CARLTON LOUISON & PRAYZE PROJECT

Praise Him Up
SEETA PERSAD Tuesday, April 25 2006

Gospel singer Carlton Louison has taken his passion for singing praises to God to a different level.

He has compiled his own compositions in a CD which he is preparing to launch on Sunday.

The album Praise Him Up contains such songs as “Stand up,” “Every Time,” “Interlude,” “In Your Presence,” “God is in control,” “You were There,” “Praise Him Up (remix),” “Secret Place,” and “This is Christmas.”

Together with his group of singers, Prayze Project, Carlton remains a staple at Faith Assembly International Church, Five Rivers, Arouca, where he fellowships.

Other members of the group who have blended their voices for this project include Darlene Guevera, Connel Lord, Natasha Wellington, Rhonda Martin, and Carlton’s wife Trudy.

A devout Christian, Carlton said he has a desire to take the songs of God to the prisons, hospitals and orphanages. The six-member group was formed five years ago and has since become one of the popular gospel groups in the country.

Carlton, who is now employed with TSTT, spent all his spare time composing and singing gospel songs.

Reminiscing on his youth, he said he began learning the piano at age nine, but hated it at first. He grew to love the music when he actually learnt the scales. At 12, he was baptised. And in 1988, he began singing with an acapella gospel group called Vision of Glory.

The group did two music videos—— “Ma Lord” and “Nothing is Impossible.”

Carlton later graduated to vocal training with Sterling Gittens and the Youth Pulse. Despite the training, he feels the only ingredient that is important to produce a successful song is the love for God.

“I wanted to reach people and touch their lives meaningfully. I don’t want to sing cause I may have a good voice. It is about much more,” he said. Music, he said, can heal the mind and the right song can bring change to anyone’s heart.

Having realised his dream of producing the CD, Carlton is hoping that his music will reach people through radio airplay.

Carlton said it was a difficult task putting the music together for this album, but everyone involved stepped up and gave money to the project.

He thanked Pastor KK Bachew for allowing him time to launch the CD. Part proceeds from sales will go to projects undertaken by the church.

- TRINIDAD & TOBAGO NEWSDAY

Carlton Louison and the Prayze Project are on a mission. “We are a group of a difference, not the concert-oriented typed group that people are so accustomed to,” Louison said during an interview at the Guardian office on March 20.

“Our mission is to take this music ministry into the prisons, hospitals and orphanages,” the Arouca resident declared.

The six-member group, formed five years ago under the direction of Louison, will be releasing its first CD, Praise Him Up.

The ten-track album is a combination of slow R&B, hip hop, and retro classics in the style of Mahalia Jackson. It is expected to be released on April 30.

Louison, the group’s lead vocalist and songwriter, said sometimes people needed to hear the word of the Lord in a different manner.

“Music is a healer, it can help out the oppressed and depressed. This album is to uplift and encourage you.

“In those places, you will find people down and out and afflicted and just a song to minister to their souls will be so fulfilling,” he added.

The 35-year-old, who attends the Faith Assembly International Church at Five Rivers Junction, Arouca said that when the group was first formed they always had plans of doing their own music and releasing an album.

“I was so fed-up singing other people’s songs, I thought that it was time to do my own thing.

“I knew that God had more things in store for me in terms of my music ministry, so the group was formed for that purpose,” he added.

His wife of two years, Trudy, also sings in the group.

Louison said that at age nine, he began playing the piano and then graduated to vocal training with Sterling Gittens and Youth Pulse.

He then landed himself a spot singing with gospel group, Visions of Glory.

“I always had a passion for singing and I know what the stage was like,” he added.

“This group is not about going on a stage and just performing before an audience; we are about real ministry,” he said.

A worship leader at his church for the past five years, Louison said the group will be taking the gospel to the people.

“There are people out there who are laid up in hospitals, spending years in prisons, and residents of orphanages who cannot hear and enjoy a godly atmosphere and if we can take it to them, then we have served our purpose as music ministers,” he said, with a wide smile.

Louison said that putting together the album was no easy task.

“Everyone had to pitch in because we got no sponsorship,” he said.

“Producing a CD is very costly, it can run into the thousands, but we knew that this was our calling so we did it,” he added.

He said he was grateful to his pastor KK Bachew for allowing him a segment of the service to launch the CD.

Louison, a TSTT employee, who, along with Cleon Richardson, produced the CD, said that he recorded his first song, I Will Call, in 2000.

He said that part proceeds of the CD would go towards missions, being undertaken by his church.

“I am expecting that we get some airplay, even on the secular radio stations once the album is released,” he said.

- TRINIDAD GUARDIAN