000, when he released the self-produced DC, The Call. The project celebrated his multiple-genre influences such as rhythm and blues, classical, jazz and of course, gospel. The singer, songwriter and producer flaunted his vocal style through each beautifully-arranged and orchestrated song. This compilation featured original compositions and arrangements of familiar hymns and gospel songs including the album’s title cut and the catchy, rhythmic “Taste and See.”
Person is also quite ubiquitous. In addition to his solo career, he sings background for other performers, who just happen to be his good friends Allyn Johnson (“Divine Order”), Lori Williams (“Healing Within”), Nova Tate (“Three Mo Divas”) and Kendall King (“Faithful”). He says of those relationships:
RP: I don’t know what makes it work. I guess my answer would be the grace of God. It truly has become a wonderful network for all of us and you saw firsthand, even from cross-genres, from R&B to jazz to sacred and other things. What’s amazing to me is the level of support that we get from each other. The camaraderie, the fellowship and the relationship that we have developed over the years has just become absolutely fabulous and we are all supporting each other on each other’s projects, which I think is really wonderful.
Person flows effortlessly from the traditional to smooth gospel/jazz and unabashedly expresses adoration and praise to God throughout the project. He takes listeners on a sonic journey from the jazz-tinged rendition of the classic, “Great is Thy Faithfulness” to the pop and gospel-fueled sounds of “The Glory You’re Due” to the bouncy energetic flow of “Gotta Praise.”
Listeners will get a treat when they hear Person’s rendition of “Someday We’ll All Be Free”, made popular by the great Donny Hathaway.
RP: It’s a song that I have lived with basically all my life I was 3 years old when the song was written in 1973 and Donnie Hathaway has just been a major influence on my career and on my singing, on my style I decided to add that to the project even though it’s technically not a sacred song, but it definitely an inspirational song. The meaning behind that song is that there are just so many things that bind us, so many things that we need to be free from, addictions and financial situations and things like that. I sang that song to hopefully encourage someone that one day we will all be free from whatever it is that binds them.
Robert E. Person will showcase his new project, Soul Sanctuary, at a CD Release Event at Busboys & Poets in Hyattsville, MD on September 10, 2011 at 5:00PM. Tickets can be purchased at GospelTix.com.
For more information on Robert E. Person visit www.RobertEPerson.com or follow his official Facebook page.
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