by Howard Campbell
ORLANDO – Contemporary gospel music owes a lot to artists like Kirk Franklin and CeCe Winans whose embrace of secular sounds made them huge stars. A similar movement emerged in Jamaica through acts such as Lester Lewis and Marvia Providence.
Artist/producer Canute Neil Ellis sampled their hit songs for Slingshot, a six-song EP released in August.
Ellis, who is based in Orlando, collaborated with several Jamaican acts on the project. He samples Lewis’ Winner Man and Providence’s Hear my Cry Oh Lord for Undefeated (featuring Zabbai, DJ Nicholas and Cario Young) and My Cry (done with Golda McFarlane and Tiffany Hall), respectively.
“They are songs that have taken thousands (of people) through tough times, reminded us of what’s important, reminded us even in times when we can’t pray, who it is we can talk to, even if it’s not in big, flowery words,” said Ellis. “Revisiting these songs was one of the most fulfilling things that I have ever done. And I’ve done many projects.”
Ryan Chew and Samantha Gooden (Ellis’ wife) are featured on Rescue Me, which samples He Saw My Need, originally done by The Grace Thrillers.
Nah Miss It — with Ellis, Jason Mighty, J.DAT and Orville Sutherland — borrows from If I Miss Heaven, by Reverend Glen Graham.
Canute Neil Ellis’ Early Years
Ellis learned the ropes as an audio engineer at the Kingston studios of Noel Willis, founder of The Grace Thrillers. That group’s reggae-based gospel songs earned them a large secular following during the 1980s and 1990s.
At Willis’ studio, he grew to appreciate the neo-gospel movement. He also liked progressive acts, including Lewis. Lewis’ song, Winner Man, was covered by American singer Ron Kenoly.
“I think one of the reasons I found it (working on Slingshot) so fulfilling is that I got to connect with these musical stalwarts and talk with them and recapture some of the early vision that they had for their projects, but then I got to connect with some of the newer, upcoming gospel talent and bring them in. So, we had this like creative melting pot that became part of this project,” said Ellis.
