Ben Tankard
Encyclopedia
Ben Tankard is a former professional basketball player and an American
gospel
, jazz
keyboardist
producer, songwriter
and motivational speaker. Ben dropped out of college after one year to play minor league pro basketball in Canada. He was invited to an NBA camp but was injured and cut. Ben rebounded from his basketball injury to become the world's bestselling and most popular musician in gospeljazz music.
, signed her to his independent record label, Tribute Records
and produced several of her earlier works. Tankard has also recorded a series of well received instrumental solo albums and soundtracks, with music styles ranging from pop
to R&B to smooth jazz
. Tankard was the first artist to dedicate complete instrumental albums to a mixture of gospel and jazz, thus the term "gospeljazz".
Since he came on the scene in 1990 Ben's musical accomplishments have earned him a total of three Grammy nominations, eight Dove Award nominations, and twelve Stellar Awards
including 2010's "Best Instrumental Album" for his Mercy, Mercy, Mercy CD. This was his career highest charting release and featured an instrumental remake of the Chris Tomlin
Christian hit song, "How Great Is Our God
". Though many of Tankard's releases have received heavy rotation on gospel and smooth jazz stations, The Weather Channel
, XM Satellite Radio
and cable TV's Music Choice
, Mercy, Mercy, Mercy was the first CD in the history of Billboard Magazine to chart on the gospel, contemporary jazz, and jazz chart all at the same time.
With his ability to assemble stellar talent for his recordings, Tankard has been also been called the "Quincy Jones of Gospel", and is the bestselling gospeljazz instrumentalist in the world with 15 solo albums to his credit. In additional to his extensive work with Yolanda Adams
, Tankard has produced and collaborated with several other Grammy Award
winning, gold and platinum artists including, Take 6
, Fred Hammond
, Kelly Price
, John P. Kee
, Shirley Murdock
, Twinkie Clark
and Gerald Albright
.
Tankard was born in Daytona Beach, FL and also lived in Starke,FL and Chattahoochee, FL. After attending college in Dothan,AL he made short stops in Windsor,Canada and Portland,OR. When his short lived pro basketball career ended he moved back to Tallahassee,FL and eventual opened his studio/production company, BENote Music. One of his early customers would often come in BENote studio to record demos and would bring his 3 year old son "Faheem" hang with Ben and tweak the studio console knobs. Faheem eventually grew up and is now known as the world famous Grammy Award
winning rapper/producer/singer/songwriter, T-Pain
. VH-1 is currently producing a Behind the Music
episode on T-Pain which will include commentary by Tankard as an early influence. Tankard considers T-Pain his "nephew".
Now, based in Murfreesboro, TN (near Nashville), Tankard is an avid aviator
and instrument rated pilot. He flies to most of his concerts and speaking events on his own Cessna airplanes. He shares the joy of flight with young children through his Urban Eagles outreach program. Since 2007 he has worked with the NBA on special projects as a musician and speaker. Tankard married Jewel LaGreen on January 27, 2000. They have five children, Marcus, Benji, Brooklyn, Britney, and Cyrene. Having both been survivors of divorce, the Tankards often speak on TV and at national conferences on marriage and the blended family. In 2002, The Tankard's launched Destiny Center Church in Murfreesboro, TN which is also the national headquarters for Tribute Records
.
On July 16, 2011 Tankard was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award for Musical Excellence as an artist, producer, and songwriter by The Atlanta Gospel-fest. Tankard's sixteenth studio album, the highly anticipated "Ben Tankard & Friends / Black Butterfly ", will be released 2012 on his revamped Tribute Records
(& Film) label.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
gospel
Gospel music
Gospel music is music that is written to express either personal, spiritual or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....
, jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
keyboardist
Keyboardist
A keyboardist is a musician who plays keyboard instruments. Until the early 1960s musicians who played keyboards were generally classified as either pianists or organists. Since the mid-1960s, a plethora of new musical instruments with keyboards have come into common usage, requiring a more...
producer, songwriter
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
and motivational speaker. Ben dropped out of college after one year to play minor league pro basketball in Canada. He was invited to an NBA camp but was injured and cut. Ben rebounded from his basketball injury to become the world's bestselling and most popular musician in gospeljazz music.
Biography
Often referred to as the "Godfather of Gospel Jazz", Ben Tankard discovered Yolanda AdamsYolanda Adams
Yolanda Adams is an American Grammy- and Dove-award-winning Yolanda Adams is an American [[Grammy Awards|Grammy]]- and [[Dove Awards|Dove]]-award-winning...
, signed her to his independent record label, Tribute Records
Tribute Records
Tribute Records is an American gospel music record label established in 1990. The label was co-founded by 26yr old jazz musician and former pro basketball player Ben Tankard and George King. King owned Nashville based Diadem Music Group which produced Contemporary Christian music. Diadem's...
and produced several of her earlier works. Tankard has also recorded a series of well received instrumental solo albums and soundtracks, with music styles ranging from pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
to R&B to smooth jazz
Smooth jazz
Smooth jazz is a genre of music that grew out of jazz fusion and is influenced by R&B, funk, rock, and pop music styles ....
. Tankard was the first artist to dedicate complete instrumental albums to a mixture of gospel and jazz, thus the term "gospeljazz".
Since he came on the scene in 1990 Ben's musical accomplishments have earned him a total of three Grammy nominations, eight Dove Award nominations, and twelve Stellar Awards
Stellar Awards
The Stellar Awards is the first Gospel Music Awards show in the country, honoring Gospel Music Artists, writers, and industry professionals for their contributions to the Gospel Music Industry. The Stellar Awards ranks high in status as the only Gospel Music television awards program syndicated in...
including 2010's "Best Instrumental Album" for his Mercy, Mercy, Mercy CD. This was his career highest charting release and featured an instrumental remake of the Chris Tomlin
Chris Tomlin
Christopher Dwayne "Chris" Tomlin is an American Christian Contemporary Music artist, worship leader, and songwriter from Grand Saline, Texas, United States. He is a former staff member at Austin Stone Community Church and is signed to EMI's sixstepsrecords. Tomlin also leads worship at many...
Christian hit song, "How Great Is Our God
How Great Is Our God (song)
"How Great Is Our God" is a song written by Chris Tomlin, Jesse Reeves, and Ed Cash, originally featured on Tomlin's album Arriving, that reached number one on the Billboard Hot Christian Songs chart. It is also featured live on Tomlin's Live From Austin Music Hall album...
". Though many of Tankard's releases have received heavy rotation on gospel and smooth jazz stations, The Weather Channel
The Weather Channel
The Weather Channel is a US cable and satellite television network since May 2, 1982, that broadcasts weather forecasts and weather-related news, along with entertainment programming related to weather 24 hours a day...
, XM Satellite Radio
XM Satellite Radio
XM Satellite Radio is one of two satellite radio services in the United States and Canada, operated by Sirius XM Radio. It provides pay-for-service radio, analogous to cable television. Its service includes 73 different music channels, 39 news, sports, talk and entertainment channels, 21 regional...
and cable TV's Music Choice
Music Choice
Music Choice is a United States company that programs music and produces music-related content for digital cable, cell phones, and cable modem subscribers in the US. Music Choice programs dozens of audio music channels for digital cable subscribers, as well as programs and produces music-related...
, Mercy, Mercy, Mercy was the first CD in the history of Billboard Magazine to chart on the gospel, contemporary jazz, and jazz chart all at the same time.
With his ability to assemble stellar talent for his recordings, Tankard has been also been called the "Quincy Jones of Gospel", and is the bestselling gospeljazz instrumentalist in the world with 15 solo albums to his credit. In additional to his extensive work with Yolanda Adams
Yolanda Adams
Yolanda Adams is an American Grammy- and Dove-award-winning Yolanda Adams is an American [[Grammy Awards|Grammy]]- and [[Dove Awards|Dove]]-award-winning...
, Tankard has produced and collaborated with several other Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
winning, gold and platinum artists including, Take 6
Take 6
Take 6 is an American a cappella gospel music sextet formed in 1980 on the campus of Oakwood College in Huntsville, Alabama. The group sings in a contemporary style, integrating R&B and jazz influences into their devotional songs and has 10 Grammy wins, 10 Dove Awards, one Soul Train Award and two...
, Fred Hammond
Fred Hammond
Fred Hammond is a gospel music singer, bass guitar player, and record producer.-Musical career:Hammond has been active both as a member of the gospel performing group Commissioned, and as a solo artist...
, Kelly Price
Kelly Price
Kelly Price is an American R&B and soul singer, formerly on the Def Soul label.-Life and music career:Kelly Cherelle Price was born in Queens, New York. She was first discovered by Mariah Carey in February 1992 and subsequently introduced to Sony Columbia's then CEO Tommy Mottola...
, John P. Kee
John P. Kee
John P. Kee is an American gospel singer and pastor.-Early life:John P. Kee was born the 15th out of 16 children in Durham, North Carolina. At an early age he began to develop his musical talent both instrumentally and vocally...
, Shirley Murdock
Shirley Murdock
Shirley Murdock is an American R&B singer, who is best known for her 1986 R&B hit single "As We Lay" and for her vocals on Zapp and Roger hit single Computer Love.-Career:...
, Twinkie Clark
Twinkie Clark
Elbernita "Twinkie" Clark-Terrell is a two-time Grammy Award–winning American gospel singer, composer, musician, and evangelist. She is a member of The Clark Sisters, an influential gospel vocal ensemble active since the late '60s.-The Clark Sisters:...
and Gerald Albright
Gerald Albright
Gerald Albright is an American jazz saxophonist.Albright has sold over 1,000,000 albums in the U.S. alone. His self-produced music features him on bass guitar, keyboards, flutes, drum programming, and background vocals.- Biography :...
.
Tankard was born in Daytona Beach, FL and also lived in Starke,FL and Chattahoochee, FL. After attending college in Dothan,AL he made short stops in Windsor,Canada and Portland,OR. When his short lived pro basketball career ended he moved back to Tallahassee,FL and eventual opened his studio/production company, BENote Music. One of his early customers would often come in BENote studio to record demos and would bring his 3 year old son "Faheem" hang with Ben and tweak the studio console knobs. Faheem eventually grew up and is now known as the world famous Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
winning rapper/producer/singer/songwriter, T-Pain
T-Pain
Faheem Rasheed Najm , better known by his stage name T-Pain, is an American singer-songwriter, rapper, record producer, and actor, currently signed to Young Money Entertainment. His debut album, Rappa Ternt Sanga, was released in 2005. In 2007, T-Pain released his second studio album Epiphany,...
. VH-1 is currently producing a Behind the Music
Behind the Music
Behind the Music is a television series on VH1. It originally ran from 1997 to 2006, before it was stopped and only aired new episodes sporadically. The series places its generality on documentation of musical artists or groups who are interviewed and profiled, and discuss how their careers became...
episode on T-Pain which will include commentary by Tankard as an early influence. Tankard considers T-Pain his "nephew".
Now, based in Murfreesboro, TN (near Nashville), Tankard is an avid aviator
Aviator
An aviator is a person who flies an aircraft. The first recorded use of the term was in 1887, as a variation of 'aviation', from the Latin avis , coined in 1863 by G. de la Landelle in Aviation Ou Navigation Aérienne...
and instrument rated pilot. He flies to most of his concerts and speaking events on his own Cessna airplanes. He shares the joy of flight with young children through his Urban Eagles outreach program. Since 2007 he has worked with the NBA on special projects as a musician and speaker. Tankard married Jewel LaGreen on January 27, 2000. They have five children, Marcus, Benji, Brooklyn, Britney, and Cyrene. Having both been survivors of divorce, the Tankards often speak on TV and at national conferences on marriage and the blended family. In 2002, The Tankard's launched Destiny Center Church in Murfreesboro, TN which is also the national headquarters for Tribute Records
Tribute Records
Tribute Records is an American gospel music record label established in 1990. The label was co-founded by 26yr old jazz musician and former pro basketball player Ben Tankard and George King. King owned Nashville based Diadem Music Group which produced Contemporary Christian music. Diadem's...
.
On July 16, 2011 Tankard was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award for Musical Excellence as an artist, producer, and songwriter by The Atlanta Gospel-fest. Tankard's sixteenth studio album, the highly anticipated "Ben Tankard & Friends / Black Butterfly ", will be released 2012 on his revamped Tribute Records
Tribute Records
Tribute Records is an American gospel music record label established in 1990. The label was co-founded by 26yr old jazz musician and former pro basketball player Ben Tankard and George King. King owned Nashville based Diadem Music Group which produced Contemporary Christian music. Diadem's...
(& Film) label.
Discography
- All Keyed Up (1989)
- Keynote Speaker (1990)
- Keys To Life w/guest John P. KeeJohn P. KeeJohn P. Kee is an American gospel singer and pastor.-Early life:John P. Kee was born the 15th out of 16 children in Durham, North Carolina. At an early age he began to develop his musical talent both instrumentally and vocally...
(1991) - An Instrumental Christmas (1992)
- Sunday Drivin (1993)
- Play Me In Your Key w/guest Yolanda AdamsYolanda AdamsYolanda Adams is an American Grammy- and Dove-award-winning Yolanda Adams is an American [[Grammy Awards|Grammy]]- and [[Dove Awards|Dove]]-award-winning...
(1994) - Instrumentally Yours w/guest Take 6Take 6Take 6 is an American a cappella gospel music sextet formed in 1980 on the campus of Oakwood College in Huntsville, Alabama. The group sings in a contemporary style, integrating R&B and jazz influences into their devotional songs and has 10 Grammy wins, 10 Dove Awards, one Soul Train Award and two...
and Fred HammondFred HammondFred Hammond is a gospel music singer, bass guitar player, and record producer.-Musical career:Hammond has been active both as a member of the gospel performing group Commissioned, and as a solo artist...
(1996) - Git Yo Prayze On w/Tribe Of Benjamin(1997)
- Raize Da Praise w/Tribe Of Benjamin (1998)
- The Minstrel (1999)
- Christmas Love (2000)
- Song of Solomon (2001)
- Best of Ben (2002)
- Play a Lil' Song for Me" w/guest The Canton SpiritualsThe Canton SpiritualsThe Canton Spirituals are an award-winning gospel recording group and are regarded as pioneers in the genre of traditional gospel music.Founded in Canton, Mississippi in 1943, the original Canton Spirituals were Eddie Jackson, Theo Thompson, Roscoe Lucious and founder Harvey Watkins, Sr....
(2003) - Piano Prophet w/guest Shirley MurdockShirley MurdockShirley Murdock is an American R&B singer, who is best known for her 1986 R&B hit single "As We Lay" and for her vocals on Zapp and Roger hit single Computer Love.-Career:...
(2004) - Let's Get Quiet" (2007)
- Mercy, Mercy, Mercy (2009)
- Ben Tankard & Friends / Black Butterfly (2012) w/guest Mark Kibble (Take 6Take 6Take 6 is an American a cappella gospel music sextet formed in 1980 on the campus of Oakwood College in Huntsville, Alabama. The group sings in a contemporary style, integrating R&B and jazz influences into their devotional songs and has 10 Grammy wins, 10 Dove Awards, one Soul Train Award and two...
), Gerald AlbrightGerald AlbrightGerald Albright is an American jazz saxophonist.Albright has sold over 1,000,000 albums in the U.S. alone. His self-produced music features him on bass guitar, keyboards, flutes, drum programming, and background vocals.- Biography :...
, Tim Bowman, and Cynthia Jones.