Ben Dowling - Pianist, Composer, Producer, Musical Director

Selected Recordings:

Artist: Charles Holt
Project: I Am
Label: Agape Media International
Producer: Ben Dowling
Genre: Inspirational/Jazz-R&B

Track Listing:

Biography

Charles Holt heard a voice, and it turned out to be his own

It was a destiny that he denied for a decade—trying out for the NFL as a defensive back in college, moving into a predictable marketing career at IBM—but with the release of the collection I Am, Charles Holt at last gives powerful voice to his deeply personal message of freedom, healing and inspiration.

It is a rich audio-biography that follows him from his roots in Southern gospel through the blues, soul, funk, jazz, to Broadway and beyond. Every tune has meaning, from the Sunday school version of “Jesus Loves Me” he learned from his pianist grandmother to the patriotic anthem he sang at his first Broadway audition, a startlingly fresh rendition of “America the Beautiful.” And, yes, the boy from Tennessee got the part—in a touring company of Jesus Christ Superstar, which in turn lead to Smokey Joe’s Café, a European tour as Rocky in The Rocky Horror Picture Show, and four years on Broadway in The Lion King.

But always, as he built his career, Holt kept listening for the inner voice that first propelled him onto the path of a performer, the voice that had told him to leave his white-collar job to study acting in Atlanta, then to take off for New York with $400 in his pocket. “It’s time,” the voice always said. When he heard it again, he knew that this time the voice meant that he should find his own voice.

Holt moved to Los Angeles, where he began work with Visionsound producer Ben Dowling to craft I Am. He also launched a one-man show, Black Boy, based on the tumultuous life of Native Son author Richard Wright. After he sold out the John F. Kennedy Center in the nation’s capitol, the Washington Post critic reported that “Shifting among personalities, Holt flared into moments of idiosyncratic animation, always settling back into the grave tones and dignified posture of Wright the narrator.” “He has the gift of connection,” elaborates Brigham Young University’s Ben Howington, “The second he steps on stage, you feel the connection.”

Holt continues to tour the nation’s college campuses and has recently launched The Smoke King, another one-man show devised for him by the estate of W.E.B. DuBois, based on the life of the African-American intellectual and civil rights activist.

And now, he is weaving all the themes together in America, the Black, the Beautiful, true musical theater, a show based on this debut recording that will feature his voice—not only as an actor and a black man—but as a musician with that visceral gift of connection. “Music moves me, it heals me,” he says. “The classics on I Am are timeless, with a message for everybody, of freedom, healing, inspiration and authenticity. That’s what the world is calling out for.”

As Lula puts it, “It’s soul music—it’s music from your soul.”

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Description:

Artist: Ester Nicholson
Project: Child Above The Sun
Label: Agape Media International
Producer: Ben Dowling
Genre: Inspirational/Jazz-R&B

Track Listing:

The Story Behind "Child Above The Sun"

As fellow Agape members (Dr. Michael Beckwith's church), Nicholson and Dowling met while attending services together in the early 1990's. Both long term members of that community, they are key contributors to the Agape Music Ministry.

In discussing the project, Dowling talks about the song selection process, "I find that the selection of songs is so critical to how the artist is perceived, and how much the artist's mission is experienced from the music. Ester has got a big ol' mission that involves channeling power from adversity. You hear that in the title track, Child Above the Sun. It's what her life is about, and that shows in the performances we got for the record."

One of the interesting parts of the story involves Ester's learning different vocal styles. Dowling: "As a background vocalist all those years, she had a well developed 'strong' vocal style, but what I discovered was that she had that beautiful softer side, which she had never used. Many vocalists get stuck in what they are used to, but Ester was a total champ and was willing to trust me on focusing on other ways of approaching various songs. When you listen to Everything Must Change it's obvious that her lower third - in terms of dynamics - is absolutely world class."

"Make Me Stronger" the opening track of Child Above the Sun, is a Rickie Byars-Beckwith and Dr. Michael Beckwith composition in a jazz style. "Ester had never phrased that way before. She knew how to sing a song in the traditional way, but this requires a totally different approach. She had to learn to phrase over the time - hitting all the changes just right, but not sounding rushed in the process. It's a real jazz musician thing 'floating' the time over the changes, and I wasn't sure I wasn't asking too much of her. Cause it's really not fair to ask someone to do that. And I will say that there was crying and knashing of teeth, but in the end she accomplished it and made it her own. I don't think I've ever experienced that before."

Speaking of the project as a whole, Dowling suggests, "I thought it was important to show different sides of this amazing artist. This is the first time she has been a songwriter, the first time she has had to own the spotlight, the first time she has had to step into a higher business responsibility. She was willing because she knew inherently that this was her path and whatever fears she might deal with, that there was a way through to the other side. I am so proud to be associated with such a spirit and an intention. It gives me goose pimples just thinking about it."