John Stoddart Bio Full 2011

Biography
Celine Dion. Al Jarreau. Will
Downing. Take 6. Patti Austin. Michael
McDonald. Philadelphia native John
Stoddart has either written for, sung
with, played for or helped produce
each of these great artists. And they
are just a few of the names that
pepper John's musical resume.
“In my 30-year career, there is not
one musician in whom I have more
confidence, for whom I have more
respect, with whom I have traveled
more miles and negotiated more
musical and life challenges than John John Stoddart! Faith | Hope | Love
Stoddart,” says two-time Stellar
award-winning saxophonist Kirk Whalum, who is also a multiple Grammy and Dove
Award nominee. In fact, Kirk is such a fan that he utilizes John’s talents on many of his
live dates as well as in the studio on many of his projects, including his criticallyacclaimed Gospel According to Jazz series.
John’s list of fans and supporters will only grow thanks to his latest release, Faith | Hope
| Love, a soulful collection of inspirational love songs that speak to the challenges and
triumphs of marriage.
“Faith | Hope | Love is a project that’s really been on my heart to do for some time,”
John said. He and his wife, Dr. Helen Powell-Stoddart, have been happily married for over
12 years. But that doesn’t mean they haven’t had to work through some serious
challenges. About three years into the marriage, both John and Helen thought it was
over.
“Helen was standing at the door with her bags packed,” John recalled. The Divine
combination of faith, hope and love saved them. “This record is really just the story of
our marriage.”
Faith | Hope | Love brims with powerful insights, which is immediately apparent from the
first song “More Than You And Me,” a testimony about the need to have God in a
marriage, to “When We Dance,” a light, summer breeze of a song that ends the album by
celebrating the chemistry and tender yearning between a husband and his wife. Faith |
Hope | Love is an elegant 10-song set that depicts marriage as a wonderful,
transformative gift that binds couples together while drawing them closer to God.
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Biography
“My understanding of marriage is that it’s a microcosm, a mirror, of the spiritual
relationship that God has with me,” John said. “How God relates to me is how I’m to
relate to my wife.”
The lyrics and messages of Faith | Hope | Love are powerful, make no mistake, but the
album also grooves. In addition to John’s soulful vocals, sparkling keyboards and warm
string arrangements (recorded in Sweden while John was on tour with his good friend
and occasional musical collaborator Evelina Gard), Faith | Hope | Love features his
friends bassist Kelvin Wooten (Anthony Hamilton, Raphael Saadiq, Jill Scott), drummer
Marcus Finnie (CeCe Winans, Billy Preston, Kirk Whalum) and guitarist Michael Ripoll
(Babyface, Sting, India Arie).
“I was trying to convey a very soulful, organic sound,” John said. “Kind of Donny
Hathaway meets James Taylor, a very singer-songwriter sound that music fans would
embrace.”
Off to a Nashville recording studio he and the guys went. The basic tracks were done in
two days. “It was a very special experience,” John said. “I really, really enjoyed it.”
He’s not the only one. Fans have made Faith | Hope | Love a top 20 album and “More
Than You And Me” a top five single. The album also caught the attention of the editors of
SoulTracks.com, the premiere website for soul music around the world, who decided to
make John a featured artist.
All the buzz and heat from Faith | Hope | Love is the culmination of a lifetime of living
and loving music. John grew up in a musical family and was singing and playing the piano
in church almost as soon as he could walk. His formal training began at 13, convincing
him that he had found his career. In 1993, he earned a Bachelor of Arts in Piano and
Voice from Washington Adventist University (formerly Columbia Union College) in
Takoma Park, Maryland.
Even before graduating, John had formed Urban Junction East Music, his production and
publishing company. He quickly began to accrue credits as a session vocalist, arranger,
songwriter and producer with artists such as Wintley Phipps, Sandy Patti, Boney James, Al
Jarreau, Bob James, Celine Dion, Darin Atwater and the Soulful Symphony, Will Downing,
Take 6 and Patti Austin.
John also has partnered with saxophonist Kirk Whalum as co-producer, arranger and/or
musician on several of Kirk’s Grammy-nominated recordings —Hymns, In the Garden, The
Christmas Message, The Gospel According to Jazz III and Everything is Everything, a Tribute to
Donny Hathaway. John’s composition “I Still Believe,” featured on Faith | Hope | Love, was
first featured on guitarist Norman Brown’s album Just Chillin’. Blue-eyed soul legend
Michael McDonald contributed lead vocals to the song, which won the Grammy award
for Best Pop Instrumental Album.
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Biography
John has also performed at prayer services for Presidents William Jefferson Clinton and
George W. Bush, an HBO Inaugural Special ( his arrangement of “God Bless America”
was performed by Diana Ross) and at various awards shows and events, including the
pre- Grammy Gospel Extravaganza, the Stellar Awards, the Dove Awards and the
Trumpet Awards. John also performed at the 2004 Quincy Jones/MTV “We Are the
Future” concert in Rome, Italy, to benefit the children in war-torn countries.
In 2010, John created and orchestrated arrangements for the first-ever John F. Kennedy
Center of the Performing Arts Joyful Sounds Gospel concert with the National
Symphony Orchestra in Washington, DC. John was also one of the performers at this
event.
While John is a sought-after collaborator, he is first and foremost a solo artist who
records and tours on his own when he’s not sharing his gift with other artists. Most of
his albums have been released on his own label, Urban Junction East Music: A Not So
Silent Night and Love So Real (1998), Sweet (2006), Faces (2008) and Faith | Hope | Love
(2010). In 2003, John debuted his major label album, Wings To Walk This Road (Warner/
Reprise).
Though based in Alabama, John’s music and artistry have global reach as he continues to
record, perform, produce, write and even lecture about music for appreciative
audiences. His first priority, though, is to Helen and their daughters Analise and AnyaNoelle. It’s a divinely inspired one, borne of John’s own convictions about faith, hope and
love.
“When we add God into our relationships, whether it’s marriage or parent-child or at
work, it just makes a difference,” John said. “That’s what I believe.”
JohnStoddart.com
Facebook.com/johnstoddartmusic
Twitter.com/JohnStoddart
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Cole Classic
Management
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T 818.222.3790
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Press & PR
David Person
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Biography