Ben Tankard

Ben Tankard
Background information
Birth name	Benjamin Tankard
Also known as	Godfather of Gospel Jazz
Born	January 10, 1964 (1964-01-10)
Origin	Daytona Beach, Florida
Genres	Gospel, jazz, Contemporary Gospel, Smooth Jazz
Occupations	Songwriter, producer, arranger, pianist
Instruments	Keyboard, piano , tuba , guitar
Years active	1990s-present
Labels	Tribute (Ben-Jamin'), Verity
Associated acts	Gerald Albright, Take 6, Yolanda Adams, Kirk Whalum, Wayman Tisdale, Shelly Massey
Website	www.bentankard.org, www.thedestinydome.com
Notable instruments
Keyboards, piano, tuba, guitar

Ben and Jewel Tankard receiving Stellar Award

BT with young Urban Eagles

Ben Tankard and Kirk Whalum perform at charity event

Ben Tankard (born January 24, 1964) is a former professional basketball player and an American gospel, jazz keyboardist producer, songwriter and motivational speaker. Ben dropped out of college after one year to play minor league pro basketball in Canada. He was invited to an NBA camp but was injured and cut. Ben rebounded from his basketball injury to become the world's bestselling and most popular musician in gospeljazz music.

Biography

Often referred to as the "Godfather of Gospel Jazz", Ben Tankard discovered Yolanda Adams, signed her to his independent record label, Tribute Records (Ben-Jamin') and produced several of her earlier works. Tankard has also recorded a series of well received instrumental solo albums and soundtracks, with music styles ranging from pop to R&B to smooth jazz. Tankard was the first artist to dedicate complete instrumental albums to a mixture of gospel and jazz, thus the term "gospeljazz".

Since he came on the scene in 1990 Ben's musical accomplishments have earned him a total of three Grammy nominations, eight Dove Award nominations, and twelve Stellar Awards including 2010's "Best Instrumental Album" for his Mercy, Mercy, Mercy CD. This was his career highest charting release and featured an instrumental remake of the Chris Tomlin Christian hit song, "How Great Is Our God". Though many of Tankard's releases have received heavy rotation on gospel and smooth jazz stations, The Weather Channel, XM Satellite Radio and cable TV's Music Choice, Mercy, Mercy, Mercy was the first CD in the history of Billboard Magazine to chart on the gospel, contemporary jazz, and jazz chart all at the same time.

With his ability to assemble stellar talent for his recordings, Tankard has been also been called the "Quincy Jones of Gospel", and is the bestselling gospeljazz instrumentalist in the world with 15 solo albums to his credit. In additional to his extensive work with Yolanda Adams, Tankard has produced and collaborated with several other Grammy Award winning, gold and platinum artists including, Take 6, Fred Hammond, Kelly Price, John P. Kee, Shirley Murdock, Twinkie Clark and Gerald Albright.

Tankard was born in Daytona Beach, FL and also lived in Starke,FL and Chattahoochee, FL. After attending college in Dothan,AL he made short stops in Windsor,Canada and Portland,OR. When his short lived pro basketball career ended he moved back to Tallahassee,FL and eventual opened his studio/production company, BENote Music. One of his early customers would often come in BENote studio to record demos and would bring his 3 year old son "Faheem" hang with Ben and tweak the studio console knobs. Faheem eventually grew up and is now known as the world famous Grammy Award winning rapper/producer/singer/songwriter, T-Pain. VH-1 is currently producing a Behind the Music episode on T-Pain which will include commentary by Tankard as an early influence. Tankard considers T-Pain his "nephew".

Now, based in Murfreesboro, TN (near Nashville), Tankard is an avid aviator and instrument rated pilot. He flies to most of his concerts and speaking events on his own Cessna airplanes. He shares the joy of flight with young children through his Urban Eagles outreach program. Since 2007 he has worked with the NBA on special projects as a musician and speaker. Tankard married Jewel LaGreen on January 27, 2000. They have five children, Marcus, Benji, Brooklyn, Britney, and Cyrene. Having both been survivors of divorce, the Tankards often speak on TV and at national conferences on marriage and the blended family. In 2002, The Tankard's launched Destiny Center Church in Murfreesboro, TN which is also the national headquarters for Tribute Records/Ben-Jamin'.

On July 16, 2011 Tankard was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award for Musical Excellence as an artist, producer, and songwriter by The Atlanta Gospel-fest. Tankard's sixteenth studio album, the highly anticipated " Ben Tankard & Friends / Full Tank " will be released May 2012 on his revamped Tribute Records (Ben-Jamin') label. It features music from legendary producer-songwriters, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, and special guest appearances by Mark Kibble / Take 6, & Gerald Albright and others.

Discography

• All Keyed Up (1989)
• Keynote Speaker (1990)
• Keys To Life w/guest John P. Kee (1991)
• An Instrumental Christmas (1992)
• Sunday Drivin (1993)
• Play Me In Your Key w/guest Yolanda Adams (1994)
• Instrumentally Yours w/guest Take 6 and Fred Hammond (1996)
• Git Yo Prayze On w/Tribe Of Benjamin(1997)
• Raize Da Praise w/Tribe Of Benjamin (1998)
• The Minstrel (1999)
• Christmas Love (2000)
• Song of Solomon (2001)
• Best of Ben (2002)
• Play a Lil' Song for Me" w/guest The Canton Spirituals (2003)
• Piano Prophet w/guest Shirley Murdock (2004)
• Let's Get Quiet" (2007)
• Mercy, Mercy, Mercy (2009)
• Ben Tankard & Friends / Full Tank (2012) Special guests: Mark Kibble / Take 6, & Gerald Albright, Tim Bowman, & Cynthia

 Jones.

Writings

• Faith It 'til You Make It
• Mercy Mercy Mercy: The Ben Tankard Story

External links

• Allmusic guide
• BenTankard.org