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Hear the gospel truth from a pro

Photo from William Sanders

"It's about good news, and God knows we need that these days," Milton Biggham says about gospel music.

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By MICHELLE BEARDEN Michelle Bearden

mbearden@tampatrib.com mbearden@tampatrib.com

Published: June 27, 2009

His mama knew he had talent. When the piano player didn't show up at church one day, she went to the back of the sanctuary where her teenage son, Milton, was sitting with his friends.

You get up there and play, she told him. You can do it.

Christine McKay knew something about gospel music. She had traveled with the Roberta Martin Singers before settling down as a preacher's wife in Lamesa, Texas, to concentrate on raising her boy.

And it was no surprise to his mother that Milton Biggham was a big hit in church that day. Enough that he and his mama started traveling all over Texas with the Sykes Gospel Singers for the next five years.

"She was the first person to encourage the gift that God gave me," says Biggham, 63. "I have to say it all began with her."

On Sunday, the famed composer, recording star and executive producer of Savoy Records comes to Tampa to lead an "Up Close and Personal" gospel music workshop. This is the man who is credited with discovering Kirk Franklin and Donnie McClurkin and known for jump-starting the choir music scene in the 1980s.

His name is familiar in these parts for another reason. For Biggham, coming to Tampa is like coming home. The Georgia native launched his expansive career nearly 40 years ago right here in the Bay area when he got a job as organist for the New Mount Zion Missionary Baptist Church.

Call it divine providence; call it luck. When he met local recording artist Arthur Jones, now pastor of the Bible-Based Fellowship Church in Carrollwood, the two men made beautiful music together. They founded The Gospel Faith Increasers and, eventually, the Tampa Mass Choir (now Florida Mass Choir).

"I've had so many blessings in my life," Biggham says. "But I know the foundation started right in Tampa, with Art and with New Zion, and all the other folks along the way. It was a special time for me."

William Sanders, founder of Unlimited Gospel Expressions, sponsor of the event, has a special connection to Biggham.

"When I first came to Tampa, he was one of my biggest inspirations," says Sanders, a promoter and gospel music historian. "And look at him. He started with humble beginnings and ended up a big success. He had to go through a lot of potholes on the way, but he made it."

Trusting his ear

In his few years here, Biggham attended the University of South Florida "for about a minute." He wanted to take theology classes but veered to the music department instead. School wasn't for him, though. To this day, he still doesn't read music, depending strictly on his ear.

The ear has served him well. This powerhouse vocalist has more than 350 compositions to his credit, including "What He's Done For Me," "The Storm Is Over" and "Prayer Will Fix It Every Time." He earned two Grammy awards as producer of two classic works by the late Rev. James Cleveland, "Having Church" and "Lord, Let Me Be An Instrument." And in 1996, his award-winning Georgia Mass Choir caught the attention of producer Penny Marshall, who featured the group in her movie "The Preacher's Wife" and named Biggham as the film's gospel music director.

He also has the distinction of producing the first gospel music album by Lou Rawls. It would be the baritone's final project before dying of lung and brain cancer in January 2006.

"A wonderful human being, a musical genius" is how Biggham describes Rawls. "Down-to-earth and a real treasure. He is missed."

A great time for gospel

There is no better time than bad times for this genre of music, says Biggham, a widower with four grown children.

"It's about good news, and God knows we need that these days," he says. "It's about healing and unity, and we need that, too. I'm grateful gospel music has made it out of the four walls of the church and into mainstream society. It delivers a message we all need to hear. It's spiritual medication for what ails us."

He's close to retirement age but still has much to do. Besides his job with Savoy Records, Biggham is pastor of the 450-member Mount Vernon Baptist Church in Newark, N.J. In his spare time, he travels the country, producing choirs and individual artists and putting on workshops.

Coming up in the fall: a workshop for the troops in Iraq. A Vietnam vet, Biggham says his two-year stint in the Army left a lasting impression on him.

"I didn't want to go to Vietnam. I fought it. But it taught me how to really trust God. Not just talk about it, but really put my trust in him," he says. "I went in a mess and came out a miracle."

So going to Iraq to perform for people in similar conditions is a "blessing and an honor."

At the workshop, expect to pick up some other tips from Biggham on how to be a success in this sometimes treacherous business. I asked him to share his most important advice.

"Be yourself. Know you have something unique to give, and follow that instinct," he says. "It's OK to be inspired by others, but don't copy their style. Find your own and develop that."

At Sunday's event, someone special will be in the audience. Christine McKay, the woman who saw the raw talent in her baby a half-century ago, now makes her home in Winter Haven. She's coming to Tampa to see the son who has done her proud.

'UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL'

WHAT: Performance and discussion by the Rev. Milton Biggham; performances by several local artists and choirs, including Derrick Smith & Company, Miracle Sisters and Cepeda & No Limit

WHEN: 4 p.m. Sunday

WHERE: The College Conference Center (formerly New Philadelphia Missionary Baptist Church), 1003 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Tampa

ADMISSION: $5 donation and a canned good, all going to The COACH Faith Based and Prison Ministry

INFORMATION: (813) 972-3409

Reporter Michelle Bearden can be reached at (813) 259-7613.

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