Kim Burrell – From Emmanuel COGIC to Lincoln Center

Gospel singers have graced the stages of New York’s austere music halls since Mahalia Jackson first appeared at Carnegie Hall in 1950.

On Friday and Saturday, December 11 and 12, gospel powerhouse Kim Burrell will continue the tradition by presenting “Kim Burrell – A Gospel Christmas,” at New York’s famed Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. The program is part of Jazz at Lincoln Center.

TBGB caught up with Kim recently to ask about her career in gospel music thus far.

Kim grew up in Houston, Texas, a city that has produced more than its share of gospel artists. A lifelong member of the Church of God in Christ, Kim became a candidate for the youngest gospel singer in history when, at the age of one, she belted out her first church solo, Andrae Crouch’s “Hallelujah.”

Thirteen years later, Kim recorded with her home church, Greater Emmanuel COGIC in Houston, Texas, under the music leadership of Evangelist Myra Cormier-Banks.

“The Church of God in Christ is the denomination that I’ve been part of my entire life,” Kim said. “The spirit and the sound of the Church of God in Christ have happily influenced me, but the jazzy side of music has also been my interest.”

In fact, Kim’s earliest music inspirations were gospel superstars the Hawkins Family and Shirley Caesar, but also jazz great Herbie Hancock. “Being from the church, we weren’t raised to listen or indulge in any jazz music,” Kim explained, “but after becoming an adult and listening to Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald and Art Tatum, it became a part of the repertoire of music that I enjoy.”

Her family also played a role in the development of her singing style. “My parents are both musicians and they encouraged us to create our own sound. My brother Kevin would play piano, and my sisters Karen and Kathy and I would sit around the piano and write songs. Since our parents really didn’t allow us to listen to a lot of different music styles in our home, we just created among each other. And I sang the way I did to break up what I was used to hearing in the church, which was more of a traditional sound.”

Integrating gospel and jazz into her singing style has given Kim a chance to work with award-winning songster Harry Connick, Jr., as well as jazz musicians George Duke, Herbie Hancock and the iconic soul superstar Stevie Wonder, to name a few. “I’ve had so many great opportunities, including doing an inspirational song with Puff Daddy, R. Kelly and Missy Elliott. You couldn’t have told me back then, at fourteen, recording with my church, that my life would take this route.”

As a youth, Kim actually wanted to be a lawyer. “Singing just came naturally, because that’s what we did at home,” she said. “I never attached music or singing to any career.”

Kim still has a desire to re-enter the classroom, but these days she is entertaining the possibility of attending music school. She explained, “I was told there were 30 students at the Berklee School of Music in Boston who gather together every day to create their own class with just my recordings. They go song by song to practice what it is they hear me do.”

Her influence extends beyond music students. Many pop artists also credit Kim as having an impact on them, including fellow Houstonian Beyonce Knowles. As an eighteen year-old, Beyonce sought out Kim for advice on performing. “Beyonce’s an incredible artist,” Kim said. “It’s amazing to know that I’ve had any kind of influence on an artist like that. It’s very humbling.”

When Kim takes the stage for “A Gospel Christmas” next month, it will be her third time at Lincoln Center and second as a solo artist. The first time she appeared there was with Wynton Marsalis.

With a packed touring schedule and her latest CD, No Ways Tired, earning Grammy and Stellar Awards nominations, how is Kim Burrell feeling?

“Kim Burrell is happy, free and excited about the world of music and all of its possibilities…and living her dream.”

For more information on “Kim Burrell – A Gospel Christmas,” visit Jazz at Lincoln Center’s website.