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DELLA REESE STARS IN NEW ANGEL ROLE Actress
Plays Angel-Investor: Touches Local Musician
LOS ANGELES, June 1, 2004 - In an angel-investor move to raise money for her church, reverend and revered actress/songstress Della Reese has touched local musician Mark Allen Felton with an investment gift of $100,000, used to record his new DVD/CD last week. Shirley Caesar, BET's Dr. Bobby Jones and Bishop Noel Jones, The Winans, Donnie McClurkin, Karen Clark-Sheard and Kirk Whalum all have called on GospelJazz saxist Felton to play on their worldwide tours because his unique look and sound is a special touch that delights audiences. And helps sell tickets. As Felton consistently pulls in crowds for Reese's "Understanding Principles" West Hollywood church, portions of the profits from A Blessing - Delivered Live and In Concert will buy the non-denominational congregation's new home. "This is no mama's boy Sunday drive," says the TV star who was up-front and center for the taping. "Mark's performance shatters myths about Gospel anything. His sax saturates the pores of your skin. I call it liquid language… when was the last time your heart melted? Don't listen if you don't want to be touched," laughs Reese. "And where do you think his talent comes from?" "Mark Felton is at the top of my playlist," adds five-time Emmy winning journalist Eric Chambers, hosting shows on The Wave radio network and cable TV's The Word. "Felton's turning contemporary gospel, jazz gospel and R&B gospel on its ear and on its feet. People are afraid to leak... to be themselves. Not Mark. Remember listening to a young Miles Davis before his cool had been elevated into 'Cool'?" "The
trend in the music industry is being exemplified by Norah Jones - and
saxist Mark Felton," states The Gospel Announcer's Guild award-winning
Steve Harris. "Jones rocked the Grammy's, while signed to a jazz label.
She gets airplay and record sales all over the map. Mark is unleashing
a new brand of music. You tell my audience of 21 million that a DVD
with instrumentals, rousing choir singing, full-on funk sound and a
man that romanticizes the stage like Elvis Presley isn't something to
watch. Mark Felton meets the criteria of everything wonderful about
American Gospel and American music." Daily Variety rates gospel as one of the fastest-growing segments in recorded music, reaching 80 million listeners. The second largest market is the Pacific region, Los Angeles specifically. ### Angles for Editors: On May 30, 2004, Gospel Great BeBe Winans was guest-host on Los Angeles' The Wave 94.7FM Smooth Jazz radio. How is the perception of differences between mainstream music and gospel closing? To a standing ovation crowd of 20,000 at the Los Angeles Forum, Felton sold 500 units of his first CD direct to consumers. How necessary is a record label contract to today's artists? Felton plays for the Gospel Music Association in August. What is the reality of vocal and instrumental GospelJazz reaching epic sales records? What is the methodology of 'call and response' in American music; how does Felton's sax style differ from all other artists and how does either/both of these engage an audience? What Hollywood movies pertaining to Gospel and/or jazz are currently in production? How important was the role of Christian Music in the marketing of Mel Gibson's blockbuster movie A Passion for The Christ? Borne out of slavery, then poverty, Gospel music bought its first building on the touring proceeds of The Fisk Jubilee Singers, the first group to perform spirituals throughout the world. How can American churches take a business tip from Reese's investment in one of her own musical flock? Documentarian and best-selling author Ken Burns calls jazz "sexual and sensual." Does that make GospelJazz an oxymoron? Would the 700 Club play it? Della
Reese successfully brought gospel music to nightclubs on the Las Vegas
strip and the Chicago stroll. How likely is Felton's quest to succeed?
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Tia
Dobi ©
Tia M. Dobi |
Writer / Editor