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Kurt Carr

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Kurt Carr
The Kurt Carr Singers perform for President George W. Bush and guests on June 17, 2008 in the East Room of the White House
The Kurt Carr Singers perform for President George W. Bush and guests on June 17, 2008 in the East Room of the White House
Background information
Born (1964-10-12) October 12, 1964 (age 60)
Hartford, Connecticut, U.S.
GenresGospel, praise & worship
Occupation(s)Singer, songwriter
Instrument(s)Vocals, piano
Years active1986–present
Labels
Websitewww.thekurtcarr.com

Kurt Carr (born October 12, 1964) is an American gospel music composer and performer. While living in the city of Hartford, Connecticut, he served as Minister of Music at The First Baptist Church of Hartford located at the time on Greenfield Street. He is currently the Praise and Worship leader at The Fountain Of Praise in Houston, Texas.

Carr's music is a blend of traditional gospel composition and vocals, with elements of R&B, jazz, soul, blues, and the distinct modern harmonies and singing styles found in urban contemporary gospel. The Kurt Carr Singers under his direction and musical influence have created seven albums. Kurt Carr has won four Stellar Awards.

Biography

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Early years

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Kurt Carr was born in the mid-1960s in Hartford, Connecticut, where he grew up in a family who believed in Jesus, but was not deeply involved in church. At the age of 13, Carr found himself being increasingly drawn to the church. In his early teen years, he performed as an actor and dancer at the Hartford Stage Company in a Broadway musical called On the Town, which was directed by Clay Stevenson. He became an active member in his church's music department. At the age of 17, Carr realized that he was being called to do something even higher with his life. After high school, he entered into the music program at the University of Connecticut, where he studied classical music and earned a Fine Arts degree. Carr is a member of Phi Beta Sigma fraternity.

Music career

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Early career

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Carr was piano accompanist for Andrae Crouch's music ministry for one year. Carr was subsequently hired to be musical director and pianist for Rev. James Cleveland’s ministry in 1986 and was employed there for seven years, until Cleveland's death. Eventually, Carr became director of the West Angeles Church of God in Christ Choir, where he had the opportunity to work with both gospel and secular musical artists, including Stevie Wonder, Gladys Knight, Yolanda Adams and Kirk Franklin during that time Carr also formed a gospel vocal ensemble named The Kurt Carr Singers. They released their first EP, I'm Glad in 1988 released on an Independent label. After signing with Light Records, Kurt Carr and the singers' debut major label and album Together was released in 1991. Transitions in the label lead to GospoCentric Records which was owned and co-founded by to Vicki Mack Lataillade.

1994–2000: Serious About It! and No One Else

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Now signed onto GospoCentric, the group released their debut on the label titled Serious About It! The album featured renditions of many recorded songs, such as of Salt-N-Pepa's "Whatta Man", among others. The album succeeded onto the charts. In July 1996, the singers recorded their following album on the label, No One Else, at the West Angeles which was released in March 1997. The album also features Anastacia, Mary Mary, & Andrea McClurkin-Mellini (sister of Donnie McClurkin) serving as a few of the additional background singers.[1] The album most notably featured "For Every Mountain", which became one of the Carr's most known features overtime.

2000–2012: Growing success and acclaim

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In 2000, Awesome Wonder was released, which featured more popular songs with "In the Sanctuary" being the most notable. "In the Sanctuary" became his most popular song, leading to internet memes among other ways to highlight the success of the song. The album stayed in the charts longer than the previous albums and it increased the group's success higher, eventually earning gold. With In the Sanctuary becoming more known, Carr took it upon to produce and write tracks for Byron Cage, among others such as Tramaine Hawkins, and Bishop Paul S. Morton. In July 2004, Kurt Carr recorded The Kurt Carr Project: One Church which was successfully released in March 2005. Centered upon being a multicultural church, it features "God Blocked It" and "God Great God", among others became staples.In 2008, Kurt Carr released his first two disc album Just the Beginning, which was released on his self titled label Kurt Carr Gospel and Zomba.

2012–present: Bless This House and Bless Somebody Else

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In 2013, Kurt Carr released Bless This House on Verity Gospel Music Group which included the single "I've Seen Him Do It", "We've Gotta Put Jesus Back", and "Great God Great Praise". After a six-year hiatus, Kurt Carr released Bless Somebody Else on RCA Records' Gospel Label RCA Inspiration in 2019 in which Kurt Carr Gospel Label from Just the Beginning returned. The single was released the same year as long with the single "Blessing After Blessing", which is a ballad a year later.

Discography

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Albums

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List of albums, with selected chart positions, sales figures and certifications
Title Album details Peak chart positions Sales Certifications
US
[2] 		US
R&B
/HH
[3] 		US
Gospel
[4] 		US
Christian
[5]
I'm Glad
  • Released: 1988
  • Label: Charnya Records (#CR 3123)[6]
  • Formats: LP
 — — — —
Together — — — —
Serious About It! — — — —
No One Else
  • Released: March 25, 1997[10]
  • Label: GospoCentric (#G2 1S 7575 1 72138 2)[11]
  • Formats: CD, cassette
 — — — —
Awesome Wonder
  • Released: September 19, 2000[13]
  • Label: GospoCentric (#75751-70016-2)[14]
  • Formats: CD, cassette
 — — 5 14
The Kurt Carr Project: One Church
  • Released: March 22, 2005[17]
  • Label: GospoCentric, Zomba Gospel (#75751-70058-2)[18]
  • Formats: CD, cassette
 109 27 1 —
Just the Beginning
  • Released: October 28, 2008[19]
  • Label: Zomba Gospel, Kurt Carr Gospel, (#88697297532)[20]
  • Formats: CD, HDCD
 62 — 2 —
Bless This House 43 — 1 —
Bless Somebody Else — — 2 —
"—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that territory.

Compilation albums

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List of albums, with selected chart positions
Title[4] Album details[4] Peak chart positions
US
Gospel
[4]
Playlist: The Very Best of Kurt Carr & the Kurt Carr Singers
  • Released: September 15, 2009[25]
  • Labels: GospoCentric, Legacy, Verity (#57642)[25]
  • Formats: CD
 33
Setlist: The Very Best Of Kurt Carr & The Kurt Carr Singers Live
  • Released: December 23, 2011[26]
  • Labels: GospoCentric, Legacy, Sony Legacy (#88691 90780 2)[26]
  • Formats: CD
 50

Singles

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List of singles, with selected chart positions, showing year released and album name
Title Year Peak chart positions Album
US
Gospel
[27]
"God Blocked It" 2004 3 One Church
"God Great God" 26
"Peace And Favor Rest On Us" 2008 2 Just The Beginning
"Bless Somebody Else (Dorothy's Song)" 2019 18 Bless Somebody Else
"Blessing After Blessing" 2020 —[A]
"—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that territory.

Other charted songs

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List of other charted, with selected chart positions, showing year charted and album name
Title Year Peak chart positions Album
US
Gospel
[27]
"For Every Mountain" 1996 —[B] No One Else
"I Almost Let Go" 2000 —[C] Awesome Wonder
"—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that territory.

References

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  1. ^ "Anastacia-Archive.de". Archive.today. Retrieved May 9, 2024.
  2. ^
  3. ^ "Kurt Carr Chart History: Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums". Billboard. Archived from the original on May 19, 2022. Retrieved January 11, 2023 – via Wayback Machine.
  4. ^ a b c d
  5. ^ "Kurt Carr Chart History". Billboard. Archived from the original (select Top Christian Albums from the drop-down menu) on November 17, 2021. Retrieved January 11, 2023 – via Wayback Machine.
  6. ^ "The Kurt Carr Singers – Im Glad (1988, Vinyl)". Discogs. 1988. Retrieved March 29, 2020.
  7. ^ "The Kurt Carr Singers – Together (1991, CD)". Discogs. 1991. Retrieved March 29, 2020.
  8. ^ a b "Serious About It! - Kurt Carr". AllMusic. Retrieved March 29, 2020.
  9. ^ "The Kurt Carr Singers – Serious About It! (1994, CD)". Discogs. 1994. Retrieved March 29, 2020.
  10. ^ "No One Else - Kurt Carr, Kurt Carr Singers". AllMusic. Retrieved March 29, 2020.
  11. ^ "The Kurt Carr Singers – No One Else (1997, CD)". Discogs. 1997. Retrieved March 29, 2020.
  12. ^ Collins, Lisa (September 23, 2000). "In the Spirit" (PDF). Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. p. 51. Retrieved January 11, 2024 – via World Radio History.
  13. ^ "Awesome Wonder - Kurt Carr, Kurt Carr Singers". Allmusic. Retrieved March 29, 2020.
  14. ^ "The Kurt Carr Singers – Awesome Wonder (2000, CD)". Discogs. Retrieved March 29, 2020.
  15. ^ "Gospel". Billboard. Vol. 114. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. March 9, 2002. p. 22. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved March 31, 2020 – via Google Books.
  16. ^ "Gold & Platinum - RIAA". RIAA. May 27, 2003. Retrieved March 31, 2020.
  17. ^ "Kurt Carr (One Church) - Reviews - GospelFlava.com". Gospelflava.com. Retrieved May 9, 2024.
  18. ^ "The Kurt Carr Project – One Church (2005, CD)". Discogs. Retrieved March 29, 2020.
  19. ^ "Just The Beginning - Kurt Carr". Allmusic. Retrieved March 29, 2020.
  20. ^ "Kurt Carr & The Kurt Carr Singers – One Church (2005, CD)". Discogs. Retrieved March 29, 2020.
  21. ^ "Bless This House - Kurt Carr". Allmusic. Retrieved March 29, 2020.
  22. ^ "Kurt Carr, The Kurt Carr Singers – Bless This House (2013, CD)". Discogs. Retrieved March 29, 2020.
  23. ^ "Bless Somebody Else - Kurt Carr". Allmusic. Retrieved March 29, 2020.
  24. ^ "Kurt Carr – Bless Somebody Else (2019, CD)". Discogs. Retrieved March 29, 2020.
  25. ^ a b "Playlist: The Very Best of Kurt Carr & the Kurt Carr Singers - Kurt Carr". Allmusic. Retrieved March 29, 2020.
  26. ^ a b "Setlist: The Very Best of Kurt Carr & The Kurt Carr Singers Live - Kurt Carr". Allmusic. Retrieved March 29, 2020.
  27. ^ a b "Kurt Carr Chart History". Billboard.com. Archived from the original (select Hot Gospel Songs from the drop-down menu) on November 17, 2021. Retrieved January 11, 2023 – via Wayback Machine.
  28. ^ "Kurt Carr Chart History". Billboard.com. Archived from the original (select Gospel Airplay from the drop-down menu) on November 17, 2021. Retrieved January 11, 2023 – via Wayback Machine.
  29. ^ "Kurt Carr Chart History". Billboard.com. Archived from the original (select Gospel Digital Song Sales from the drop-down menu) on November 17, 2021. Retrieved January 11, 2023 – via Wayback Machine.
  30. ^ "Kurt Carr Chart History". Billboard.com. Archived from the original (select Gospel Streaming Songs from the drop-down menu) on November 17, 2021. Retrieved January 11, 2023 – via Wayback Machine.

Notes

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  1. ^ "Blessing After Blessing" did not enter the US Billboard Hot Gospel Songs chart, but peaked at number 27 on the US Gospel Airplay chart.[28]
  2. ^ "For Every Mountain" did not enter the US Billboard Hot Gospel Songs chart, but peaked at number 2 on the US Gospel Digital Song Sales chart.[29]
  3. ^ "I Almost Let Go" did not enter the US Billboard Hot Gospel Songs chart, but peaked at number 18 on the US Gospel Digital Song Sales chart.[30]
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