Lanny Wolfe

Last updated
Lanny Wolfe
Born (1942-02-02) February 2, 1942 (age 82)
Columbus, Ohio, U.S.
Genres Gospel
Occupation(s)Singer, songwriter, musician
Instrument(s)Vocals, keyboards, guitar, piano
Years active1963–present
Website paradigmmusic.net

Lanny Wolfe (born February 2, 1942) is an American Christian music songwriter, musician, music publisher, and music educator. He has written over seven hundred songs and fourteen musicals, and has recorded over seventy projects. He won two GMA Dove Awards in 1984, for Song of the Year and Songwriter of the Year, for his song, "More Than Wonderful," a song whose recording by Sandi Patti and Larnelle Harris earned them a Grammy Award. Wolfe has written over sixty Christmas songs included in eight Christmas musicals, including "Rejoice with Exceeding Great Joy," "No Room," "Cherish That Name," "Wise Men Still Seek Him," "For God So Loved the World," and "Seeking for Me." "Rejoice with Exceeding Great Joy" is used yearly in the candle lighting ceremony at Epcot in Orlando, Florida. Wolfe's song, "Greater Is He" was used as the official closing song of the Oral Roberts Telecast which aired on 120 stations weekly for six years. His song "For God So Loved the World" was selected to be recorded by the James Cleveland's Gospel Music Workshop of America in Houston, TX in 1982, where Wolfe directed the 1500-voice gospel choir. It was also included in the Gospel Music Workshop of America's 25th Anniversary CD project; and, for the 30th anniversary of the Gospel Music Workshop of America, was chosen as one of the top five songs that had been recorded out of 450 songs from the workshop's thirty-year run. He has also served as a member of the board of directors of the Gospel Music Association.

Contents

Biography

Wolfe was born in Columbus, Ohio. He learned how to play the piano by ear, a talent that was used in his local church as he was growing up. He went to Ohio State University, received his baccalaureate degree in business education, and began teaching in public schools. Going to night school, he finished his MBA there as well.

Being a talented church musician, he was offered a job at a Pentecostal Bible school in California to teach worship music – which led him to return to a traditional learning atmosphere where he eventually received his bachelor's degree in Music Education from San Jose State University. He eventually finished a second Master's in the same field.

He headed the music departments at the following Bible schools affiliated with the United Pentecostal Church International: Christian Life College in Stockton, California from 1965 to 1966; Gateway College of Evangelism in St. Louis, Missouri from 1968 to 1974; and at Jackson College of Ministries in Jackson, Mississippi from 1974 to 1993.

Since 1993, Lanny has served as a music instructor at South Texas Bible Institute, also in Houston, Texas and Director of Music/Worship Pastor for churches in Texas, Florida, and Indiana. Lanny is presently serving as CEO for Paradigm Music Productions, writing, conducting choir clinics at churches across the country and accompanying members of the original Lanny Wolfe Trio for reunion concerts at selected churches and venues throughout the nation. Starting in 2015, Lanny Wolfe and The Lanny Wolfe Trio has made frequent appearances on the Three Angels Broadcasting Network, based in West Frankfort, IL and airing on 120 stations around the world. Wolfe was vitally involved in the creation of the 3ABN project "Calvary" featuring six of Lanny's songs, three of which were new and co-writes. The project premiered live on the networks' 120 stations, June, 2015 from West Frankfort, IL.

Influence on gospel music

Wolfe is a pioneer in progressing modern church music in Pentecostal and Charismatic churches from traditional hymns or folk-style singing to more sophisticated worship styles with arranged or pre-recorded music, using styles of music influenced by pop-culture and black gospel music.

Though he heavily influenced the greater world of gospel music during the 1970s and 1980s, it was through his work within his own particular religious denomination, the United Pentecostal Church International, that this work was accomplished. While people throughout Christianity may be able to hum a Lanny Wolfe tune, most of his day-to-day career was spent as the Dean of the School of Music at a Pentecostal Bible school, Jackson College of Ministries.

Wolfe influenced gospel music in two ways: 1) through recordings of original music, and 2) through his once-popular National Music Ministry Conference, an annual conference hosted by the aforementioned Bible school and the First Pentecostal Church of Jackson, Mississippi, where Wolfe worked from 1974 until 1993. He is a brilliant composer – using his education in music to introduce more sophisticated music styles to church audiences more familiar with southern or folk gospel. Using a tantalizing mix of Southern gospel song formulas, emotionally expressive musical phrasings more common in black churches, and classical, popular, or even "jazzy" music arrangements, he played an integral part in elevating the type and styles of music performed in worship services in the United Pentecostal Church and among many other Christian congregations.

Wolfe's original music was performed and released by his trio, the Lanny Wolfe Trio, originally composed of himself, his then-wife, Marietta Wolfe, and Dave Petersen. During the 1980s, the group added others as Dave Petersen departed, followed by his wife who left to raise their children. Eventually, the group performed as Lanny Wolfe and the Lanny Wolfe Trio – the trio itself comprising young talent mostly taken from the student body of the Jackson College of Ministries. His last three albums listed the troupe simply as The Lanny Wolfe Singers. On his last album, the "Singers" were from a local church where he ministered at, since he was no longer affiliated with JCM.

He founded the National Music Ministry Conference (NMMC) as an effort to improve worship music in churches within the United Pentecostal Church, although its influence eventually expanded outside of that denomination. Each annual conference, held in the spring, offered classes in the many aspects of church worship, musicianship, sound control and production, and taught ordinary church musicians important tools in creating a professional sound in church worship. Each conference was capped at the end of the week by the performance of the National Music Ministry Conference Mass Choir (later dubbed Jackson Mass Choir) – made up of participants in the conference, and notable musicians and singers from within the United Pentecostal Church. It was considered an honor among UPCI musical artists to be asked to perform by Wolfe during this concert. Songs made popular by these Mass Choir concerts were often copied by worship teams in the UPCI, charismatic, and other Pentecostal-style churches coast-to-coast. These recordings also brought to the attention of other worship leaders of different faiths this music that Wolfe was introducing to the Pentecostal/Charismatic community – some songs presented there would invariably end up being recorded by more prestigious artists or choirs, such as the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir.

Music style

Like his method of musical contribution, music styles attributed to Lanny Wolfe were also varied. His original music picked up on styles within pop culture, and often included the soft, symphonic style of pop music during the 1970s. In his song, I Feel Good, he even pulled off adapting a little bit of the "James Brown Sound" to that up-tempo song. His trio often recorded using London-based orchestras, often arranged by the famed gospel music producer, Lari Goss.

Music at his conference, except for a few select songs, was not original to him. He busily mined other non-mainstream gospel genres for material, often using music recorded by gospel choirs (such as Mississippi Mass Choir, or Rev. Milton Brunson and the Thompson Community Singers) for material. The spirited style of these songs went over well in a denomination known for expressive worship and spiritual dance, which seemed a bit odd considering that many congregations within the United Pentecostal Church at that time were all-white or nearly all-white. The mixture was ingenious, and a natural fit, since the expressive worship styles of white Pentecostals themselves were inherited from the beginnings of the Pentecostal movement, which started off as an inner-city, inter-racial religious movement.

His songs, musical style, along with the artistry of the Lanny Wolfe Trio continue to impact Pentecostal/Charismatic worship music since many worship leaders are well adept at finding or creating the same sound. Many Christian recording artists, songwriters, ministers of music, and Christian educators have studied under his leadership, such as Geron Davis ("Standing on Holy Ground"); Vicki Yohe, TBN artist; Vonnie Lopez, artist with the Kurt Carr Singers; Dan Dean, pastor, songwriter and of Phillips, Craig, and Dean; among others.

Discography

Lanny and Marietta Wolfe

Lanny Wolfe Trio

Lanny Wolfe and the Lanny Wolfe Trio

The Lanny Wolfe Singers

National Music Ministry Conference Mass Choir

Musicals (compositions)

Awards and honors

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael W. Smith</span> American musician (born 1957)

Michael Whitaker Smith is an American musician who has charted in both contemporary Christian and mainstream charts. His biggest success in mainstream music was in 1991 when "Place in This World" hit No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100. Over the course of his career, he has sold more than 18 million albums.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christian music</span> Music expressing Christian life and faith

Christian music is music that has been written to express either personal or a communal belief regarding Christian life and faith. Common themes of Christian music include praise, worship, penitence and lament, and its forms vary widely around the world. Church music, hymnals, gospel and worship music are a part of Christian media and also include contemporary Christian music which itself supports numerous Christian styles of music, including hip hop, rock, contemporary worship and urban contemporary gospel.

Alleluia is a phrase in Christianity used to give praise to God. In Christian worship, Alleluia is used as a liturgical chant in which that word is combined with verses of scripture, usually from the Psalms. This chant is commonly used before the proclamation of the Gospel. In Western Christianity, congregations commonly cease using the word Alleluia during the period of Lent but restore it into their services at Easter. The form of praise "Alleluia" is used by Christians to thank and glorify God; it finds itself present in many prayers and hymns, especially those related to Eastertide, such as "Christ the Lord is Risen Today".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Church music</span> Christian music written for performance in church

Church music is Christian music written for performance in church, or any musical setting of ecclesiastical liturgy, or music set to words expressing propositions of a sacred nature, such as a hymn.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phillips, Craig and Dean</span> Christian music trio

Phillips, Craig and Dean is a contemporary Christian music trio composed of pastors Randy Phillips, Shawn Craig, and Dan Dean. Since forming in 1991, the group has sold over two million units. They have also received ten GMA Dove Award nominations, winning four, including Praise and Worship Album of the Year in 2007 for Top of My Lungs, and Inspirational Album of the Year in 2010 for Fearless.

The Cathedral Quartet, also known as the Cathedrals, was an American southern gospel quartet who performed from 1964 to December 1999. The group's final lineup consisted of Glen Payne (lead), George Younce (bass), Ernie Haase (tenor), Scott Fowler, and Roger Bennett.

Thomas Anthony Whitfield was an American gospel singer, songwriter, arranger, pianist, choir director and producer best known for helping to shape the fabric of contemporary gospel music with his elaborate choral arrangements and the merging of musical styles ranging from jazz to classical into traditional gospel foundations. This style earned him the respectable title of "Maestro" by many of his colleagues and supporters. He was best known for organizing one of the popular contemporary gospel choirs of all time, the Thomas Whitfield Company, and for producing best-selling records for Vanessa Bell Armstrong, Shirley Caesar, Yolanda Adams, Douglas Miller, Keith Pringle, Paul Morton and for Aretha Franklin.

The Covenant Awards are awarded to the Canadian gospel music industry by GMA Canada, the Gospel Music Association of Canada. The association is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to promote the growth and ministry of Christian music in Canada. The ceremonies are held annually in cities across the nation.

The 35th Annual GMA Music Awards were held on April 28, 2004 recognizing accomplishments of musicians for the year 2003. The show was held at the Municipal Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee, and was hosted by Deion Sanders and Yolanda Adams.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Smallwood (musician)</span> American gospel artist (born 1948)

Richard Smallwood is an American gospel artist who formed The Richard Smallwood Singers in 1977 in Washington, D.C.

The 37th Annual GMA Dove Awards, also called the 37th Annual GMA Music Awards, were held on April 5, 2006 recognizing accomplishments of Christian musicians for the year 2005. The show was held at the Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville, Tennessee, and was hosted by Rebecca St. James and Kirk Franklin. This was the last year in which the awards were called the "GMA Music Awards", since they will change their names to "GMA Dove Awards".

Eric Harding Thiman was an English composer, conductor and organist. The surname is pronounced 'tea-man'. By 1939 he was considered one of the leading non-conformist organists in England. His choral and educational music is still performed today.

The 38th Annual GMA Dove Awards were held on April 25, 2007 recognizing accomplishments of musicians for the year 2006. The show was held at the Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville, Tennessee, and was hosted by Brian Littrell, Natalie Grant, and Donnie McClurkin. This was the first year in which the awards were called the "GMA Dove Awards" since the 2006 edition was called the "GMA Music Awards".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">39th GMA Dove Awards</span>

The 39th Annual GMA Dove Awards presentation was held on April 23, 2008, recognizing accomplishments of musicians for the year 2007. The show was held at the Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville, Tennessee.

The 15th Annual GMA Dove Awards were held on 1984 recognizing accomplishments of musicians for the year 1983. The show was held in Nashville, Tennessee. This is the first televised award show, broadcast on the Christian Broadcasting Network.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">43rd GMA Dove Awards</span>

The 43rd Annual GMA Dove Awards presentation ceremony was held on Thursday, April 19, 2012, at 7:30 P.M. EST at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia. The ceremony recognized the accomplishments of musicians and other figures within the Christian music industry for the year 2011. The ceremony was produced by the Gospel Music Association and was hosted by actor David Mann and comedian Chonda Pierce. The awards show was broadcast on the Gospel Music Channel on April 24, 2012.

Toronto Mass Choir is a Canadian gospel music group that incorporates contemporary gospel, traditional gospel as well as Caribbean music influences; founded in 1988.

Helen Yawson is a contemporary gospel singer, songwriter and pastor based in Ghana.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Soul Sanctuary Gospel Choir</span>

Soul Sanctuary Gospel Choir is a London-based, auditioned gospel choir whose mission is "to spread a message of faith, hope, and love through contemporary gospel music; to create performances full of life-affirming joy and soulful celebration, collaborating with other artists and art forms; and to support and work with a diverse range of like-minded churches, charities, and communities."

Christian Music in Australia has been played since the first European settlers arrived in the late 18th century, and forms part of the cultural life of religion in Australia and worldwide Christian Music. Australians have contributed to a variety of genres of Christian music including the liturgical music, classical music, hymns, Christian rock, country gospel, and Christmas music, as well as cross-over contemporary music sung by popular artists such as Johnny O'Keefe, Paul Kelly, Nick Cave and Slim Dusty. Notable contemporary Christian music milestones in Australia include Sister Janet Mead's rock version of "The Lord's Prayer", which was the first Australian record to sell over a million copies in the United States of America; Jimmy Little's Royal Telephone, which made him the first Aboriginal to attain a No. 1 hit on the Australian charts; and Guy Sebastian's Receive the Power, which welcomed the Pope to World Youth Day 2008.

References

  1. ↑ "No Valleys Tomorrow".
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 "Lanny Wolfe Trio". SGHistory.
  3. ↑ "The Lanny Wolfe Trio Let's Sing a Song About Jesus". Amazon.
  4. ↑ "Brand New Touch". Amazon.
  5. ↑ "Lanny Wolfe Singers Just Keep Praising Him Music".
  6. ↑ NOEL Jesus Is Born. The Benson Co. January 1979.
  7. ↑ Thou Shall Call His Name....Jesus. Benson Publishing Co. January 1982.
  8. ↑ Love Found a Way: An Easter Musical. Lanny Wolfe Music Company. January 1984.
  9. ↑ "Lanny Wolfe, Don Marsh - We Are The Church: A Choral Proclamation Of The Body Of Christ". Cross Rhythms.
  10. ↑ "SING NOEL Lanny Wolfe 1989 Christmas Musical w/ Max Lucado narration".
  11. ↑ Don't Miss Christmas. Pathway Music. January 1991.
  12. ↑ Praise the Lamb: A Celebration of Praise and Adoration. Pathway Press. January 1991.
  13. ↑ "Jesus, We Crown You With Praise". Musicnotes, Inc. 16 December 2014.
  14. ↑ "A Season A Savior A Star". Amazon.
  15. ↑ United Methodi
  16. 1 2 3 4 Lindsay, Terry (2002). Stories Behind 50 Southern Gospel Favorites (Volume 2 ed.). Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications. p. 158. ISBN   0825438853.
  17. 1 2 "Aclaimed Gospel Singer to Hold Songwriting Workshop". The Facts from Clute, Texas. November 18, 1994.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.